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Background: Numerous pesticides and herbicides used in excess cause oxidative stress in plants. These chemicals protect plants from weeds and pests, but they also have very negative side effects, making them common abiotic stressors. One of the most significant nutritional crops in the world is the wheat plant. Conditions of herbicide stress have a negative impact on the plant’s phonological phases and metabolic pathways. Plants primarily make an effort to adjust to the environment and develop oxidative homeostasis, which supports stress tolerance. Methods: When controlling broadleaf weeds that emerge after cereal crop plants have been planted, bromoxynil is frequently used as a selective-contact herbicide. This study looked at the effects of the cyanobacteria Arthrospira platensis and Nostoc muscorum aqueous extracts, tryptophan, and bromoxynil (Bh) alone or in combination on wheat plant growth parameters. Both tryptophan and cyanobacterial extract were used as chemical and natural safeners against Bh application. The antioxidant activity and transcriptome studies using qRT-PCR were assayed after 24, 48, 72, 96 h, and 15 days from Bh application in the vegetation stage of wheat plants (55 days old). Results: In comparison with plants treated with Bh, wheat plants treated with cyanobacteria and tryptophan showed improvements in all growth parameters. Following application of Bh, wheat plants showed reduced glutathione content, as well as reduced antioxidant enzyme activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, and glutathione-s-transferase. The combination of different treatments and Bh caused alleviation of the harmful effect induced by Bh on the measured parameters. Additionally, the expression of glutathione synthase and glutathione peroxidase, in addition to those of three genes (Zeta, Tau, and Lambda) of the GST gene family, was significantly upregulated when using Bh alone or in combination with different treatments, particularly after 24 h of treatment. Conclusion: The current study suggests using cyanobacterial extracts, particularly the A. platensis extract, for the development of an antioxidant defense system against herbicide toxicity, which would improve the metabolic response of developed wheat plants.

Herbicide safeners protect cereal crops from herbicide injury by inducing genes and proteins involved in detoxification reactions, such as glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) and cytochrome P450s (P450s). Only a few studies have characterized gene or protein expression profiles for investigating plant responses to safener treatment in cereal crops, and most transcriptome analyses in response to safener treatments have been conducted in dicot model species that are not protected by safener from herbicide injury. In this study, three different approaches were utilized in grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) to investigate mechanisms involved in safener-regulated signaling pathways. An initial transcriptome analysis was performed to examine global gene expression in etiolated shoot tissues of hybrid grain sorghum following treatment with the sorghum safener, fluxofenim. Most upregulated transcripts encoded detoxification enzymes, including P450s, GSTs, and UDP-dependent glucosyltransferases (UGTs). Interestingly, several of these upregulated transcripts are similar to genes involved with the biosynthesis and recycling/catabolism of dhurrin, an important chemical defense compound, in these seedling tissues. Secondly, 761 diverse sorghum inbred lines were evaluated in a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to determine key molecular-genetic factors governing safener-mediated signaling mechanisms and/or herbicide detoxification. GWAS revealed a significant single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) associated with safener-induced response on chromosome 9, located within a phi-class SbGST gene and about 15-kb from a different phi-class SbGST. Lastly, the expression of these two candidate SbGSTs was quantified in etiolated shoot tissues of sorghum inbred BTx623 in response to fluxofenim treatment. SbGSTF1 and SbGSTF2 transcripts increased within 12-hr after fluxofenim treatment but the level of safener-induced expression differed between the two genes. In addition to identifying specific GSTs potentially involved in the safener-mediated detoxification pathway, this research elucidates a new direction for studying both constitutive and inducible mechanisms for chemical defense in cereal crop seedlings.

Salicylic acid (SA) is an endogenous plant hormone that has a wide range of pharmacological effects. Studies have indicated that SA has herbicide safening activity. In this study, the herbicide safening activity of SA and 20 substituted molecules were tested on agar-cultured rice. Biological assay results indicated that SA and substituted SA had a low inhibitory effect on the growth of rice seedlings (Oryza sativa), and partially alleviated the effects of metolachlor toxicity. Moreover, at 0.25 mg L−1, the safening effect of compounds l and u lessened the effects of metolachlor phytotoxicity on plant height and fresh weight when compared to the effects of the control, fenclorim. The effects of metolachlor toxicity were reduced on root length due to the safening effects of compounds l, n, and u; these effects were greater than those of fenclorim. These compounds could facilitate the development of novel herbicide safeners.

The expression of glutathione S-transferase (GST) activity in wheat and maize shoots was investigated in response to treatments with the herbicide safeners benoxacor, cloquintocet-mexyl, fenchlorazole-ethyl, fenclorim, fluxofenim and oxabetrinil. These safeners significantly enhanced the GST activity towards 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (CDNB) as a 'standard' substrate, with the exception of oxabetrinil in maize. The enhancements of GST (CDNB) activity were found to be concomitant with increases in V(max) (the reaction rate when the enzyme is fully saturated by the substrate) in wheat following cloquintocet-mexyl and fenchlorazole-ethyl treatments, and in maize following fenchlorazole-ethyl treatment. Otherwise, decreases in V(max) were observed in wheat and maize following fenclorim and fluxofenim treatments. With the exception of oxabetrinil, all the safeners significantly reduced the apparent K(M) (the substrate concentration required for 50% of maximum GST activity) of both wheat and maize GST. The V(max) and K(M) variations following safener treatments are discussed in terms of an increased expression of GST enzymes and an increased affinity for the CDNB substrate. The activity of wheat and maize GST was also assayed towards butachlor and terbuthylazine respectively; the results indicate the ability of cloquintocet-mexyl, fenchlorazole-ethyl and fluxofenim to enhance the enzyme activity in wheat and of benoxacor and fenchlorazole-ethyl to do so in maize.

This article 'Butachlor safener combinations for weed control in direct-seeded puddled rice' appeared in the International Rice Research Notes series, created by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) to expedite communication among scientists concerned with the development of improved technology for rice and rice-based systems. The series is a mechanism to help scientists keep each other informed of current rice research findings. The concise scientific notes are meant to encourage rice scientists to communicate with one another to obtain details on the research reported.