Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-c4f8m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T21:39:52.576Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Physiological Effects of Fluometuron on Some Unicellular Algae

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2017

H. C. Sikka
Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Bureau of Conservation and Environmental Science, Rutgers-The State University, New Brunswick, New Jersey
David Pramer
Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rutgers-The State University, New Brunswick, New Jersey

Abstract

Unicellular green algae were used as test organisms in experiments designed to provide an insight into the mode of action of 3-(m-trifluoromethylphenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea (fluometuron). Fluometuron suppressed the autotrophic growth of Chorella pyrenoidosa Chick (hereafter referred to as C. pyrenoidosa) and Euglena gracilis Klebs-strain ‘Z’ (hereafter referred to as Euglena) and the extent of inhibition was a function of herbicidal concentration. Euglena was less sensitive than C. pyrenoidosa. Treated cells contained less protein and chlorophyll than untreated cells, but the inhibitory effect of the herbicide on the algal growth was overcome when the organisms were grown heterotrophically. Fluometuron did not adversely influence respiration or the light-independent reactions that lead to the formation of chlorophyll or chloroplast precursors. It did interfere with the light-dependent or the greening process of chlorophyll synthesis and with photosynthetic oxygen evolution. Fluometuron appears to be selectively toxic to one or more light-mediated biochemical reactions required for the formation and function of photosynthetic pigments and organelles.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Weed Science Society of America 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Literature Cited

1. Arnon, D. I. 1938. Microelements in culture-solution experiments with higher plants. Amer. J. Bot. 25:322325.Google Scholar
2. Arnon, D. I. 1949. Copper enzymes in isolated chloroplasts. Polyphenyloxidase in Beta vulgaris . Plant Physiol. 24:115.Google Scholar
3. Bishop, N. I. 1958. The influence of the herbicide DCMU on the oxygen-evolving system of photosynthesis. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 27:20522056.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4. Cooke, A. R. 1956. A possible mechanism of action of the urea type herbicides. Weeds 4:397398.Google Scholar
5. Epstein, H. T. and Schiff, J. A. 1961. Studies of chloroplast development in Euglena. 4. Electron and fluorescence microscopy of the proplastid and its development into a mature chloroplast. J. Protozool. 8:427432.Google Scholar
6. Good, N. E. 1961. Inhibitors of the Hill reaction. Plant Physiol. 36:788803.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7. Hutner, S. H., Bach, M. K., and Ross, G. I. M. 1956. A sugar-containing basal medium for vitamin B12-assay with Euglena; application to body fluids. J. Protozool. 3:101112.Google Scholar
8. Jacobson, L. 1951. Maintenance of iron supply in nutrient solutions by a single addition of ferric potassium ethylenediamine tetracetate. Plant Physiol. 26:411413.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9. Lowry, O. H., Rosenbrough, N. J., Farr, A. L., and Randall, R. J. 1951. Protein measurement with the folin-phenol reagent. J. Biol. Chem. 193:265275.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10. Myers, J. 1947. Culture conditions and the development of the photosynthetic mechanism. V. Influence of the composition of the nutrient medium. Plant Physiol. 22:590597.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11. Moreland, D. E. and Hill, K. L. 1962. Interference of herbicides with the Hill reaction of isolated chloroplasts. Weeds 10:229236.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12. Price, C. A. 1965. A membrane method for determination of total protein in dilute algal suspensions. Anal. Biochem. 12:213218.Google Scholar
13. Schneider, W. C. 1945. Extraction and estimation of desoxypentose nucleic acid and of pentose nucleic acid. J. Biol. Chem. 161:293303.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14. Shihira-Ishikawa, I. and Hase, E. 1964. Nutritional control of cell pigmentation in Chlorella protothecoides with special reference to the degeneration of chloroplast induced by glucose. Plant and Cell Physiol. 5:227240.Google Scholar
15. Shihira-Ishikawa, I. and Krauss, R. W. 1963. Chlorella—Physiology and Taxonomy of Forty-one Isolates. Port City Press, Baltimore. 116 p.Google Scholar
16. Spikes, J. D. 1956. Effect of substituted ureas on the photochemical activity of isolated chloroplasts. Plant Physiol. Suppl. 31:xxxii.Google Scholar
17. Umbreit, W. W., Burris, R. H., and Stauffer, J. F. 1964. Manometric techniques. 4th ed. Burgess Publishing Co., Minneapolis, Minnesota. 305 p.Google Scholar
18. Virgin, H. I. 1964. Some effects of light on chloroplasts and plant protoplasm, p. 273303. In Giese, A. C. (ed.) Photophysiology. Vol. 1. Academic Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19. Wessels, J. S. C. and van der Veen, R. 1956. The action of some derivatives of phenylurethan and of 3-phenyl-1,1-dimethylurea on the Hill reaction. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 19:548549.CrossRefGoogle Scholar