Amino acids conferring herbicide resistance in tobacco acetohydroxyacid synthase

Acetohydroxyacid synthase (AHAS) (EC 4.1.3.18) is a target of commercially available herbicides such as sulfonylurea, imidazolinone, and triazolopyrimidine. In plants and microorganisms, AHAS catalyzes the first common reaction in the biosynthesis pathways leading to leucine, isoleucine and valine. Intensive studies using different approaches - including site-directed mutagenesis, molecular modeling and structural analysis - on plant AHAS-s have contributed to the understanding of the herbicide-AHAS interaction. Knowledge of the critical roles of amino acid residues of plant AHAS in conferring herbicide resistance will enable the creation of new herbicide-tolerant AHAS which could be used to develop herbicide-resistant transgenic plants. Moreover, such information will also elucidate design strategies for more efficient herbicides that could also kill weeds resistant to previously used AHAS-inhibiting herbicides. In this review, we summarize the results of intensive searches for amino acid residues and their substitutions that confer herbicide resistance in tobacco AHAS.