Studies on the Selectivity of the Herbicide Alachlor;II. A Metabolic Approach to Selectivity

제초제 Alachlor 의 선택성에 관한 연구;II. 대사론적 접근

Absorption, translocation, and metabolism of the herbicide alachlor in soybean, Chinese cabbage, and barnyard grass seedlings were examined and compared with each other using [phenyl-U-$^{14}C$] alachlor in search of a primary factor contributing to the selectivity of alachlor. When root of each seedling was immersed into the solution containing [$^{14}C$]alachlor, the amount of absorbed radioactivity/mg dry matter of seedling which was suggested to be correlated with the susceptibility of plants to alachlor decreased in the order of soybean ${\gg}$ Chinese cabbage ${\geq}$ barnyard grass and the rate of translocation to shoot was Chinese cabbage ${\geq}$ barnyard grass ${\gg}$ soybean. These orders did not consistently explain the selective phytotoxicity of alachlor. Analyses of extracts by reverse phase chromatography showed that alachlor was detoxified by conjugation with glutathione in all three plants and the rate of glutathione conjugation of soybean, the resistant species to alachlor, was the greatest, while that of barnyard grass, the susceptible, was the lowest among three plants. This result explained well the selective phytotoxicity of alachlor. Both absorption and translocation contribute undoubtedly to the selectivity by influencing the active internal concentration of alachlor. However, neither of them appeared to be a primary factor. It was concluded that the most important primary factor was the rate of glutathione conjugation, which detoxifies alachlor and plays an important role in selectivity.