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. 1988 May;7(5):1299–1305. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1988.tb02944.x

Import of a precursor protein into chloroplasts is inhibited by the herbicide glyphosate

Guy della-Cioppa 1, Ganesh M Kishore 1
PMCID: PMC458408  PMID: 16453841

Abstract

Import of the precursor to 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (pEPSPS) into chloroplasts is inhibited by the herbicide glyphosate. Inhibition of import is maximal at glyphosate concentrations of ≥10 μm and occurs only when pEPSPS is present as a ternary complex of enzyme–shikimate-3-phosphate–glyphosate. Glyphosate alone had no effect on the import of pEPSPS since it is not known to interact with the enzyme in the absence of shikimate-3-phosphate. Experiments with wild-type and glyphosate-resistant mutant forms of pEPSPS show that inhibition of import is directly proportional to the binding constants for glyphosate. Inhibition of import is thus a direct consequence of glyphosate binding to the enzyme–shikimate-3-phosphate complex. The potential for non-specific effects of glyphosate on the chloroplast transport mechanism has been discounted by showing that import of another chloroplast-designated protein was unaffected by high concentrations of glyphosate and shikimate-3-phosphate. The mechanism of import inhibition by glyphosate is consistent with a precursor unfolding/refolding model.

Keywords: EPSP synthase, shikimate pathway, transit peptide

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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