Cyanazine metabolism in corn,fall panicum,and green foxtail*

The metabolism of cyanazine (2-chloro-4-(1-cyano-1-methyl-ethylamino)-6-ethylamino- 1,3,5-triazine) by corn (Zea mays, L.), fall panicum (Panicum dichotomiflorum Michx.), and green foxtail (Setaria viridis L.) was compared. Cyanazine metabolism by plants at the four-leaf stage was examined by thin-layer chromatography following foliar or root treatments with ¹⁴C-cyanazine. Five days following foliar ¹⁴C-cyanazine applicalion, fall panicum and green foxtail contained a larger number of water- and chloroform-soluble metabolites than corn, whereas, following root treatment, the opposite was true. Corn rapidly hydrolysed the nitrile group and hydroxylated the two-position on the triazine ring. Accumulation of the dealkylated cyanazine was evident in green foxtail, the most susceptible of the species studied. Metabolism of cyanazine supplied to the roots appeared to differ from foliar treatments in the weed species as more unchanged cyanazine was recovered. Rapid metabolism of cyanazine by corn roots provided evidence for an active cyanazine detoxication mechanism in the roots.