Potassium uptake in atrazine-treated roots of sensitive and resistan plants

Abstract The action of atrazine and its biodegradation products on the membrane transport of potassium in roots was evaluated in both sensitive and resistant plants. Excised roots of maize and oat showed inhibition of potassium uptake efficiency in the presence of 1.4 × 10 −4 M atrazine and 1.4 × 10 −4 M deethylated atrazine. Other biodegradation products such as 2-chloro-4-amino-6-ethylamino-1,3,5-triazine,2-chloro-4,6-,bisamino-1,3,5-triazine, and 2-chloro-4-amino-1,3,5-triazine showed no inhibitory effect on the K + uptake capacity. Two maize hybrids showing different uptake efficiency were inhibited differently by atrazine. We suggest that atrazine and deethylated atrazine inhibited the K + transport interacting directly with the plant cell membranes without discerning between resistant and sensitive plants.