Re-purposing shelved 'antibiotics' in the search for new herbicides. This project aims to identify target-specific herbicidal compounds that inhibit amino acid biosynthesis pathways to tackle herbicid

Description

Re-purposing shelved 'antibiotics' in the search for new herbicides. This project aims to identify target-specific herbicidal compounds that inhibit amino acid biosynthesis pathways to tackle herbicide resistance. This project expects to validate a novel herbicide discovery strategy by exploiting the similarity between bacterial and plant enzymes in these pathways to re-purpose failed 'antibiotics'. Expected outcomes include advances in our knowledge of the structure, function and inhibition of novel herbicide targets, and the identification of compounds with herbicidal activity. This should lay the foundations for long-term benefits related to improving the quantity and quality of Australia’s crops to ensure our food security.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 0601 - Biochemistry and Cell Biology. Lead: A/Prof Tatiana Soares da Costa