Soil Moisture Effects on Glyphosate Absorption and Translocation in Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)

Absorption and translocation of 14 C-glyphosate [ N -(phosphonomethyl)glycine] by moisture-stressed common milkweed ( Asclepias syriaca L. ♯ ASCSY) was studied in greenhouse and growth chamber experiments. Water-stressed [13% (w/w) soil moisture] common milkweed plants treated with glyphosate at 1.1 kg ae/ha produced shoot regrowth equal to untreated plants, whereas shoot regrowth of nonstressed [25% (w/w) soil moisture] glyphosate-treated plants was only 6% of untreated plants. All shoot regrowth originated from buds on the proximal half of roots. Common milkweed plants, maintained at 25% soil moisture, absorbed 44% of the 14 C-glyphosate applied and translocated 20% from the treated leaf, whereas plants at 13% soil moisture absorbed 29% and translocated 7%. Wiping the leaf with tissue paper wetted with distilled water or chloroform prior to 14 C-glyphosate application increased absorption from 35 (unwiped leaves) to 62 and 77%, respectively, for plants at 25% soil moisture, and increased absorption from 14 to 42 and 46%, respectively, for plants at 13% soil moisture. Wiping failed to increase translocation out of the treated leaf for plants at either soil moisture regime. Latex samples taken from the abaxial leaf surface opposite 14 C-glyphosate-treated leaves and from petioles of treated leaves did not contain 14 C, indicating that glyphosate did not enter laticifers. Proximal root buds accumulated less 14 C-radioactivity than distal root buds and had lower respiratory rates, suggesting that proximal root buds are more dormant than distal root buds and thus accumulate less glyphosate.