Open AccessAldo‐keto reductase enzymes detoxify glyphosate and improve herbicide resistance in plants
Author(s) -
Vemanna Ramu S.,
Vennapusa Amaranatha Reddy,
Easwaran Murugesh,
Chandrashekar Babitha K.,
Rao Hanumantha,
Ghanti Kirankumar,
Sudhakar Chinta,
Mysore Kirankumar S.,
Makarla Udayakumar
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
plant biotechnology journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.525
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1467-7652
pISSN - 1467-7644
DOI - 10.1111/pbi.12632
Subject(s) - glyphosate , biology , transgene , genetically modified crops , arabidopsis , glufosinate , reductase , shikimic acid , glycine , mutant , gene , enzyme , biochemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , amino acid
Summary In recent years, concerns about the use of glyphosate‐resistant crops have increased because of glyphosate residual levels in plants and development of herbicide‐resistant weeds. In spite of identifying glyphosate‐detoxifying genes from microorganisms, the plant mechanism to detoxify glyphosate has not been studied. We characterized an aldo‐keto reductase gene from Pseudomonas ( Ps AKR 1 ) and rice ( Os AKR 1 ) and showed, by docking studies, both Ps AKR 1 and Os AKR 1 can efficiently bind to glyphosate. Silencing AKR 1 homologues in rice and Nicotiana benthamiana or mutation of AKR 1 in yeast and Arabidopsis showed increased sensitivity to glyphosate. External application of AKR proteins rescued glyphosate‐mediated cucumber seedling growth inhibition. Regeneration of tobacco transgenic lines expressing Ps AKR 1 or Os AKRI on glyphosate suggests that AKR can be used as selectable marker to develop transgenic crops. Ps AKR 1‐ or Os AKRI ‐expressing tobacco and rice transgenic plants showed improved tolerance to glyphosate with reduced accumulation of shikimic acid without affecting the normal photosynthetic rates. These results suggested that AKR 1 when overexpressed detoxifies glyphosate in planta .