Navigation Links
Researchers discover natural herbicide released by grass
Date:11/8/2007

Certain varieties of common fescue lawn grass come equipped with their own natural broad-spectrum herbicide that inhibits the growth of weeds and other plants around them.

Cornell researchers have identified the herbicide as an amino acid called meta-tyrosine, or m-tyrosine, that these lawn grasses exude from their roots in large amounts. This amino acid is a close relative of para-tyrosine (p-tyrosine), one of the 20 common amino acids that form proteins.

Reporting on the discovery in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science, Frank Schroeder, the paper's senior author and an assistant scientist at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research on Cornell's campus, said, "We at first didn't believe m-tyrosine had anything to do with the observed herbicidal activity, but then we tested it and found it to be extremely toxic to plants but not toxic to fungi, mammals or bacteria."

Co-author Cecile Bertin, Ph.D. '05, research director for PharmAfrican, a Montreal-based bio-pharmaceuticals company, made the initial discovery that fescue grasses inhibit plants from growing around them.

While m-tyrosine itself is too water soluble to be applied directly as a herbicide, this research may lead to development of new varieties of fescue grasses that suppress weeds more effectively, which could reduce the need for synthetic herbicides, said Schroeder. By increasing our understanding of basic plant biology, the discovery of m-tyrosine's herbicidal properties could also help researchers discover more sustainable ways to control weeds or completely new herbicides, Schroeder added.

He and his colleagues are now conducting experiments to understand how m-tyrosine works as a plant killer. Plants depend on the production of large amounts of another common amino acid, phenylalanine, which is essential for the biosynthesis of wood, cell walls and lignin.

"Phenylalanine, m-tyrosine and p-tyrosine are structurally all very sim
'/>"/>

Contact: Blaine Friedlander
bpf2@cornell.edu
607-254-8093
Cornell University Communications
Source:Eurekalert

0

GOOD

Page: 1 2

Related biology news :

1. Researchers identify proteins involved in new neurodegenerative syndrome
2. Texas researchers and educators head for Antarctica
3. MGH researchers describe new way to identify, evolve novel enzymes
4. University of Pennsylvania researchers develop formula to gauge risk of disease clusters
5. U of MN researchers discover noninvasive diagnostic tool for brain diseases
6. U of Minnesota researchers discover noninvasive diagnostic tool for brain diseases
7. Researchers discover new strategies for antibiotic resistance
8. Researchers find new taste in fruit flies: carbonated water
9. Binghamton University researchers investigate evolving malaria resistance
10. UIC researchers find promising new targets for antibiotics
11. Researchers develop simple method to create natural drug products

