Acetohydroxyacid synthase was discovered as the site of action of imidazolinone and sulfonylurea herbicides over 6 yr ago. In recent years, advances have been made in the understanding of this enzyme as a herbicide target site. Derivatives of both imidazolinones and sulfonylureas have yielded new herbicide chemistry. AH of the herbicides display unusual “slow-binding” behavior with the enzyme, and this behavior may help explain efficacy of the herbicides. Resistance to these herbicides has been developed through a number of different procedures, and the mechanism of resistance is through changes in sensitivity of the enzyme to the herbicides. The changes are either selective to only one class of chemistry, or broad to a number of classes of chemistry. These data support the idea that binding sites for the herbicides on the enzyme are only partially overlapping. Progress in purification of AHAS from corn includes discovery of the existence of the enzyme in monomer and oligomer aggregation states. The interaction of the enzyme with the herbicides is affected by enzyme aggregation state.

The effect of sequential hexane, ethyl acetate, and aqueous methanol extracts of ‘Regal’ sweetpotato periderm on seed germination of sweetpotato, proso millet, and seven weed species was studied. The hexane extract, which contained the nonpolar components of the periderm tissue, was least inhibitory. It inhibited velvetleaf, proso millet, black nightshade, and redroot pigweed germination, and maximum inhibition was 56% for black nightshade at 200 mg of periderm extracted ml–1. The ethyl acetate fraction was inhibitory to proso millet, velvetleaf, black nightshade, goosegrass, tall morningglory, coffee senna, and redroot pigweed. The estimated I50 for ethyl acetate ranged from 17 mg periderm extracted ml–1 for black nightshade to 201 mg ml–1 for coffee senna. Sweetpotato, tall morningglory, and eclipta germination was not inhibited by this extract at the concentrations tested. The aqueous methanol extract was much more inhibitory than the hexane or ethyl acetate extracts, and there was considerable variation between species in response to this extract The I50 estimates for the aqueous methanol extract were 0.5, 0.6, 2.8, 4.4, 5.1, 9.6, 15.7, 21.0, and 25.8 mg ml–1 for velvetleaf, proso millet, black nightshade, goosegrass, sweetpotato, tall morningglory, eclipta, coffee senna, and pigweed, respectively.

Field experiments were established to evaluate weed control with AC 263,222 alone and in combination with imazaquin or imazethapyr. Addition of AC 263,222 to either imazaquin or imazethapyr resulted in additive or synergistic increases in control of johnsongrass, pitted morningglory, and entireleaf morningglory. Reducing the rate of imazaquin from 140 to 18 g ai ha−1 did not reduce control of johnsongrass or pitted morningglory when AC 263,222 was added at 18 g ai ha−1 and above, compared to 140 g ha−1 imazaquin alone, through 8 weeks after treatment (WAT). When 9 g ha−1 or more AC 263,222 was added to imazethapyr, reducing imazethapyr rate from 70 to 9 g ai ha−1 did not reduce control of johnsongrass or pitted morningglory through 8 WAT. Adding 9 g ha−1 or more AC 263,222 to various rates of imazaquin or imazethapyr 2 and 8 WAT additively or synergistically increased control of johnsongrass, pitted morningglory, entireleaf morningglory, and tall waterhemp compared to those herbicides applied alone. Soybean injury increased 2 WAT when 35 or 70 g ha−1 AC 263,222 was added to most rates of imazaquin or imazethapyr, but was less than 15% in all treatments by 8 WAT. Visual soybean injury did not translate into a yield loss, and an increase in weed control often resulted in increased yield.

