ABSTRACT
Herbicide safeners are chemical compounds used to protect monocot crops (typically large-seeded cereals) from herbicide injury. Most herbicide safeners used today act by stimulating herbicide detoxification mechanisms in cereal crops although some examples of inactive herbicide antagonists may also be classified as safeners. This chapter reviews the historical development and commercialization of herbicide safeners and provide an update on recent advances in the understanding of safener-mediated signaling pathways for regulating plant defense gene expression in a tissue-specific manner. Several recent articles have reviewed the biochemical effects of safeners on detoxification enzyme activities and herbicide metabolism pathways in cereal crops. Activated carbon or charcoal can also be considered a herbicide safener. Numerous pesticides commercialized today, including insecticides and herbicides, are not actually toxic in the form that is applied to the pest. A new theory is that safeners may be utilizing an oxylipin-mediated signaling pathway, which subsequently leads to the expression of glutathione S-transferases (GSTs)and other proteins involved in detoxification responses.
