INSECTICIDAL-ACTION STUDIES WITH BISDIMETHYL-AMINO FLUOROPHOSPHINE OXIDE CONTAINING 32PHOSPHORUS

The absorption of the systemic insecticide bisdimethylamino fluorophosphine oxide containing ³²P by plants has been studied, and where possible comparisons have been made with bisdimethylaminophosphonous anhydride.
The radio-oxide is absorbed by the roots of a broad-bean plant from culture solutions. The level of radioactivity in the plant increases as the solution is absorbed and is higher in the washed roots than in the rest of the plant. The radioactivity of the remaining culture solution decreases as more of it is taken up by the plants showing that the roots selectively absorb the oxide from solution. In this latter respect it differs from the anhydride which is selectively rejected at similar rates of transpiration. The material is absorbed more slowly by plants growing in soil than in sand.
An appreciable part of the oxide absorbed by the roots is given off as vapour by the leaves. The transpired material can be collected and shown to be radioactive and systemically insecticidal. Aphids feeding on treated plants contain radioactive material.
The oxide is less lipoid soluble than the anhydride and does not penetrate as readily into the leaves of the broad bean. Since it is also lost by vaporization from the plants only small amounts are translocated following leaf applications to beans, cabbages and hops.     

Persistence and distribution of insecticidal seed-dressings for control of the wheat bulb fly, Leptohylemyia coarctata

Samples of plants and soil from two experimental sites, one clay loam and one peaty loam, were analysed chemically to try to explain differing results with γ-BHC and dieldrin seed-dressings applied to control wheat bulb fly on different soil types, and to suggest reasons for patchy plant stands and occasional failure to control the pest. Seed dressed with dieldrin yielded more than untreated seed on both sites, whereas seed treated with γ-BHC yielded as much as seed treated with dieldrin on the clay site, but it yielded less than untreated seed on peat. The chemical analyses showed that the poor performance of γ-BHC on the peat site could not be explained by its failure to persist, because the soil still contained considerable quantities of γ-BHC at the time of insect attack. Possible reasons may be sorption of the poison by organic matter making it less available, and deeper sowing, permitting larvae to reach the plants without prolonged contact with the insecticide. Bayer 38156 (O-ethyl S-p-tolyl ethyl phosphonodithioate) and trichloro-nate (O-ethyl O-2,4,5-trichlorophenyl ethyl phosphonothionate) persisted in soil long enough and were sufficiently toxic to wheat bulb fly to suggest that organophosphorus compounds might provide alternatives to chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticides for control of the fly. Analyses made on seeds dressed at the laboratory for the experiment showed that the amounts of insecticide on seeds were smaller than expected and that the amounts on individual seeds differed greatly. Of ten samples of seeds dressed commercially with y-BHC, three carried very little insecticide, and the variations in the other seven samples were greater than with experimentally applied dressings.     

Distribution and characterization of diglycosyldiacylglycerol isomers with different anomeric configuration in higher plants.

The novel diglycosyldiacylglycerol (DGDG), galactosyl(beta 1----6)-galactosyl(beta 1----3')-diacylglycerol (B isomer), present in Adzuki beans was found to be distributed together with the well-known galactosyl(alpha 1----6)-galactosyl(beta 1----3')-diacylglycerol (A isomer), in all (10) of the higher plants examined. The highest levels were found in leguminous seeds were the amounts were always less than 33% of the total DGDG of mature seeds. The highest proportion of the B isomer was found in Adzuki bean seed DGDG (26-33%), with the lowest in pea seed DGDG (2%). The amounts of the B isomer in DGDG of Adzuki and kidney beans cotyledons were almost equal to those in mature seeds. Immature seeds and hypocotyls of three kinds of beans also contained the B isomer in small amounts compared with the mature beans, while only trace amounts of the isomer was found in other organs such as leaves, stems, pods, roots and generative organs of plants, except for root from kidney beans. The molecular species composition of the principal diacylglycerol moieties in the A and B isomers of DGDG were found to be significantly different among several plant seeds, although the component diacylglycerol species were qualitatively similar to each other.     

