Biochemical and physical-chemical determinations can help verify the type of herbicide interaction. Three experiments were conducted with two oxidative stress generating herbicides to demonstrate possible synergism in their association. Sunflower plants were grown in nutrient solution up to the stage of two pairs of leaves, followed by herbicide application. Treatments consisted of metribuzin at 0 and 0.28 µmol L-1 and clomazone at 0 and 80 µmol L-1, in four replicates, alone and in combination. In the material collected, three days after application, malondialdehyde content was determined by the TBARS method. In another experiment, the herbicides were tested over forty 4 mm sunflower leaf discs in 5 mL of MESNaOH pH 6.5 buffer. Treatments consisted of metribuzin at 0 and 12 µmol L-1 and clomazone at 0 and 237 µmol L-1, in four replicates, alone and in combination. The treated leaf discs were dark-incubated for 24 h at 24 °C and light-incubated for 36 h at the same temperature. Electrolyte leakage of the solution was then measured. Compared to application of metribuzin and clomazone alone the two herbicide combination increased the MDA equivalent in 217% and 166%, and electrolyte leakage in 37 and 41%, respectively. These results demonstrate the existence of synergism in the metribuzin/clomazone combination at the studied rates, at a biochemical and physical-chemical level.
TBARS; electrolyte leakage; synergism; herbicide combination