In laboratory studies, absorption and translocation of glyphosate in velvetleaf was dependent on the concentration of both glyphosate and surfactant in the applied droplet(s). At equivalent total quantities applied, absorption by leaves was greater with concentrated droplets than with more dilute droplets in greater number. Increasing the surfactant concentration increased the relative absorption of dilute glyphosate droplets but did not overcome the negative effect of higher droplet number on total amount absorbed. More glyphosate was translocated from concentrated versus the most dilute droplets at equivalent total quantity applied. Conversely, more absorbed glyphosate from dilute droplet applications remained in the treated leaves. About 90% of translocated 14C glyphosate from the most concentrated drops was distributed evenly between roots and shoot tissue above the treated leaf and the remainder in shoot tissue below the treated leaf. As droplet number increased and surfactant concentration decreased, the relative amount of glyphosate distributed in roots declined in relation to shoots.

Greenhouse and field experiments were performed to investigate diclofop rate and mowing height interactions on goosegrass control and ‘Tifgreen’ and ‘Tifdwarf’ bermudagrass tolerance. In greenhouse experiments, greatest goosegrass control was achieved with diclofop when plants were maintained at 1.3 cm. Increased diclofop rates were required to suppress goosegrass mowed higher than 1.3 cm or unmowed. Greater than 90% goosegrass control was achieved with the combination of 1.3-cm mowing height and 0.6 kg ai ha–1 of diclofop. In field experiments, a minimum of 2 weeks was necessary for complete herbicidal activity. Diclofop at 1.1 kg ha–1 provided >90% control of goosegrass mowed between 1.9 to 2.5 cm. The addition of nonionic surfactant (0.25% by vol) to diclofop did not influence control. The addition of metribuzin (0.1 kg ai ha–1) to diclofop resulted in initial increased control, but it was transient The addition of MSMA (2.2 kg ai ha–1) to diclofop reduced goosegrass control an average of 18% compared to diclofop treatments alone. Tifdwarf bermudagrass was more sensitive to diclofop compared to Tifgreen. Seven to 14 days were required for Tifdwarf to recover from initial injury. This injury, although significant, was acceptable for bermudagrass used for golf greens. Clipping weights following treatment were also less for Tifdwarf than Tifgreen.

Five classes of herbicides (carbamothioates, chloroacetamides, substituted pyridazinones, cyclohexanediones, and aryloxyphenoxypropionic acids) have been reported to inhibit lipid biosynthesis in higher plants. Carbamothioates impair the synthesis of surface lipids (waxes, cutin, suberin). These effects have been attributed to the ability of this herbicide class to inhibit one or more acyl-CoA elongases. Though as yet poorly characterized, these enzymes are associated with the endoplasmic reticulum and catalyze the condensation of malonyl-CoA with fatty acid acyl-CoA substrates to form very long-chain fatty acids used in the synthesis of surface lipids. There is contradictory evidence regarding the effects of chloroacetamide herbicides on de novo fatty acid biosynthesis. Selected substituted pyridazinones decrease the degree of unsaturation of plastidic galactolipids. This effect is attributed to the ability of selected members of this herbicide class to inhibit fatty acid desaturases which are thought to be located in the chloroplast envelope. Aryloxyphenoxypropionic acid and cyclohexanedione herbicides inhibit de novo fatty acid biosynthesis in grasses. The target site for these herbicide classes is the enzyme acetyl-CoA carboxylase which is found in the stroma of plastids. In most cases, selectivity between grasses and dicots is expressed at this site. Aryloxyphenoxypropionic acids and cyclohexanediones are reversible, linear, noncompetitive inhibitors of acetyl-CoA carboxylase from grasses. Both classes are also mutually exclusive inhibitors of grass acetyl-CoA carboxylase which suggests that they bind at a common domain on the enzyme.

Experiments were conducted at the Lacombe and Lethbridge Research Stations to determine tralkoxydim activity at two leaf stages of green foxtail and wild oat and to determine tralkoxydim activity in tank mixtures with bromoxynil and thifensulfuron. Green foxtail and wild oat control was usually better when tralkoxydim was applied at the 2- to 3-leaf stage. However, tralkoxydim applied at the 4- to 5-leaf stage of the weeds often led to less weed topgrowth at harvest because later flushes of green foxtail and wild oat often occurred after the early applications. Nevertheless, wheat and barley yields usually indicated the importance of early weed removal. In greenhouse and field tank mixture studies, thifensulfuron antagonized tralkoxydim activity on green foxtail more than wild oat. Bromoxynil was less antagonistic than thifensulfuron, but significant reductions in green foxtail and wild oat control were detected in tralkoxydim tank mixtures with bromoxynil. In field studies, control of false cleavers with thifensulfuron or bromoxynil was not reduced in tank mixtures with tralkoxydim.