THE UPTAKE OF MERCURY BY SEEDS TREATED WITH MERCURIC CHLORIDE SOLUTION, AND ITS SUBSEQUENT RELEASE

SUMMARY: When sweet pea seeds were soaked in mercuric chloride solution a considerable quantity of mercury was taken up and was not removable by a washing procedure even more thorough than that usually employed in the technique for the surface sterilization of plant tissues. To remove the bulk of it, soaking the seed for 48 hr was needed.     

The uptake of phorate, a systemic insecticide, applied as a slurry to wheat and mustard seeds

The absorption by plants of wheat and mustard of a systemic organophosphorus insecticide (phorate), applied as a slurry seed dressing, was studied by caging the aphid Rhopalosiphum padi (L.) on the foliage of wheat, and the aphid Brevicoryne brassicae (L.) and the Chrysomelid beetle Phaedon cochleariae (F.) on white mustard, grown from phorate-treated seed.
Wheat and mustard plants quickly lost their toxicity to insects when they were transplanted, suggesting that most of the insecticide from a slurry seed treatment passes into the soil and is picked up by the roots. That phorate or its derivatives occur in the soil was shown by tests of anticholinesterase activity. Insecticide can also pass into the seed of wheat and move to the growing embryo. Phorate becomes closely bound to the testa of mustard, but does not penetrate it to reach the cotyledons or other parts of the embryo. Mustard cotyledons can become contaminated by insecticide as they emerge through the soil.
Young and old leaves of both wheat and mustard depend on continued absorption of insecticide from the soil to maintain their toxicity. No insecticide moves from old to young leaves. Old leaves lose their toxicity to insects more slowly than young ones. When treated seeds are sown close together, the overlapping zones of insecticide round each seed can increase strength and persistence of insecticidal effect. This happens more with dimethoate, which readily dissolves in water, than with phorate, which is almost insoluble. At normal sowing rates the zones of insecticide round each seed would rarely overlap.
Roots of wheat and mustard from treated seed did not excrete insecticide, and the roots did not carry insecticide through the soil.     

Effect of Seed Treatment on Growth and Growth-substance Content of Dwarf French Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris)

The longer the seeds of dwarf French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris)were soaked in water before sowing, the smaller were the seedlingsthey produced. Soaking for 24 hours removed only little drymatter, but detectable amounts of a gibberellin and a betaine.The amounts of these two removed increased with increased timeof soaking. Long soaking of seeds decreased the amounts of gibberelinand auxin in the cotyledons, and of gibberellin, auxin, andbetaine in the primary leaves of seedlings. Aerating, cooling,or increasing the volume of water in which the seeds were soakedalso retarded the growth of the seedlings, but did not affectthe amount of growth substance removed from the seeds or containedin the cotyledons. The deleterious effect of soaking seeds wasnot alleviated by treating the seeds or seedlings with gibberellicacid or glycine betaine. Although larger seedlings were producedby heavy than by light seeds, their cotyledons and primary leavescontained similar concentrations of growth substances.     

SEED AND SOIL TREATMENT WITH SYSTEMIC INSECTICIDES TO PREVENT APHID COLONIZATION OF EMERGING BEET SEEDLINGS

Dimefox at 2 lb. or diethyl ethylthiomethyl dithiophosphate (Thimet) at 1 lb. applied at drilling in 100 gal. water along the drills, or seed treated at rates giving 6–8 oz. Thimet or 8–24 oz. diethyl ethylthioethyl dithiophosphate (Disyston) per acre†, made sugar beet seedlings toxic to aphids up to 30 days after sowing four root crops in April-May, and up to 30–40 days after sowing five steckling crops in autumn. Malathion, demeton, demeton methyl, bis (dimethylamino) azido phosphine oxide (N.C.7) and schradan were less effective. The infestation of green aphids was decreased by the treatments during what is often a critical period for virus infection in summer-sown stecklings and occasionally in spring-sown root crops. Germination was 73–100% of the control after soil treatments, 91–98% after Disyston seed treatments and 62–84% after Thimet seed treatments. The treatments slightly decreased Aphis fabae injury to steckling seedlings in 1955 and the number of plants with yellows in a steckling experiment in 1956.     

