ABSTRACT
MAIN CONCLUSION: Glufosinate is primarily toxic to plants due to a massive light-dependent generation of reactive oxygen species rather than ammonia accumulation or carbon assimilation inhibition. Glutamine synthetase (GS) plays a key role in plant nitrogen metabolism and photorespiration. Glufosinate (C5H12NO4P) targets GS and causes catastrophic consequences leading to rapid plant cell death, and the causes for phytoxicity have been attributed to ammonia accumulation and carbon assimilation restriction. This study aimed to examine the biochemical and physiological consequences of GS inhibition to identify the actual cause for rapid phytotoxicity. Monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous species with different forms of carbon assimilation (C3 versus C4) were selected as model plants. Glufosinate sensitivity was proportional to the uptake of herbicide between species. Herbicide uptake also correlated with the level of GS inhibition and ammonia accumulation in planta even with all species having the same levels of enzyme sensitivity in vitro. Depletion of both glutamine and glutamate occurred in glufosinate-treated leaves; however, amino acid starvation would be expected to cause a slow plant response. Ammonia accumulation in response to GS inhibition, often reported as the driver of glufosinate phytotoxicity, occurred in all species, but did not correlate with either reductions in carbon assimilation or cell death. This is supported by the fact that plants can accumulate high levels of ammonia but show low inhibition of carbon assimilation and absence of phytotoxicity. Glufosinate-treated plants showed a massive light-dependent generation of reactive oxygen species, followed by malondialdehyde accumulation. Consequently, we propose that glufosinate is toxic to plants not because of ammonia accumulation nor carbon assimilation inhibition, but the production of reactive oxygen species driving the catastrophic lipid peroxidation of the cell membranes and rapid cell death.
Subject(s)
Amaranthus/drug effects , Aminobutyrates/toxicity , Bassia scoparia/drug effects , Herbicides/toxicity , Poaceae/drug effects , Reactive Oxygen Species/metabolism , Amaranthus/metabolism , Amaranthus/radiation effects , Aminobutyrates/radiation effects , Ammonia/metabolism , Bassia scoparia/metabolism , Bassia scoparia/radiation effects , Carbon/metabolism , Cell Death/drug effects , Cell Membrane/drug effects , Glutamate-Ammonia Ligase/antagonists & inhibitors , Herbicides/radiation effects , Light , Lipid Peroxidation/drug effects , Plant Leaves/drug effects , Plant Leaves/metabolism , Plant Leaves/radiation effects , Plant Proteins/antagonists & inhibitors , Poaceae/metabolism , Poaceae/radiation effects , Reactive Oxygen Species/radiation effectsABSTRACT
On annealing at temperatures near 100 degrees C, carbon-centered radicals migrate to sulfur-centered radicals in X-irradiated crystals of L-alpha-amino-n-butyric acid hydrochloride, CH3CH2CH(NH3-Cl)COOH, containing L-cysteine hydrochloride, SHCH2CH(NH3Cl)COOH. Samples containing 0, 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5% L-cysteine hydrochloride were studied. When no cysteine is present, the carbon-centered radical formed by X irradiation, CH3CH2CHOOH, decays according to a second-order diffusion-controlled rate equation. In samples containing cysteine, the same carbon-centered radicals are formed, but on annealing, they migrate to cysteine, where a perithiyl radical, RSS, is formed. The transfer of carbon-centered radicals to perthiyl radicals follows a pseudo first-order rate equation with an activation energy of 1.15 eV. A decrease in the initial concentration of the carbon-centered radicals or an increase in the initial concentration of cysteine results in an increase in the transfer efficiency. The rate of growth of the perthiyl radical depends on both the initial concentration of cysteine and the initial concentration of carbon-centered radicals. The pseudo first-order rate constant increases when either the initial carbon-centered radical concentration increases or the initial cysteine concentration increases. The mechanism by which radicals move from one lattice site to another in the crystalline material is most likely hydrogen abstraction from a neighboring molecule.
Subject(s)
Aminobutyrates/radiation effects , Cysteine/radiation effects , Electron Spin Resonance Spectroscopy , Free Radicals , KineticsABSTRACT
After X-irradiation at room temperature, the radicals in L-alpha-amino-n-butyric acid HCl are CH3CH2CHCOOH. The beta- and alpha-hyperfine constants are typical of those found in amino acid radicals. On annealing at temperatures near 100 degrees C this carbon-centered radical in samples containing 1.5% cysteine converts to a perthiyl radical, RCH2S(1)S(2). The g-values for the perithiyl radical are 2.0024, 2.0257, and 2.0557. When the field is in the minimum g-value direction, the hyperfine splittings are 50 G for 33S(2) and 32 G for 33S(1).
