Bialaphos is a natural

herbicide Herbicides (, ), also commonly known as weedkillers, are substances used to control undesired plants, also known as weeds.EPA. February 201Pesticides Industry. Sales and Usage 2006 and 2007: Market Estimates. Summary in press releasMain page fo ...

produced by the bacteria ''

Streptomyces hygroscopicus ''Streptomyces hygroscopicus'' is a bacterial species in the genus '' Streptomyces''. It was first described by Hans Laurits Jensen in 1931. Biochemistry Cultures of different strains of ''S. hygroscopicus'' can be used to produce a number of ...

'' and ''

Streptomyces viridochromogenes ''Streptomyces viridochromogenes'' is a bacterium species in the genus ''Streptomyces''. ''S. viridochromogenes'' produces the natural herbicide bialaphos and the antibiotic streptazolin Streptazolin is an antibiotic and antifungal substance i ...

''. Bialaphos is a protoxin and nontoxic as is. When it is metabolized by the plant, the

glutamic acid Glutamic acid (symbol Glu or E; the ionic form is known as glutamate) is an α-amino acid that is used by almost all living beings in the biosynthesis of proteins. It is a non-essential nutrient for humans, meaning that the human body can synt ...

analog Analog or analogue may refer to: Computing and electronics * Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable ** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals *** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...

glufosinate Glufosinate (also known as phosphinothricin and often sold as an ammonium salt) is a naturally occurring broad-spectrum herbicide produced by several species of ''Streptomyces'' soil bacteria. Glufosinate is a non-selective, contact herbicide, w ...

is released which inhibits

glutamine synthetase Glutamine synthetase (GS) () is an enzyme that plays an essential role in the metabolism of nitrogen by catalyzing the condensation of glutamate and ammonia to form glutamine: Glutamate + Adenosine triphosphate, ATP + NH3 → Glutamine + Ad ...

. This results in the accumulation of ammonium and disruption of primary metabolism. Bialaphos is made up of two

alanine Alanine (symbol Ala or A), or α-alanine, is an α-amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. It contains an amine group and a carboxylic acid group, both attached to the central carbon atom which also carries a methyl group side c ...

residues and glufosinate, and is commonly used as a

selection marker Marker assisted selection or marker aided selection (MAS) is an indirect selection process where a trait of interest is selected based on a marker ( morphological, biochemical or DNA/ RNA variation) linked to a trait of interest (e.g. producti ...

in plants. Resistance plasmids include

pGreen The pGreen plasmids are vectors for plant transformation. They were first described in 2000 as components of a novel T-DNA binary system. The supporting web page provides supplementary information and ongoing support to researchers to request t ...

II 0229 and pGreenII 0229 62-SK. pGreenII 0229 is derived from pGreenII 0000, a nos-

cassette Cassette may refer to: Technology * Cassette tape (or ''musicassette'', ''audio cassette'', ''cassette tape'', or ''tape''), a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback ** Cassette single (or "Cassingle"), a music single in the ...

has been inserted into the HpaI site of the left border, providing resistance to bialaphos or phosphinothricin during plant transformation selection. pGreenII 0229 62-SK is derived from pGreenII 0229, the LacZ blue/white cloning selection has been replaced with a 35S- MCS- CaMV cassette that allows the insertion of a gene of interest into a 35S overexpression cassette.

References

{{commons Herbicides Phosphinic acids Eukaryotic selection compounds