Effect ofLupinus seed diffusates onBradyrhizobium sp. growth and nodulation of lupine

Seeds of three species of lupine (Lupinus termis, L. triticale andL. albus) were tested to determine if the seed contains diffusable substances toxic to bradyrhizobia.L. albus seeds were less toxic to bradyrhizobia, followed byL. triticale. Six strains ofBradyrhizobium were evaluated for their resistance to the toxic substances in lupine seeds. Zones of growth inhibition were determined on yeast-mannitol-agar medium surrounding surface-sterilized seed. The effect of surface sterilization of seeds by different chemical treatments on seed toxicity was assessed. Seeds soaked in water for 1 h before placing on agar surface significantly decreased the inhibition zone. Also, the effect of soaking seeds in water for 4 h before planting and inoculation on nodulation, nitrogen fixation and plant growth were investigated. Addition of seed diffusate to soaked seeds significantly decreased nodulation and plant growth. Autoclaving the seed diffusate had no effect on the toxicity of the seed diffusate. Addition of the absorbent polyvinylpolypyrrolidone (PVPP) to seed diffusates significantly decreased the inhibitory effect of seed diffusate on nodulation and plant growth. Seed diffusate substances were water-soluble, heat-stable and partially bound to PVPP.     

SYSTEMIC INSECTICIDAL ACTION OF NICOTINE AND CERTAIN OTHER ORGANIC BASES

Nicotine and nicotine salts are taken up by the roots of plants from solutions, and when 0.01–0.001 % nicotine is used the plants become toxic to Aphis fabae and to Pieris brassicae larvae and can be shown to contain nicotine. The results with Phaedon cochleariae adults and larvae are less satisfactory. No systemic action is observed when the nicotine is watered on to soil in which plants are growing and no nicotine can be detected in the plants. Apparently the nicotine is decomposed in the soil.
When applied several times to the upper surface of a bean leaf nicotine kills aphids on the underside. There is some evidence that nicotine can be translocated further through the plant following leaf applications, but the toxic action at any distance is very weak in the plants used in the present experiments and can only be produced by frequent applications of rather concentrated nicotine solutions. Leaf absorption and subsequent translocation has not been observed with nicotine salts.
The various organic bases, including some piperidine phosphonites and allied compounds tested, are of very little interest as contact or systemic insecticides against aphids.     

THE EFFECT OF ORGANOPHOSPHORUS INSECTICIDAL SPRAYS ON THE GROWTH AND PHOSPHORUS CONTENT OF BRUSSELS SPROUTS

No evidence was found that the insecticides schradan or demeton directly increase the growth of plants. The dry weight of Brussels sprouts plants grown in soil supplying little phosphorus was unaffected by spraying six times with schradan or demeton, or with sodium phosphate Solution supplying the same amount of phosphorus as the insecticides. The dry weight of larger plants grown in soil supplying more phosphorus was unaffected by spraying with demeton or inorganic phosphorus Solutions; schradan spray decreased it in one experiment but not in the other.
Spraying with schradan, or with the equivalent amount of phosphorus as sodium phosphate, in one experiment increased the phosphorus content of plants grown in soil supplying little phosphorus. With high phosphorus supply in the same experiment, sodium phosphate Solution, but not schradan, increased phosphorus content of the plants slightly, but not significantly. Phosphorus content was not affected either by schradan sprays in the other experiment or by demeton sprays in both experiments.     

On the Nature of the Soaking Injury of Phaseolus vulgaris Seeds

Phaseolus vulgaris L. seeds are often killed or show signs ofsevere injury after they have been soaked in water for periodsexceeding a very few hours. But all ill effects can be largelyor completely prevented by any one of the following: (a) removingthe testa before or after soaking; (b) thorough or even partialdrying of the soaked seed; (c) draining the seed after cuttingoff its end portion; (d) treatment of the seed with hydrogenperoxide before, during, or after soaking. Air bubbled throughthe soaking water can aggravate the injury. By contrast, injuryfrom soaking can be prevented if oxygen has free access to theinterior of the seeds until they have imbibed about one-thirdof the water required for germination.It is suggested that,despite microbial complications at a later stage, the soakinginjury is caused at a critical early stage of germination bya deficient oxygen supply to the interior of the soaked seed,because during soaking the cavity between the cotyledons isflooded with an excess of water which remains trapped unlessforcibly removed.     

