Soil samples were collected from several corn fields with history of atrazine (herbicide) application. Samples were inoculated into Erlenmeyer flasks each containing 50m1 of minimal basal salts medium amended with 100 ppm atrazine as sole nitrogen source. Flasks were shaken at 200 rpm at ambient temperature and were examined daily for one week for microbial growth and/or disappearance of atrazine. Promising consortia were subcultured for further additional enrichments before characterization of potentially active protein (enzyme)fractions. Proteins from cell-free and cellbound fractions were compared for ability to denature atrazine. Following gel permeation chromatography, isolated protein fractions were examined for atrazinefound in the cell-bound fractions capable degrading degradation. Two were found in the cell-free fractions (approx. Mol. wts. 55kDa and 180kDa) and one (55 kDa) atrazine to hydroxyatrazine. Atrazine and its breakdown products (hydroxyatrazine in particular) were detected via HPLC using C18 and C8 columns with absorbance at 229 nm. / Department of Biology

No description available.

Bibliography: leaves 157-174. This study examined the fate of three common sulfonylurea herbicides in highly alkaline soils through a series of laboratory and field experiments to determine if existing leaching models could be used to describe their field behaviour under Australian climatic conditions. A liquid chromatographic method was developed to simultaneously determine levels of triasulfuron, metsulfuronmethyl, and chlorsulfuron in soil and water. The investigation of base hydrolysis for the herbicides in aqueous buffer and soil solutions determined that it was unlikely to be a major loss pathway for sulfonylureas in alkaline soils. The herbicides were found to have low sorption, very little retardation and high mobility, moving at a marginally slower rate than water. Degradation did not follow first-order kinetics, but rather a two-stage process appeared to be involved. Both VARLEACH and LEACHM models predicted the measured concentration of the herbicides reasonably well in profile under low rainfall conditions but were less adequate under high rainfall. Forecasts with the LEACHP model predicted levels of the herbicides for a dominant soil type of the cereal belt of southern Australia with median rainfall after a year.

Bibliography: leaves 157-174. / xx, 192 leaves : ill. (some col.) ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / This study examined the fate of three common sulfonylurea herbicides in highly alkaline soils through a series of laboratory and field experiments to determine if existing leaching models could be used to describe their field behaviour under Australian climatic conditions. A liquid chromatographic method was developed to simultaneously determine levels of triasulfuron, metsulfuronmethyl, and chlorsulfuron in soil and water. The investigation of base hydrolysis for the herbicides in aqueous buffer and soil solutions determined that it was unlikely to be a major loss pathway for sulfonylureas in alkaline soils. The herbicides were found to have low sorption, very little retardation and high mobility, moving at a marginally slower rate than water. Degradation did not follow first-order kinetics, but rather a two-stage process appeared to be involved. Both VARLEACH and LEACHM models predicted the measured concentration of the herbicides reasonably well in profile under low rainfall conditions but were less adequate under high rainfall. Forecasts with the LEACHP model predicted levels of the herbicides for a dominant soil type of the cereal belt of southern Australia with median rainfall after a year. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Soil Science, 1999

No description available.