Post Your Comments:
*Name:
*Comment:
*Email:
(Date:11/8/2009)...TS WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES: AN OPPORTUNITY ...dy involving adults with intellectual disabilities...alth knowledge after taking a semi-weekly class fo...lly accepted term for mental retardation, have sli... and preventable chronic diseases compared to the ...
(Date:11/6/2009)...burn Hills, MI-based Law Enforcement Intelligent D...ystem and patent-pending Biometric Access Control ... and Human Services, National Institutes of Health...ill support the NIH,s entire police force that is ...search agency. The project is expected to be comp...
(Date:11/5/2009)... a training grant in the amount of $2,756,719 by t...ve Graduation Education and Research Training (IGE...warded to Kent State. The grant, which is funded u... 2009, runs through 2014. , The grant funds an I...esource sensing (EARS). The purpose of the program...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):Indiana U. at APHA: Studies about health education for people with ID, stability balls at work 2Indiana U. at APHA: Studies about health education for people with ID, stability balls at work 3Kent State receives $2.7 million NSF training grant for environmental aquatic resource sensing 2Maricopa Integrated Health System Reports 90 Percent Reduction in Pressure Ulcers 48784 1Maricopa Integrated Health System Reports 90 Percent Reduction in Pressure Ulcers 48784 2Maricopa Integrated Health System Reports 90 Percent Reduction in Pressure Ulcers 48784 3Maricopa Integrated Health System Reports 90 Percent Reduction in Pressure Ulcers 48784 4Maricopa Integrated Health System Reports 90 Percent Reduction in Pressure Ulcers 48784 5Sleep Training Provides Much Needed Shut Eye 48780 1Sleep Training Provides Much Needed Shut Eye 48780 2New Treatment Option at The Sarah Cannon Cancer Center Provides Hope for Inoperable Tumors 48776 1New Treatment Option at The Sarah Cannon Cancer Center Provides Hope for Inoperable Tumors 48776 2New Treatment Option at The Sarah Cannon Cancer Center Provides Hope for Inoperable Tumors 48776 3
...ick,s horticultural research arm Warwick HRI have ...nt DNA that will provide a massive boost to the wo... libraries is the largest of its type in the world...ce. , The Warwick researchers have set up a new sp...mited" to develop this powerful new resource for p...
...rapy for breast cancer , A team from the Universi...at by using a cancer vaccine based on the bacteriu...established breast tumors. Cancer vaccines, which ... by boosting an immune response against tumor-asso...s, led by Yvonne Paterson, PhD, Professor of Micro...
...by biologists at New York University,s Center for ...with researchers at Harvard University, the Max Pl...out a preliminary molecular diagram of the early s...time a global look at how a single cell begins its... are reported in the August 11 issue of the journa...
Other Biology News:New plant DNA libraries provides massive boost to world's plant researchers 2Breast tumors in mice eradicated using cancer vaccine 2Breast tumors in mice eradicated using cancer vaccine 3NYU biologists map out early stages of embryo formation 2
(Date:11/5/2009)... Md., Nov. 5 GenVec, Inc...esults for the third quarter ended September 30, 2...0.04 per share) for the three months ended Septemb... ($0.08 per share) in the comparable quarter of 20...GenVec,s net loss was $14.1 million ($0.15 per sha...
(Date:11/5/2009)....J., Nov. 5 DSM Pharmaceutical Pro...ring alliance with Galenix, Saint Jean D,Illac, Fr...cale manufacturing partner for Galenix commercial ...will collaborate on business development opportuni...es, based on the strength of Galenix in drug produ...
(Date:11/5/2009)...A, Calif., Nov. 5 Thermo... of innovative products for processing and storing...first quarter of fiscal 2010. ,, For the quarte...evenues of $5.2 million, a 15 percent increase ove...year ago. The Company said the key contributors to...
(Date:11/5/2009)...Nov. 5 Transgenomic, Inc...cial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2... in the tables that follow. ,, Third Quarter 2...,000 or $0.01 per share for the third quarter of 2... per share for the third quarter of 2008. ,, N...
Breaking Biology Technology:GenVec Reports Third Quarter 2009 Financial Results 2GenVec Reports Third Quarter 2009 Financial Results 3GenVec Reports Third Quarter 2009 Financial Results 4GenVec Reports Third Quarter 2009 Financial Results 5GenVec Reports Third Quarter 2009 Financial Results 6DSM Pharmaceutical Products Forms Manufacturing Alliance With Galenix 2DSM Pharmaceutical Products Forms Manufacturing Alliance With Galenix 3ThermoGenesis Reports 15 Percent Increase in First Quarter Revenues; Improved Bottom Line 2ThermoGenesis Reports 15 Percent Increase in First Quarter Revenues; Improved Bottom Line 3ThermoGenesis Reports 15 Percent Increase in First Quarter Revenues; Improved Bottom Line 4ThermoGenesis Reports 15 Percent Increase in First Quarter Revenues; Improved Bottom Line 5ThermoGenesis Reports 15 Percent Increase in First Quarter Revenues; Improved Bottom Line 6ThermoGenesis Reports 15 Percent Increase in First Quarter Revenues; Improved Bottom Line 7ThermoGenesis Reports 15 Percent Increase in First Quarter Revenues; Improved Bottom Line 8Transgenomic, Inc. Reports Third Quarter 2009 Results 2Transgenomic, Inc. Reports Third Quarter 2009 Results 3Transgenomic, Inc. Reports Third Quarter 2009 Results 4Transgenomic, Inc. Reports Third Quarter 2009 Results 5Transgenomic, Inc. Reports Third Quarter 2009 Results 6Transgenomic, Inc. Reports Third Quarter 2009 Results 7
...his summer, we looked at venture capital funding i... reached about $5 billion in investments in small ...r than the $5.4 billion invested during the fourth...per,s MoneyTree analysis. , ,The results for the ...ocker as venture capital investments achieved a tw...
... cells. Source: Office of U.S. Rep. Jane Harman (D...nic stem cells Democratic or Republican? , ,As sil...re of one of the more lamentable wedge issues of t...ies will deserve some blame if stem cell science t...followed the Democratic National Convention a few ...
...-- What,s more important to a manufacturing compan...in-Madison Center for Quick Response Manufacturing...t products developed and produced is seen as the b...guessed it money. , ,"It,s not usually about buyi...of the center, said at a seminar Wednesday morning...
Other Biology Technology:Midwest life science companies capture 3% of VC investments in Q.2 2Dividing stem cells along partisan lines isnt a good experiment 2Dividing stem cells along partisan lines isnt a good experiment 3University center offers speed boost to manufacturers 2
...ed immunospot) Kit analyzes interferon gamma (IFN&...t forms at the site where secreted cytokine is bou...pe or automated ELISPOT reader) and then compared ...is allows the frequency of cells secreting the cyt...
Corning Roller Bottle Easy Grip Caps, Sterile from Sigma-Aldrich
...ng Asuragens bioinformatics expertise. We offer th...data analysis using the most up to date methods. U...Expression Profiling Service or from your own micr...statistical analysis including publication quality...
CORNING 1700CM2 ROLLER BOTTLE, EASY GRIP CAP, GRADUATED, STERILE from Sigma-Aldrich
Biology Products: