Herbicide metabolism by glutathione conjugation in plants.

Glutathione conjugation of foreign compounds is the first step in the mercapturic acid pathway for the detoxication and elimination of toxic compounds in mammals. Plants have been found to metabolize and detoxify some organic herbicides by glutathione conjugation, but the terminal products seem to be different from that in mammals. The terminal product in plants appears to be insoluble residue and not the mercapturic acid derivative which is normally excreted in mammals. The insoluble residue very likely remains in the plant body during the life of the plant. The differences in metabolism between plants and animals may have been necessitated by the lack of an excretory system in plants.