Summary
The influence of the photosynthesis-inhibiting herbicides Diuron, DCMU, metamitron, and metribuzin on growth and nitrogenase activity of Nostoc muscorum and a new cyanobacterial isolate, strain G4, was studied. The experiments were performed under N2-fixing photoautotrophic conditions. Both cyanobacteria showed a high degree of tolerance towards the herbicides tested. In the presence of metamitron (35, 70, and 140 ppm) and metribuzin (7, 14, 35, and 70 ppm) strain G4 proliferated as well as the control culture. Metamitron and metribuzin had no influence on the nitrogenase synthesis of strain G4 and N. muscorum. When treated with 1 μM DCMU, strain G4 and N. muscorum showed partial inhibition for the first few days, but entirely recovered during succeeding incubation. In the presence of 10 ppm Diuron, N. muscorum and strain G4, compared to the control, showed 30% and 80% nitrogenase activity, respectively.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arntzen CJ, Pfister K, Steinback KE (1982) The mechanism of triazine resistance: Alterations in the chloroplast site of action. In: Lebaron H, Gressel J (eds) Herbicide resistance in plants. Wiley, New York, pp 185–214
Arvick JH, Hyzak DL, Zimdahl RL (1973) Effect of metribuzin and two analogs on five species of algae. Weed Sci 21:173–175
Fedtke C (1982) Biochemistry and physiology of herbicide action. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 7–65
Gadkari D (1987) Influence of the photosynthesis-inhibiting herbicides Goltix and Sencor on growth and nitrogenase activity of Anabaena cylindrica and Nostoc muscorum. Biol Fertil Soils 3:171–177
Galloway RE, Mets LJ (1982) Non-mendelian inheritance of 3-(3,4-dichlorophenly-l,l-dimethylurea)-resistant thylakoid membrane, properties in Chlamydomonas. Plant Physiol 67:1673–1677
Galloway RE, Mets LJ (1984) Atrazine, Bromacil, and Diuron resistance in Chlamydomonas: A single non-mendelian genetic locus controls the structure of the thylakoid binding site. Plant Physiol 74:469–474
Jones K, Wilson RE (1978) The fate of nitrogen fixed by free living blue-green algae and symbiotic bacteria. Ecol Bull (Stockh) 26:158–163
Kashyap AK, Pandey KD (1982) Inhibitory effects of rice-field herbicide Machete on Anabaena doliolum Bharadwaja and protection by nitrogen sources. Z Pflanzenphysiol 107:339–345
Laval-Martin D, Dubertret G, Calvayrac R (1977) Photosynthetic properties of a DCMU resistant strain of Euglena gracilis. Plant Sci Lett 10:185–195
Mackinney G (1941) Absorption of light by chlorophyll solutions. J Biol Chem 140:315–322
Maule A, Wright SJL (1984) Herbicide effects on the population growth of some green algae and cyanobacteria. J Appl Bacteriol 57:369–376
Pandey AK, Srivastava V, Tiwari DN (1984) Toxicity of the herbicide Stam f-34 (propanil) on Nostoc calcicola. Z Allg Mikrobiol 24:369–379
Rippka R, Waterbury JB, Stanier RY (1981) Isolation and purification of cyanobacteria: Some general principles. In: Starr MP, Stolp H, Trüper HG, Balows A, Schlegel HG (eds) The prokaryotes. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 212–220
Stanier RY, Kunisawa R, Mandel M, Cohen-Bazire G (1971) Purification and properties of unicellular blue-green algae (order Chroococcales). Bacteriol Rev 35:171–205
Tischer W Strotmann H (1977) Relation between inhibitor binding by chloroplasts and inhibition of photosynthetic electron transport. Biochem Biophys Acta 460:113–125
Trebst A, Wietoska H (1975) Inhibition of photosynthetic electron transport in chloroplasts by metribuzin. Z Naturforsch 30c:499–504
US Federal Register (1978) Environmental Protection Agency, Pesticide Programm: Guideline for registering pesticides in the United States. National Archives of the United States, Washington DC, pp 29716–29740
Vaishampayan A, Singh HR, Singh HN (1978) Biological effects of rice-field herbicide stam f-34 on various strains of the nitrogenfixing blue-green alga Nostoc muscorum. Biochem Physiol Pflanzen 173:410–419
Venkataraman GS (1981) Blue-green algae: A possible remedy for nitrogen scarcity. Current Sci 50:253–256
Watanabe A, Shirot M, Endo H, Yamamoto Y (1971) An observation of the practical application of nitrogen-fixing blue-green algae for rice-cultivation. In: Proc Third Int Conf on the Global Impact of Applied Microbiology. University of Bombay, pp 53–64
Wegener KE, Aldag R, Meyer B (1985) Soil algae: Effect of herbicides on growth and C2H2 reduction (nitrogenase activity). Soil Biol Biochem 17:641–644
Witty JF (1979) Algal nitrogen fixation on temperate arable fields. Algal inoculation experiments. Plant Soil 52:165–183
Witty JF, Keay PJ, Frogatt PJ, Dart PJ (1979) Algal nitrogen fixation on temperate arable fields. The Broadbalk experiment. Plant Soil 52:151–164
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gadkari, D. Assessment of the effects of the photosynthesis-inhibiting herbicides Diuron, DCMU, metamitron and metribuzin on growth and nitrogenase activity of Nostoc muscorum and a new cyanobacterial isolate, strain G4. Biol Fert Soils 6, 50–54 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00257920
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00257920