Some D-amino acid (glutamic acid, valine, or leucine) conjugates of 2,4,-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) Soybean tissue cultures metabolize the auxin herbicide 2,4-D2 to amino acid and water-soluble (glycosides) conjugates (9,11,12,17,18)
MATERIALS AND METHODSCallus tissue used in these experiments was derived from soybean root (Glycine max L. var. Amsoy 71). Callus cultures were grown on an agar-solidified medium (16) with 3% sucrose, kinetin (2.32 AM), and NAA (10 tM). Cultures were maintained at 25°C under continuous fluorescent light (0.5 ,uE/m2. s).For the cell elongation bioassay oat seeds, Avena sativa L. (var. Mariner) were dehusked, surface sterilized in 5% H202 for 20 min and rinsed five times with distilled H20. The sterilized seeds were spread over moist filter paper in glass trays and kept in the dark at approximately 25°C temperature for 24 h. The germinated seeds were then exposed to red light for 4 h (red filtered incandescent lamp) and then allowed to grow in the dark for an additional 48 h. The apical tips were removed (approximately 2 mm) from the coleoptiles and 6.5-mm sections were cut 2 h after the initial decapitation. Ten sections were added to each Petri dish containing 10 ml of basal medium (2% sucrose in 0.01 M KH2PO4) with or without 2,4-D or the amino acid conjugates at concentrations of 1 or 10 ,UM. The coleoptile sections were incubated in the dark for 20 h and then measured. Some experiments with 2,4-D-(D)-leucine were run under sterile conditions. The seeds were surface sterilized in 20%/o commercial bleach (1% NaOCI) plus Tween 20 (0.05%) for 20 min. The seeds were washed five times with sterile H20 and germinated in sterile Pyrex baking dishes. Sections were aseptically cut and transferred to sterile treatment solutions or nutrient agar for checking microbial contamination.For the soybean callus bioassay, four small clumps of tissue (approximately 10 mg each) were aseptically transferred to 125-ml flasks containing 50 ml of medium as previously described.