Kathy,
I hold the title of Professor Emeritus of Pharmacology, Physiology and
Biophysics at the University if Miami. Can I serve as the Physiology
Professor you seek until one more to your liking comes along?
Not all the unfiltered information one obtains from a Googol search can
be properly understood without interpretation. The toxic affect of Paraquat
is indeed interference with cellular electron transport, which eventually
does lead to secondary degeneration of membranes by free radicals, but this is
an unspecific, secondary consequence. I append below another Internet entry
which presents things in a more accurate perspective. Pardon my dwelling on
this bit of arcana, but cellular electron transport was the major area of my
research career.
Bert Pressman
How does paraquat act on weeds?
In terms of its action on weeds, paraquat interferes with the intracellular
electron transfer systems, thus inhibiting the reduction of an enzyme during
photosynthesis. This will then result in the accumulation of superoxide
radicals which cause destruction of lipid cell membranes of the leaves.
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