The use of menazon seed dressing to decrease spread of virus yellows in sugar-beet root crops

Menazon, an organophosphorus insecticide (only slightly toxic to mammals), applied to sugar-beet seed, decreased the proportion of seedlings infested with aphids during May and early June and the number of aphids per plant during June and early July to one-third of that in the control plots. It also checked the spread of virus yellows. Of eight field trials in 1965, 1966 and 1967 in which more than 10% of the plants in plots not treated with insecticide had yellows, menazon seed dressing increased sugar yield by about 8 cwt per acre. Spraying with demeton-methyl when ‘a spray warning’ was issued in the area gave a similar increase, and had no further effect on plots sown with menazon-treated seed. Menazon-dressed sugar-beet seed is recommended in regions where yellows is usually prevalent, or where there is reason to expect a large aphid infestation.     

Effects of Aphis fabae Scop, and of its attendant ants and insect predators on yields of field beans (Vicia faba L.)

Predators (mainly coccinellid adults and larvae and syrphid larvae), although few, were important in decreasing numbers of Aphis fabae on a small plot of field beans during the early stages of infestation in a year favourable to the aphid. At the same time, ants (Lasius niger L.), attending aphids on other plants on the same plot, effectively protected the aphids from predators for about 2 weeks, enabling the attended aphids to multiply faster than the unattended. When all aphid populations started to decline, predators became more numerous and accelerated the decline on both sets of plants. Bean plants without aphids yielded fifty-six seeds per plant; those with aphids but free from ants gave seventeen; and those with ant-attended aphids, eight seeds per plant. The damage and loss of yield was caused by the large aphid populations that developed when the pods were maturing, and not by the fewer aphids present when the plants were in flower. It appears that small, temporary infestations during flowering might increase the yield of field beans.     

The Role of White Mold-Infected White Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) Seeds in the Dissemination of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary

Sclerotinia sclerotiorum survived in infected seeds of white beans as dormant mycelium in testa and cotyledons. The rate of survival averaged 85 to 89% and did not change appreciably over a 3-year period. When the infected bean seeds were sown in soil or sand, 88 to 100% failed to germinate. The seeds that failed to germinate, depending on the severity of seed infection, were rotted by S. sclerotiorum. In place of each seed, 3 to 6 sclerotia were formed. A low percentage of these sclerotia germinated carpogenically with or without preconditioning, (2.5 and 11.5% respectively). Myceliogenic germination of sclerotia with and without preconditioning was 35.5% and 70.5% on water agar and 81.0% and 93.0% on glucose agar, respectively. Both, preconditioning and nonpreconditioned sclerotia which were scattered on soil surface could germinate myceliogenically and infect bean leaves by contact. It is therefore, concluded that dormant mycelia in the infected seeds play an important role notonly in dissemination of the fungus but also in epidemiology of the disease.     

Soaking of seed potatoes in phosphate solution to economise on the fertilizer input

Summary The effect of soaking seed tubers in P solution on tuber yield, P uptake and fertilizer economy was investigated on acid brown hill soil and alluvial soil from 1972 through 1975. Nondormant whole seed tubers soaked in 0.4 percent P solution of mono- and diammonium phosphate and of filtered superphosphate increased tuber yield and P uptake. The effect of the soaking on increasing the P composition of seed tubers was most pronounced in the case of monoammonium phosphates solution. Cut seed tuber pieces absorbed more P than the whole seed tubers. On highly P-deficient acid brown hill soil, soaking affored to economise on P application by about 25 kg P₂O₅/ha, applied to soil whereas on marginally deficient alluvial soil, a soaking treatment was adequate and obviated the need of soil application of P.     

