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Improved herbicide discovery using physico-chemical rules refined by antimalarial library screening
Kirill V Sukhoverkov1,2, Maxime G Corral1,2, Julie Leroux1,2
1The University of Western Australia, School of Molecular Sciences 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley Perth 6009 Australia joshua.mylne@uwa.edu.au keith.stubbs@uwa.edu.au.
RSC Advances
|April 15, 2022
Summary
Researchers screened antimalarial compounds to discover new herbicides. They identified a novel herbicide, MMV1206386, with a unique mode of action, demonstrating a new approach for herbicide discovery.
Area of Science:
- Agricultural Science
- Medicinal Chemistry
- Biotechnology
Background:
- Herbicides share physico-chemical properties with human drugs but have distinct property limits.
- Discovering novel herbicides is crucial for sustainable agriculture and pest management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To refine predictive rules for herbicide activity by leveraging evolutionary links between parasites and plants.
- To identify novel herbicide compounds with potentially new modes of action.
Main Methods:
- Screening the Malaria Box chemical library against *Arabidopsis thaliana*.
- Utilizing physico-chemical properties (log P, formal charge) to develop a weighted scoring system.
- Applying the scoring system to antimalarial leads to identify potential herbicide candidates.
Main Results:
- Physico-chemical properties like log P and formal charge were identified as critical for herbicidal activity.
- A novel compound, MMV1206386, exhibited herbicidal potency comparable to commercial products.
- MMV1206386 demonstrated a new mode of action, with no close structural analogues to existing herbicides.
Conclusions:
- Weighted rules based on physico-chemical properties can effectively guide herbicide discovery programs.
- The identified compound MMV1206386 represents a promising lead for developing new herbicides with novel mechanisms.
- Exploiting cross-kingdom evolutionary relationships can accelerate the discovery of agrochemicals.
