Morphological and Physiological Effects of 2,4-D on Gram-Negative and Gram-Positive Bacteria

Manometric, spectrophotometric, photomicrographic and quantitative biochemical techniques were employed to determine the morphological and physiological effects of 2,4-D on Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The growth and motility of Gram-positive bacteria appeared to be more adversely affected than the growth and motility of Gram-negative species. The terminal oxidation, lysis, and chain length of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria did not appear to be affected by the concentrations used. The average cell size of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria was observed to increase after exposure to 1000 ppm 2,4-D. The normal leakage of amino acid and ultraviolet light absorbing cell constituents appeared to be retarded by 1000 ppm 2,4-D.