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Mackie ERR, Barrow AS, Giel MC, Hulett MD, Gendall AR, Panjikar S, Soares da Costa TP. Repurposed inhibitor of bacterial dihydrodipicolinate reductase exhibits effective herbicidal activity. Commun Biol 2023; 6:550. [PMID: 37217566 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-04895-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2022] [Accepted: 05/02/2023] [Indexed: 05/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Herbicide resistance represents one of the biggest threats to our natural environment and agricultural sector. Thus, new herbicides are urgently needed to tackle the rise in herbicide-resistant weeds. Here, we employed a novel strategy to repurpose a 'failed' antibiotic into a new and target-specific herbicidal compound. Specifically, we identified an inhibitor of bacterial dihydrodipicolinate reductase (DHDPR), an enzyme involved in lysine biosynthesis in plants and bacteria, that exhibited no antibacterial activity but severely attenuated germination of the plant Arabidopsis thaliana. We confirmed that the inhibitor targets plant DHDPR orthologues in vitro, and exhibits no toxic effects against human cell lines. A series of analogues were then synthesised with improved efficacy in germination assays and against soil-grown A. thaliana. We also showed that our lead compound is the first lysine biosynthesis inhibitor with activity against both monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous weed species, by demonstrating its effectiveness at reducing the germination and growth of Lolium rigidum (rigid ryegrass) and Raphanus raphanistrum (wild radish). These results provide proof-of-concept that DHDPR inhibition may represent a much-needed new herbicide mode of action. Furthermore, this study exemplifies the untapped potential of repurposing 'failed' antibiotic scaffolds to fast-track the development of herbicide candidates targeting the respective plant enzymes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily R R Mackie
- School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, Waite Research Institute, University of Adelaide, Waite Campus, Urrbrae, SA, 5064, Australia
- La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC, 3086, Australia
| | - Andrew S Barrow
- School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, Waite Research Institute, University of Adelaide, Waite Campus, Urrbrae, SA, 5064, Australia
- La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC, 3086, Australia
| | - Marie-Claire Giel
- La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC, 3086, Australia
| | - Mark D Hulett
- La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC, 3086, Australia
| | - Anthony R Gendall
- Australian Research Council Industrial Transformation Research Hub for Medicinal Agriculture, AgriBio, La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC, 3086, Australia
- Department of Animal, Plant and Soil Sciences, La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC, 3086, Australia
| | - Santosh Panjikar
- Australian Synchrotron, ANSTO, 800 Blackburn Road, Clayton, VIC, 3168, Australia
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3800, Australia
| | - Tatiana P Soares da Costa
- School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, Waite Research Institute, University of Adelaide, Waite Campus, Urrbrae, SA, 5064, Australia.
- La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC, 3086, Australia.
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Christoff RM, Soares da Costa TP, Bayat S, Holien JK, Perugini MA, Abbott BM. Synthesis and structure-activity relationship studies of 2,4-thiazolidinediones and analogous heterocycles as inhibitors of dihydrodipicolinate synthase. Bioorg Med Chem 2021; 52:116518. [PMID: 34826680 DOI: 10.1016/j.bmc.2021.116518] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2021] [Revised: 11/03/2021] [Accepted: 11/05/2021] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Dihydrodipicolinate synthase (DHDPS), responsible for the first committed step of the diaminopimelate pathway for lysine biosynthesis, has become an attractive target for the development of new antibacterial and herbicidal agents. Herein, we report the discovery and exploration of the first inhibitors of E. coli DHDPS which have been identified from screening lead and are not based on substrates from the lysine biosynthesis pathway. Over 50 thiazolidinediones and related analogues have been prepared in order to thoroughly evaluate the structure-activity relationships against this enzyme of significant interest.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca M Christoff
- Department of Chemistry and Physics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria 3086, Australia
| | - Tatiana P Soares da Costa
- Department of Biochemistry and Genetics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria 3086, Australia
| | - Saadi Bayat
- Department of Chemistry and Physics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria 3086, