NON-DIFFERENTIAL SENSITIVITY TO THE HERBICIDE METRIBUZIN IN TOMATO CELL SUSPENSION CULTURES

Non-photosynthetic cell suspension cultures were established of four tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill) cultivars with different degrees of seedling sensitivity to metribuzin. Growth in these cultures was not affected by levels of herbicide which are lethal to photosynthetic seedlings, but was inhibited by a concentration of 150 ppm. Although these cultivars display a differential ability to tolerate applications of metribuzin as seedlings, the cultures displayed no differential tolerance to the herbicide in the medium.