The effect of quinone herbicides and fungicides on photosynthetic reactions in isolated spinach (Spinacia oleracea) chloroplasts was investigated. 2,3-Dichloro-1,4-naphthoquinone (dichlone), 2-amino-3-chloro-1,4-naphthoquinone (06K-quinone), and 2,3,5,6-tetrachloro-1,4-benzoquinone (chloranil) inhibited ferricyanide reduction as well as ATP formation. Benzoquinone had little or no effect on these reactions. The two reactions showed a differential sensitivity to these inhibitors. Dichlone was a strong inhibitor of both photosystems I and II; photosystem I was more sensitive to 06K-quinone than was photosystem II, whereas the reverse was true of chloranil. Chloranil and 06K-quinone inhibited ferricyanide reduction and the coupled photophosphorylation to the same extent, whereas dichlone affected photophosphorylation to a greater extent than the ferricyanide reduction.CO(2) fixation was inhibited by all the quinones to varying degrees. In chloroplasts treated with 06K-quinone or benzoquinone, CO(2) fixation was inhibited to a greater extent than the photoreduction of ferricyanide or ATP formation, indicating the possibility that the two quinones may also inhibit certain reactions in the carbon reduction cycle. The effect of dichlone and chloranil, but not of 06K-quinone, was overcome by the addition of reduced glutathione. The quinones caused an increase in the proportion of (14)C incorporated into 3-phosphoglyceric acid and a reduction in the amount of glycolic acid.