A fixed (conventional) weed management strategy in corn was compared to three other strategies (two mixed and one flexible) in terms of weed control, grain yield, gross margin (gross income minus herbicide treatment costs), and herbicide use under furrow irrigation for four consecutive years. The fixed strategy prespecified preplanting, preemergence, postemergence, and layby herbicides. The flexible strategy herbicide treatments were specified by a computer bioeconomic model. Model decisions were based on weed seed in soil before planting, weed densities after corn emergence, herbicide costs, expected corn grain yield and selling price, and other parameters. The two mixed strategies were a combination of fixed and flexible strategies and designated either specified soil-applied herbicides (mixed/soil), or no soil-applied herbicide (mixed/no soil); postemergence treatments were determined by the model. Average corn grain yield was 10 280 kg ha–1 and gross income was 920 $ ha–1 and neither differed among strategies. Total weed density and gross margin were significantly higher for the mixed/no soil and flexible strategies compared to the mixed/soil and fixed strategies. Total weed density averaged 28 720, 28 100, 10 910, and 680 plants ha–1 for the mixed/no soil, flexible, mixed/soil, and fixed strategies, respectively. Annual gross margins for the four strategies averaged 885, 875, 845, and 810 $ ha–1, respectively. Herbicide use over the 4-yr period for these four strategies averaged 3.8, 5.3, 20.5, and 26.9 kg ha–1, respectively, and each value differed from the other. Thus, weeds can be managed in corn, gross margins increased, and herbicide use decreased by employing a bioeconomic weed-corn model to make weed management decisions.

Four-year cropping sequences of continuous cotton, cotton-soybeans-soybeans-cotton, continuous soybeans, soybeans-grain sorghum-soybeans-grain sorghum, and cotton-rice-cotton-rice were treated each year with high and low levels of herbicides to control johnsongrass. High levels of herbicide were necessary to control johnsongrass in continuous cotton, cotton-soybeans-soybeans-cotton, continuous soybeans, and the soybeans-grain sorghum rotation. Johnsongrass was not eradicated, however, after 4 years of cropping sequences with high herbicide inputs. Both low and high levels of herbicide coupled with water management required for rice production controlled johnsongrass and prevented rice yield reductions.

A column leaching study was conducted in a greenhouse to determine the movement of atrazine and alachlor through soil as affected by alfalfa roots in three stages of decay. Alfalfa was grown in soil columns for 6 months and then killed with glyphosate. The 14C-atrazine and 14C-alachlor were applied to soil columns with bromide following 2, 13, or 26 weeks of root decomposition. Most of the herbicide remained in the top 9 cm of soil. However, atrazine and alachlor soil distribution profiles indicated greater preferential movement in columns with roots than in columns without roots. Higher levels of atrazine and alachlor were bound to soil at lower depths in the presence of roots than without roots. Adsorption of atrazine and alachlor on soil with and without alfalfa roots was not significantly different as determined by Freundlich adsorption isotherms. Degradation rates for atrazine and alachlor were not substantially different between soil with and without roots. Although only small amounts of the applied herbicide leached through the columns, preferential flow of herbicides through root-mediated soil macropores and cracks could be a mechanism of herbicide transport through soil under appropriate conditions.

