Interaction of organic solvents with the epicuticular wax layer of wheat leaves.

After foliar application, compounds that are not absorbed into leaves can be removed from the leaf surface by dipping or rinsing in dilutions of organic solvents in water. However, interactions between solvent mixtures and the epicuticular wax layer have received little attention, and information on potential physical and chemical intactness of the plant surface following application of solvents is limited. In this study, wheat leaves were dipped in organic solvents at different dilutions with water, and the major component of the leaf epicuticular wax layer, 1-octacosanol, was analyzed to assess damage to the wax layer.

Characterization of aryloxyalkanoate dioxygenase-12, a nonheme Fe(II)/α-ketoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase, expressed in transgenic soybean and Pseudomonas fluorescens.

Aryloxyalkanoate dioxygenase-12 (AAD-12) was discovered from the soil bacterium Delftia acidovorans MC1 and is a nonheme Fe(II)/α-ketoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase, which can impart herbicide tolerance to transgenic plants by catalyzing the degradation of certain phenoxyacetate, pyridyloxyacetate, and aryloxyphenoxypropionate herbicides. (1) The development of commercial herbicide-tolerant crops, in particular AAD-12-containing soybean, has prompted the need for large quantities of the enzyme for safety testing. To accomplish this, the enzyme was produced in Pseudomonas fluorescens (Pf) and purified to near homogeneity.