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Bleaching Herbicides: Action Mechanism in Carotenoid Biosynthesis, Structural Requirements and Engineering of Resistance

  • Chapter
Herbicide Classes in Development

Abstract

Carotenoids are essential components for the assembly of the photosynthetic apparatus of green plants. They are constituents of the photosynthetic reaction centers and the antenna (Siefermann-Harms 1987). There, they serve as accessory pigments in light harvesting and play an active role in electron transfer processes of photosystem II (Tracewell et al. 2001). An essential function of carotenoids is protection of the photosystems against photooxidation caused by excited triplet state chlorophyll (Demmig-Adams et al. 1996). Especially under high light stress, protection by carotenoids is essential. A turnover of the carotenoids in light was demonstrated recently (Simkin et al. 2000). Compounds which even partially inhibit carotenoid synthesis may prevent the formation of enough carotenoids to ensure efficient photoprotection. As a result, the degradation of chlorophyll depending on the intensity of illumination leads to the typical bleaching symptoms in plants. Thus, the herbicidal effect caused by all compounds which inhibit the formation of cyclic carotenoids is the decline of photosynthetic activity.

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Authors
  1. Gerhard Sandmann
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, University of Konstanz, D-78457, Konstanz, Germany

    Peter Böger

  2. Department of Physiology and Biochemistry, Tamagawa University, Machida-shi, Tokyo, 194-8610, Japan

    Ko Wakabayashi

  3. Sagami Chemical Research Center, Hayakawa 2743-1, Ayase Kanagawa, 252-1193, Japan

    Kenji Hirai

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© 2002 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Sandmann, G. (2002). Bleaching Herbicides: Action Mechanism in Carotenoid Biosynthesis, Structural Requirements and Engineering of Resistance. In: Böger, P., Wakabayashi, K., Hirai, K. (eds) Herbicide Classes in Development. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-59416-8_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-59416-8_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-63972-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-59416-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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