Desaturation of Fatty acids associated with monogalactosyl diacylglycerol: the effects of san 6706 and san 9785.

The effects of two substituted pyridazinone herbicides, San 6706 and San 9785, on photosynthesis, dark respiration, and fatty acid metabolism were studied in mature leaf tissue of Vicia faba.Both San 6706 and San 9785 inhibited photosynthesis within 2 hours after initial exposure of leaf tissue to the chemicals although San 9785 was more effective in inhibiting photosynthesis than San 6706. Neither San 6706 nor San 9785 had any marked effect on dark respiration.Kinetic studies using (14)CO(2) indicated that synthesis of 18:3 esterified to monogalactosyl diacylglycerol (MGDG) was not completely inhibited by San 9785 up to 48 hours after feeding. Radioactivity was observed to accumulate in MGDG (digalactosyl diacylglycerol [DGDG] and sulpholipid [SL]) 18:2 at the expense of 18:3 but the specific radioactivity of MGDG 18:3 continued to increase throughout the experiment indicating only partial inhibition of MGDG 18:3 synthesis. No significant differences were observed in the metabolism of other fatty acids. The metabolism of fatty acids from leaf tissue was not affected by treatment with San 6706.The data indicate that there are at least two sites for 18:2 desaturation to form 18:3, one associated with MGDG in the chloroplast, which is inhibited by San 9785, and one or more sites not inhibited by San 9785. The fatty acid specific radioactivity data support the hypothesis that there is vectorial transfer of fatty acids from phosphatidyl choline to MGDG to produce the large quantities of MGDG 18:3 found in higher plant tissue.