Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (2)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Baldwin, A.
Right arrow Articles by Harwood, J. L.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Baldwin, A.
Right arrow Articles by Harwood, J. L.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Baldwin, A.
Right arrow Articles by Harwood, J. L.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol. 54, No. 385, pp. 1289-1294, April 1, 2003
© 2003 Oxford University Press

Fatty acid elongation is important in the activity of thiocarbamate herbicides and in safening by dichlormid

Received 16 December 2002; Accepted 20 December 2002

Adam Baldwin, Hilary J. Rogers, Dennis Francis and John L. Harwood1,

School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, PO Box 911, Cardiff CF10 3US, UK

1 To whom correspondence should be addressed. Fax: +44 (0)29 2087 4116. E-mail: Harwood{at}Cardiff.ac.uk
Abbreviations: FAME, fatty acid methyl-ester; GLC, gas-liquid chromatography; GST, glutathione S-transferase; VLCFA, very long chain (>18C) fatty acid.

The thiocarbamates, such as pebulate (S-propyl butyl (ethyl) thiocarbamate) are a well-established class of herbicides. They inhibit fatty acid elongation, which is necessary for the biosynthesis of constituents of surface waxes and suberin and this has been proposed to be important for their toxicity. In this study lipid metabolism was investigated in herbicide-treated barley (Hordeum vulgare) and a pernicious weed, wild oats (Avena ludoviciana), to test the hypothesis that inhibitory effects on fatty acid elongation could be counteracted by the safer, dichlormid. Pebulate and its sulphoxide derivative (thought to be the active metabolite in vivo) were tested against lipid metabolism in barley or wild oat shoots. In both plants there was a significant inhibition of very long chain fatty acid (VLCFA) synthesis at herbicide concentrations >=25 µM. The extent to which safener dichlormid could prevent the inhibition of VLCFA synthesis was different in the two species. Previous treatment of barley with dichlormid (N,N-diallyl-2,2-dichloroacetamide) enabled fatty acid elongation in the presence of pebulate or pebulate sulphoxide, but had no effect on wild oats. The effects on fatty acid elongation mimicked the differential safening action of dichlormid observed on shoot elongation and growth in the two species. These data provide further evidence that inhibition of VLCFA formation is important for the mechanism of action of thiocarbamates.

Key words: Avena ludoviciana, barley, dichlormid, fatty acid elongation, Hordeum vulgare, thiocarbamate herbicide, wild oats.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.