Open Access
ERF-VII transcription factors induce ethanol fermentation in response to amino acid biosynthesis-inhibiting herbicides
(Oxford University Press, 2019) Gil Monreal, Miriam; Giuntoli, Beatrice; Zabalza Aznárez, Ana; Licausi, Francesco; Royuela Hernando, Mercedes; Institute for Multidisciplinary Research in Applied Biology - IMAB; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa
Herbicides inhibiting either aromatic or branched-chain amino acid biosynthesis trigger similar physiological responses in plants, despite their different mechanism of action. Both types of herbicides are known to activate ethanol fermentation by inducing the expression of fermentative genes; however, the mechanism of such transcriptional regulation has not been investigated so far. In plants exposed to low-oxygen conditions, ethanol fermentation is transcriptionally controlled by the ethylene response factors-VII (ERF-VIIs), whose stability is controlled in an oxygen-dependent manner by the Cys-Arg branch of the N-degron pathway. In this study, we investigated the role of ERF-VIIs in the regulation of the ethanol fermentation pathway in herbicide-treated Arabidopsis plants grown under aerobic conditions. Our results demonstrate that these transcriptional regulators are stabilized in response to herbicide treatment and are required for ethanol fermentation in these conditions. We also observed that mutants with reduced fermentative potential exhibit higher sensitivity to herbicide treatments, thus revealing the existence of a mechanism that mimics oxygen deprivation to activate metabolic pathways that enhance herbicide tolerance. We speculate that this signaling pathway may represent a potential target in agriculture to affect tolerance to herbicides that inhibit amino acid biosynthesis.
Open Access
Physiological performance of glyphosate and imazamox mixtures on Amaranthus palmeri sensitive and resistant to glyphosate
(Nature Research, 2019) Fernández Escalada, Manuel; Zulet González, Ainhoa; Gil Monreal, Miriam; Royuela Hernando, Mercedes; Zabalza Aznárez, Ana; Institute for Multidisciplinary Research in Applied Biology - IMAB; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa
The herbicides glyphosate and imazamox inhibit the biosynthetic pathway of aromatic amino acids (AAA) and branched-chain amino acids (BCAA), respectively. Both herbicides share several physiological effects in the processes triggered in plants after herbicide application that kills the plant, and mixtures of both herbicides are being used. The aim of this study was to evaluate the physiological effects in the mixture of glyphosate and imazamox in glyphosate-sensitive (GS) and -resistant (GR) populations of the troublesome weed Amaranthus palmeri. The changes detected in the physiological parameters after herbicide mixtures application were similar and even less to the changes detected after individual treatments. This pattern was detected in shikimate, amino acid and carbohydrate content, and it was independent of the EPSPS copy number, as it was detected in both populations. In the case of the transcriptional pattern of the AAA pathway after glyphosate, interesting and contrary interactions with imazamox treatment were detected for both populations; enhancement of the effect in the GS population and alleviation in the GR population. At the transcriptional level, no cross regulation between AAA and BCAA inhibitors was confirmed. This study suggests that mixtures are equally or less toxic than herbicides alone, and would implicate careful considerations when applying the herbicide mixtures.
Open Access
Enhancement of glyphosate efficacy on Amaranthus palmeri by exogenous quinate application
(Elsevier, 2019) Zulet González, Ainhoa; Fernández Escalada, Manuel; Zabalza Aznárez, Ana; Royuela Hernando, Mercedes; Institute for Multidisciplinary Research in Applied Biology - IMAB; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa
Glyphosate is a widely used herbicide targeting the enzyme 5-enolpyruvylshikimate 3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) in the aromatic amino acid biosynthesis pathway (shikimate pathway) and provoking accumulation of quinate, a secondary metabolite synthesized through a side branch of this pathway. The objective of this work was to evaluate whether the efficacy of glyphosate activity in Amaranthus palmeri is enhanced by quinate application one day after herbicide treatment. To this end, one glyphosate-sensitive and one glyphosate-resistant (due to EPSPS gene amplification) population of A. palmeri were used. The 3- day time course study of the quinate treatment alone showed quinate, Tyr and Phe accumulation in both populations. When the herbicide was applied alone at 0.25× the recommended dose, no phytotoxicity or glyphosate effects were detected in the sensitive population 3 days after treatment, but the combined treatment with quinate was lethal, and markers of herbicide activity at the amino acid level could be detected. In the resistant population, an important metabolic perturbation in the flux of the shikimate pathway was detected in the combined treatment. These results raise the possibility of the joint application of quinate and glyphosate to enhance glyphosate efficacy while lowering doses in the sensitive population.

Zabalza Aznárez, Ana

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