The Appearance of Lactic Acid in Phaseolus Seeds Germinating under Wet Conditions

Under normal conditions of germination, there is never muchlactate in bean cotyledons, but when beans are germinated underwet conditions lactate accumulates for about 30 h and then slowlydisappears, as radicle emergence begins. Removal of the testaefrom soaked seeds prevents subsequent lactate accumulation.Lactate also appears in beans germinated under nitrogen. Lactate dehydrogenase activity is enhanced in wet or anaerobicconditions. Incubation with pyruvate increased lactate dehydrogenaseby 50 per cent. There was also a temporary accumulation of alcohol in beansgrown under wet conditions. Under wet conditions the production of respiratory carbon dioxidewas particularly slow during the period of lactate accumulation.     

Effect of tannin content of faba bean (Vicia faba) seed on seed vigour, germination and field emergence

Differences in seed vigour of zero- and high-tannin faba beans were investigated using 25 seed lots of 12 cultivars following earlier reports of poor emergence in the zero-tannin types. Field emergence ranged from 54–96% indicating differences in seed vigour between cultivars all having high laboratory germination (>91%). Seed from zero-tannin accessions with poor emergence had a higher incidence of testa and cotyledon cracking, a smaller percentage of hard seeds, more rapid water uptake, a lower percentage of vital staining of cotyledons and a greater leaching of solutes than high-tannin types. Nevertheless, variation in these characteristics existed between cultivars and lines of both types. Seeds with more cracks in the seed coat and fewer hard seeds imbibed water more rapidly and consequently showed lower levels of vital staining and more cracks in the abaxial surface of the cotyledons. Slower imbibition in polyethylene glycol lessened the incidence of these deleterious characteristics and may provide a practical resolution to the problem of poor field emergence in zero-tannin lines of faba bean with low seed vigour.     

Effect of sowing date on incidence of Sudanese broad bean mosaic virus in, and yield of, Viciafaba

Delaying the sowing of irrigated field beans in the Sudan after October greatly lowered the yield of seed, and increased both infestation by aphids and the incidence of Sudanese broad bean mosaic virus (SBBMV). Yield per plant was positively correlated with number of pods, but negatively with percentage infection with SBBMV. In greenhouse conditions, SBBMV was readily acquired from diseased plants and inoculated to healthy plants in 5 min feeding periods by both Aphis craccivora and Acyrthosiphon sesbaniae.     

CHANGES IN SENSITIVITY OF MAIZE CHROMOSOMES TO X RAYS DURING SEED GERMINATION

Latterell , Richard L., and Dale M. Steffensen . (Brookhaven Natl. Lab., Upton, L. I.. N. Y.) Changes in sensitivity of maize chromosomes to X rays during seed germination. Amer. Jour. Bot. 49(5): 472–478. Illus. 1962.—Changes in the radiosensitivity of maize seeds during early stages of germination were studied by means of somatic-mutation techniques. Seeds heterozygous for the yg₂ (yellow-green) locus were irradiated with 800 r of X rays after soaking in running tap water up to 42 hr. Yellow-green sectors, representing mutations affecting the dominant yg₂ locuss in leaves 4 and 5 of seedling plants were used as a criterion of radiosensitivity. The frequency of somatic sectors was virtually nil for dry seed and for seeds soaked up to 16 hr. Sector frequencies underwent a marked (9- to 15-fold) rise from 16 to 28 hr, reached a plateau of sensitivity and subsequently declined. Manometric studies were conducted on seeds soaked under the same conditions as those irradiated. The rate of oxygen consumption rose rapidly from 0 to 7 hr, remained essentially constant from 7 to 16 hr, then underwent an approximately 2-fold increase from 16 to 24 hr, after which the rate of progressive increase was retarded. The fact that the marked rise in frequency of X-ray-induced somatic sectors coincided with the major increase in oxygen consumption suggests that radiosensitivity of soaked seeds is conditioned by metabolic changes during seed development. Changes in radiosensitivity that followed attainment of peak sector frequencies were apparently governed by factors that influenced the rate of seed development.