Herbicides affect fluorescence and electron transfer activity of spinach chloroplasts, thylakoid membranes and isolated Photosystem II

In this work, studies on the effects produced by atrazine, terbutryn or diuron onto spinach photosynthetic materials were performed by observing changes in fluorescence emission and in electron transfer activities of the bio-samples in the presence of such herbicides; chloroplasts, thylakoids, Photosystem II-enriched thylakoids (BBYs) and isolated Photosystem II (PSII) were employed. This approach evidenced differences in the herbicide–photosynthetic material interactions going up–down from chloroplasts to proteins. Rapid emission increments were detected for chloroplasts and thylakoids, in particular in the presence of terbutryn; no remarkable emission increment was recorded when BBYs or PSII were used for this assay. The dependences of the chloroplast and thylakoid emission intensities upon herbicide concentration were investigated with responses even at concentrations below 10− 7 M. The influence of lowering the temperature was also tested, and the stabilizing effects on the resistances of the bio-samples against herbicides were recorded. Furthermore, Hill Reaction-based colorimetric assays were performed to monitor the electron transfer activities of the bio-samples in the presence of herbicides, after brief incubations. As a result, chloroplasts and thylakoids resulted to be sensitive tools in responding to concentrations even lower than 10− 7 M of most herbicides; nevertheless, an interesting sensitivity to herbicides was also observed for PSII.