Relative sensitivity of a herbicide-resistant rutabaga genotype to cyanazine and metribuzin

Growth and photochemical response of triazine-susceptible and -resistant rutabaga ‘Laurentian’ genotypes to cyanazine (chloro-s-triazine) and metribuzin (methylthio-as-triazine) were evaluated. The young seedlings of the susceptible rutabaga were killed when cyanazine or metribuzin were applied either pre- or post-emergence. The triazine-resistant rutabaga, however, displayed a differential response to these herbicides. Metribuzin applied pre-emergence killed the seedlings at 0.4 kg ha^?1, and at 0.2 kg ha^?1 the growth was severely affected. Cyanazine even at higher rates applied pre- or post-emergence failed to inhibit growth in these plants.Chlorophyll fluorescence in leaf sections at the cotyledonary, 2-leaf and 4-leaf stages in the susceptible plants increased by 130 and 172% in response to 10^?5 M cyanazine and metribuzin, respectively, suggesting that Photosystem II reactions in these plants were severely impaired. In resistant plants, there was little or no leaf chlorophyll fluorescence (LCF) increase at this herbicide concentration. However, at 10^?4 M cyanazine and metribuzin, the LCF in resistant plants increased significantly and the increase was greater in response to metribuzin (86%) than to cyanazine (51%). This indicates that with these triazine-resistant genotypes, metribuzin is relatively more potent and at high rates is capable of interfering with photosynthesis.