TY - GEN
T1 - Actinonin-induced inhibition of plant peptide deformylase
T2 - A paradigm for the design of novel broad-spectrum herbicides
AU - Hou, Cai Xia
AU - Williams, Mark
PY - 2006
Y1 - 2006
N2 - Peptide deformylase, which catalyzes the removal of N-formyl groups from the initiating N-formyl-methionine of nascent polypeptides, has recently been characterized from several plants, including rice, tomato and Arabidopsis thaliana. The two Arabidopsis thaliana DEF genes, AtDEF1 and AtDEF2, encode enzymes which are functionally active both in vitro and in vivo and are catalytically inactivated by the naturally-occurring peptide deformylase inhibitor actinonin, a product of a soil-borne actinomycete. Actinonin has profound herbicidal effects when applied to many plant species both pre- and postemergence. Transgenic tobacco plants were engineered to over-express each of the AtDEF proteins. These plants were completely resistant to the herbicidal effects of actinonin. This data provides the first unequivocal evidence that the lethality of actinonin to plants in vivo is strictly a consequence of the inhibition of peptide deformylase activity. This work also confirms that peptide deformylase is a valid target for both the development of novel broad-spectrum herbicides, and the engineering of herbicide selectivity in plants without the use of foreign genes.
AB - Peptide deformylase, which catalyzes the removal of N-formyl groups from the initiating N-formyl-methionine of nascent polypeptides, has recently been characterized from several plants, including rice, tomato and Arabidopsis thaliana. The two Arabidopsis thaliana DEF genes, AtDEF1 and AtDEF2, encode enzymes which are functionally active both in vitro and in vivo and are catalytically inactivated by the naturally-occurring peptide deformylase inhibitor actinonin, a product of a soil-borne actinomycete. Actinonin has profound herbicidal effects when applied to many plant species both pre- and postemergence. Transgenic tobacco plants were engineered to over-express each of the AtDEF proteins. These plants were completely resistant to the herbicidal effects of actinonin. This data provides the first unequivocal evidence that the lethality of actinonin to plants in vivo is strictly a consequence of the inhibition of peptide deformylase activity. This work also confirms that peptide deformylase is a valid target for both the development of novel broad-spectrum herbicides, and the engineering of herbicide selectivity in plants without the use of foreign genes.
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M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:36749011297
SN - 0841239339
SN - 9780841239333
T3 - ACS Symposium Series
SP - 243
EP - 254
BT - Natural Products for Pest Management
A2 - Rimando, Agnes
A2 - Duke, Stephen
ER -