Fields studies conducted in 1987 and 1988 determined the weed control efficacy of ICIA-0051 and SC-0774 in conventional and no-till systems of corn (<i>Zea mays</i> L.) culture. Results of the preemergence and postemergence applications of ICIA-0051, across all treatments after 8 weeks, showed 85% control or better of triazine-resistant smooth pigweed (<i>Amaranthus hybridus</i> L.), while fall panicum (<i>Panicum dichotomiflorum</i> Michx.) control ranged from 43 to 87%. Giant ragweed (<i>Ambrosia trifida</i> L.) control ranged from 30 to 95%, while control of ivyleaf morningglory (<i>Ipomoea hederacea</i> (L.) Jacq.) was below 75% in the preemergence treatments and ranged from 89 to 99% in the postemergence treatments. In general, the addition of atrazine to the pre- and postemergence treatments of ICIA-0051 improved weed control. SC-0774 treatments gave 85% or better control of fall panicum, but inadequate broadleaf weed control (75% or worse). Soil mobility studies using soil thin-layer chromatography and soil leaching columns indicated that the movement of ICIA-0051 was highly negatively correlated with the organic/humic matter fraction. Although the mobility patterns were similar, ICIA-0051 was more mobile than SC-0774, which was more mobile than atrazine. A comparison of ICIA-0051 across soils indicated that the order of mobility was Appling loamy sand (Rf = 6.4) > Davidson clay (Rf = 5.6) > Bojac sandy loam (Rf = 5.0) = Frederick silt loam (Rf = 4.9) > Hyde silty clay loam (Rf = 1.1). Other soil properties such as the clay content and pH were not strongly correlated with ICIA-0051 movement. Results of the adsorption/desorption studies indicated that the organic/humic matter fraction was primarily responsible for the binding and retention of ICIA-0051 across the five soils investigated. Based on the K constants derived from the Freundlich equation, the order of adsorption was Hyde > Frederick > Davidson = Bojac > Appling. The desorption results indicated that ICIA-005l was not tightly bound to the soil particles, with losses between 20 and 50% of the amount adsorbed after two desorptions. Results of the greenhouse persistence study, using mustard (<i>Brassica kaber</i> L.) as a bioassay species, indicated that ICIA-0051 was more biologically available than atrazine. Similar to the adsorption and leaching results, the persistence of ICIA-0051 was highly positively correlated with the soils’ organic matter. Regardless of the rate used, crop injury decreased over time, although the highest rate (1 ppm of ICIA-0051) showed significant crop injury even after 6 months in several soils in the greenhouse studies. / Ph. D.

Response of barley (<i>Hordeum vulgare</i> L.) and wheat (<i>Triticum aestivum</i> L.) to root-applied chlorsulfuron (2-chloro N-[[(4-methoxy-6-methyl-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl) amino] carbonyl] benzenesulfonamide), a herbicide for use in small grains, was investigated. The results showed that, although wheat roots take up more chlorsulfuron than barley roots, barley was less tolerant to chlorsulfuron and chlorsulfuron was more mobile in barley. This study indicated that difference in uptake or translocation cannot explain the differential response of the two species to root-applied chlorsulfuron. In an interaction study, significant chlorsulfuron antagonism on ryegrass (<i>Lolium multiflorum</i> Lam.) control by diclofop {(±)[-2-[4-(2,4-dichlorophenoxy) phenoxy) propanoic acid} was observed. Greenhouse experiments showed that the tolerance of corn (<i>Zea mays</i> L.) to chlorsulfuron and metsulfuron (2-[[[[(4-methoxy-6-methyl-l,3,5-triazin- -2-yl) amino] carbonyl] amino] sulfonyl] benzoic acid) was greatly increased by seed dressing with the herbicide safener NA (1,8-naphthalic anhydride). The soil behavior of chlorsulfuron was studied in the field, greenhouse and laboratory. In the field, corn adequately tolerated soil residues present 10 months following postemergence application of chlorsulfuron at 10 to 120 g/ha. However, at the same site and rates, residues from chlorsulfuron injured corn when sampled 2 months after application. In laboratory studies chlorsulfuron was moderately adsorbed by organic matter but showed low affinity to clay. R_f values calculated from soil thin-layer chromatography closely correlated with the mobility of chlorsulfuron leached with 16.8 cm of water over a 14-day period in hand-packed soil columns. In the soil thin-layer chromatography, chlorsulfuron mobility was positively and negatively correlated with pH and organic matter, respectively. The results indicated that chlorsulfuron could be mobile in low organic matter and non-acidic soils. The relationship of chlorsulfuron phytotoxicity to soil physical and chemical properties was also evaluated. Organic matter was inversely related to chlorsulfuron phytotoxicity while no such relationship to clay content was observed. The adsorption of chlorsulfuron decreased with increasing soil pH whereas desorption was greater at alkaline pH. / Ph. D.