Cell suspension cultures of white clover (Trifolium repens L. ‘Regal Ladino’) were treated with 2,4-D [(2,4-dichlorophenoxy)acetic acid], 2,4-DB [4-(2,4-dichlorophenoxy)butyric acid], 2,4,5-T [(2,4,5-trichlorophenoxy)acetic acid], 2,4,5-TP [2-(2,4,5-trichlorophenoxy) propionic acid], and 2,4,5-TB [4-(2,4,5-trichlorophenoxy)butyric acid]. Cell population densities were monitored throughout the treatment period and herbicide remaining in the cells and culture medium was extracted and quantified at the termination of the treatment. Herbicide tolerance increased in cell populations which were conditioned by pretreatment with 2,4-DB and 2,4,5-T. However, 2,4-DB was rapidly degraded by all cell populations regardless of pretreatment. White clover cell suspension cultures treated with 2,4-D, 2,4-DB, 2,4,5-T, 2,4,5-TP and 2,4,5-TB metabolized the homologs, according to the following sequence: butyric acidåpropionic acidåacetic acid homologs. There was no difference in the rate of degradation of similar homologs of the 2,4-dichloro- and 2,4,5-trichloro- analogs.

The control of greasewood [Sarcobatus vermiculatus (Hook.) Torr.] and salt rabbitbrush [Chrysothamnus nauseosus ssp. consimilis (Greene) Hall and Clem.] was investigated with application of 2,4-D [(2,4-dichlorophenoxy)acetic acid] and a mixture of 2,4-D and picloram (4-amino-3,5,6-trichloropicolinic acid). The herbicides were applied at 2-week intervals from May 1 to August 1. Greasewood had accelerated shoot growth and was most susceptible to application of 2,4-D during June. Accelerated shoot growth and maximum susceptibility to 2,4-D of salt rabbitbrush began in June and extended into July. Mortality of greasewood and salt rabbitbrush from 2,4-D at 2.2 kg/ha applied at optimum dates averaged 72 and 87%, respectively. The picloram/2,4-D mixture was more effective for greasewood control than 2,4-D alone in 1 yr at very early and late application dates on a xeric site and only at the last date of application on a mesic site. Reapplication of 2,4-D at 2.2 and 3.3 kg/ha in June to partially controlled stands gave excellent control of both greasewood and rabbitbrush.

Enzymatically isolated American pondweed (Potamogeton nodosus Poir.) epidermal tissues were exposed to 14C-labeled dichlobenil (2,6-dichlorobenzonitrile), diquat (6,7-dihydrodipyrido[1,2-α: 2′, 1′-c] pyrazinediium ion), silvex [2-(2,4,5-trichlorophenoxy) propionic acid] or 2,4-D [(2,4-dichlorophenoxy)acetic acid] at concentrations of 5 × 10−4, 5 × 10−5, and 5 × 10−610M, and the amount of herbicide crossing the tissue layer was measured. Rates of herbicide movement were compared to those found when copper sulfate pentahydrate was added as a potential synergist at concentrations of 5 × 10−5 M (12.5 ppm), 5 × 10−6 M (1.25 ppm), and 5 × 10−7 M (0.125 ppm). Copper sulfate at 5 × 10−6 M increased the rate of movement of all herbicides. However, diquat and dichlobenil exhibited the most enhanced movement in the presence of copper sulfate. Without copper sulfate, 0.1 nmoles of 5 × 10−6 M 14C diquat penetrated the tissue within 24 h, compared to 1.3 nmoles following the addition of 5 × 10−7 M of copper sulfate.