Organic toxicants and plants.

Organic xenobiotics absorbed by roots and leaves of higher plants are translocated by different physiological mechanisms. The following pathways of xenobiotic detoxication have been observed in higher plants: conjugation with such endogenous compounds as peptides, sugars, amino acids, and organic acids; oxidative degradation and consequent oxidation of xenobiotics with the final participation of their carbon atoms in regular cell metabolism. The small parts of xenobiotics are excreted maintaining their original structure and configuration.

Effect of low-molecular-weight alkanes on the plant cell photosynthetic apparatus.

The effects of aliphatic hydrocarbons--methane, ethane, propane, butane, and their mixture--on the photosynthetic apparatus of maize (Zea mays) and raygrass (Arrhenetherum elatius) leaves have been studied. The pathology of subcellular organelles as well as of the whole architectonics of the cell was observed. An especially destructive action of alkanes is expressed on the granalamellae system of chloroplasts.