Two winter wheat cultivars are known to differ in sensitivity to metribuzin: TAM W-101 (tolerant) and Vona (sensitive). Their reciprocal F1, reciprocal F2, and backcross populations were compared to determine the genetic expression of metribuzin sensitivity. TAM W-101 showed a much wider range of response to metribuzin than Vona with little overlap between the two distributions. Both sets of reciprocal F1 and F2 populations resembled Vona in metribuzin response, but the variances of maternal TAM W-101 populations exceeded those of maternal Vona populations. Genetic segregation in metribuzin response was expressed in TAM W-101/Vona F2 but not in Vona/TAM W-101 F2. The greater variability observed in the metribuzin-tolerant parent TAM W-101 and maternal TAM W-101 populations could not simply be interpreted as the result of differential sampling of male and female gametes from TAM W-101.

Approximately one-quarter of all herbicides that have been marketed affect mitosis as a primary mechanism of action. All of these herbicides appear to interact directly or indirectly with the microtubule. Dinitroaniline and phosphoric amide herbicides inhibit microtubule polymerization from free tubulin subunits. Because of the loss of spindle and kinetochore microtubules, chromosomes cannot move to the poles during mitosis, resulting in cells exhibiting an arrested prometaphase configuration. Nuclear membranes re-form around the chromosomal masses to form lobed nuclei. Cortical microtubules, which influence cell shape, are also absent, and, as a result, the cell expands isodiametrically. In root tips and other structures that are normally elongated, these herbicides induce a characteristic club-shaped swelling. Pronamide and MON 7200 induce similar effects, except that tufts of microtubules remain at the kinetochore region of the chromosomes. The carbamate herbicides barban, propham, and chlorpropham alter the organization of the spindle microtubules so that multiple spindles are formed. Chromosomes move to many poles and multiple nuclei result. Abnormal branched cell walls partly separate the nuclei. Terbutol induces “star anaphase” chromosome configurations in which the chromosomes are drawn into an area at the poles in a star-like aggregation. DCPA's most dramatic effect is on phragmoplast microtubule arrays. Multiple, branched, and curved phragmoplasts are found after herbicide treatment. These disrupters should prove to be useful tools in investigations of the proteins and structures required for a successful cell division.

Interactions of water-soluble soil organic matter (WSSOM) with the herbicides bromacil, metribuzin, alachlor, diquat, and paraquat were examined to determine if these interactions can improve predictions of herbicide leaching potential. A high-performance liquid chromatography gel filtration column was used to separate WSSOM extracts from four mineral agricultural soils into fractions with approximate log molecular weights of 4.96 to 6.82. WSSOM fractions were predominantly anionic in nature with some hydrophobic character. The amount of paraquat bound by WSSOM ranged from 1.1 to 2.1 mmol g−1DOC−1 with KDOC (partition coefficient for dissolved organic carbon) values from 0.050 to 0.187 L kg−1. Diquat was bound at 0.9 to 1.5 mmol g−1DOC−1 by the extracts with KDOC values from 0.044 to 0.143 L kg−1. Bromacil, metribuzin, and alachlor did not bind to the extracts tested. WSSOM did not increase paraquat solubility in the presence of soil. Binding of these herbicides to WSSOM in the soils used in this study would not be a significant mechanism for increased mobility and groundwater contamination potential.

Degradation of flurtamone in a Greenville sandy clay loam, a Cecil loam, and a Dothan loamy sand with 0, 1, or 2 yr of previous flurtamone field use was evaluated under controlled conditions. Soil sterilization by autoclaving significantly reduced flurtamone dissipation rate in all soils. Enhanced degradation of flurtamone was observed in a Greenville sandy clay loam after 1 yr of previous flurtamone field use and in a Cecil loam after 2 yr of previous flurtamone field use. No enhancement of flurtamone degradation was observed in a Dothan loamy sand. Flurtamone degradation kinetics in these studies was described as a first-order process. Microbial populations in each soil showed no major changes in total bacterial numbers due to preexposure to flurtamone in the field.

