Absorption and Penetration of Picloram in Potato Tuber Discs

Abstract

Discs of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) tuber tissue were immersed in buffered (pH 4.0 to 8.0) solutions of 4-amino-3,5,6-trichloropicolinic acid (picloram) (5 × 10⁻⁴M to 5 × 10⁻³M) for 1 to 36 hr. Uptake of picloram during incubation, and leakage after return of the discs to untreated buffer, were determined by gas chromatographic analysis of extracts of the tissue and ambient buffer. Picloram absorption increased with concentration and with time up to 24 hr. Maximum uptake occurred at pH 4.0 and very little picloram was absorbed at pH 7.0 and 8.0. Both absorption and leakage were temperature dependent. The rate and extent of leakage was greatest at the highest concentration. Typically, more than 90% of the picloram absorbed from 5 × 10⁻³M was lost to fresh buffer within 12 hr.