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Sensitivity of Ion Accumulation by Cucumber Seedlings to Nitrapyrin and to 6-Chloropicolinic Acid¹

Certain plants, such as cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.), are very susceptible to growth restrictions and aberrations induced by nitrapyrin, a nitrification inhibitor, or by its metabolite, 6-chloropicolinic acid (PCA). Injuries produced by these materials closely resemble those caused by growth regulator substances, which are known to affect cell membrane permeability and ion uptake. Because ion uptake may be similarly affected by nitrapyrin or PCA, this study was undertaken to investigate the effects of these chemicals on NO₃^– C1^–, K⁺ and Ca⁺⁺ absorption by cucumber.

Two-week-old plants were grown in growth chambers using nutrient solutions with nitrapyrin or PCA added during a treatment period which ranged from 30 to 96 hours. Relative to untreated controls, NO₃^–, K⁺, and Ca⁺⁺ absorptions were restricted 24, 17, and 25%, respectively, by nitrapyrin and 52, 36, and 28% by PCA at 5.0 x 10⁰M. Likewise, relative chloride absorption was doubled by nitrapyrin and more than quadrupled by PCA.

It was suggested that nitrapyrin and PCA affect ion uptake by altering membrane permeability in a fashion similar to that proposed for auxin types of compounds.

Key Words: N-Serve • Growth regulators • Herbicides • Cucumis sativus L.

² Graduate research assistant, professor, and graduate research assistant, Dep. of Plant and Soil Sciences, Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003.

Received for publication August 22, 1977.