The two primary sites of herbicide action in photosynthetic electron transport are the inhibition of photosystem II (PS II) electron transport and diversion of electron flow through photosystem I (PS I). PS II electron transport inhibitors bind to the D1 protein of the PS II reaction center, thus blocking electron transfer to plastoquinone. Inhibition of PS II electron transport prevents the conversion of absorbed light energy into electrochemical energy and results in the production of triplet chlorophyll and singlet oxygen which induce the peroxidation of membrane lipids. PS I electron acceptors probably accept electrons from the iron-sulfur protein, Fa/Fb. The free radical form of the herbicide leads to the production of hydroxyl radicals which cause the peroxidation of lipids. Herbicide-induced lipid peroxidation destroys membrane integrity, leading to cellular disorganization and phototoxicity.

Flurtamone and atrazine adsorption to soil was examined using a batch equilibrium method. Flurtamone mobility in packed soil columns under saturated flow conditions was also evaluated. Adsorption was greater for flurtamone than atrazine in the three soils, and the order of adsorption to soil for both herbicides was Greenville sandy clay loam > Cecil loam > Dothan loamy sand. Greater adsorption of each herbicide corresponded to soils with greater organic matter and clay content. The 14C–flurtamone movement under saturated flow conditions in 28–cm soil–packed columns was limited to 16 cm, with no flurtamone leaching from any soil column after the addition of two pore volumes of water. Seventy–five percent of the applied 14C–flurtamone remained in the 0– to 4–cm soil depth in the Greenville sandy clay loam, with less than 5 percent moving to a depth > 4 cm. Flurtamone movement was greater in the Cecil loam and the Dothan loamy sand, with movement in each soil to a depth of 16 and 12 cm, respectively.

Several commercial and experimental herbicides such as p-nitrodiphenyl ethers, oxadiazoles, and cyclic imides inhibit protoporphyrinogen IX oxidase (Protox), the enzyme that converts protoporphyrinogen IX to protoporphyrin IX (Proto). This leads to uncontrolled autooxidation of the substrate and results in accumulation of Proto. Blockage of the porphyrin pathway at this site inhibits synthesis of both chlorophylls and heme. Heme is a feedback regulator of the porphyrin pathway. Thus, inhibition of Protox also deregulates the pathway, causing increased carbon flow to the accumulating pool of Proto. Proto is a potent photosensitizer that generates high levels of singlet oxygen in the presence of molecular oxygen and light. In plants treated with these herbicides, damage is light dependent and closely correlated with the level of Proto that accumulates. Proto accumulation is apparently largely extraplastidic, resulting in rapid photodynamic damage to the plasmalemma and tonoplast. After high levels of Proto accumulate in response to these herbicides, protochlorophyllide (PChlide) levels can increase also; however, Proto appears to be the primary photodynamic pigment responsible for the herbicidal activity.

An isolate of Fusarium moniliforme (Sheldon) (JW #1) was discovered on greenhouse-grown jimsonweed in Mississippi, U.S.A., in 1990. Applications of aqueous suspensions of spores/mycelia (>1 × 107 propagules ml−1) grown on potato-dextrose agar to the potted soil in which 2- to 4-wk-old jimsonweed plants were grown caused local lesions or mosaic-like patterns on the leaves and inhibited growth. Application of lesser doses to the leaves only produced no visual effects. When the fungal suspensions were applied at higher dosages (>1 × 107 propagules ml−1) either by soil drench or subirrigation, symptoms such as local lesions or a mosaic-like pattern on the leaves appeared and plant growth was inhibited. When the fungus was grown on an autoclaved rice medium and the ground mixture applied to jimsonweed plants, the plants wilted within 24 h and died after 48 h. Crude and cell-free filtrates of the fungal-rice culture also killed 1- to 2- and 3- to 4-week-old plants after 24 to 72 h. A major toxin identified was fumonisin B1, isolated from fermented rice at 400 μg g−1. Fumonisin B1 applied in water at 2.5 μg 100 μl−1 to excised jimsonweed leaves caused the same symptomology (i.e., soft rot diffusing along leaf veins) within 24 h as the cell-free extract or the crude culture filtrates. Similar damage occurred to intact plants treated with crude or cell-free filtrates or purified aqueous fumonisin B1 solutions.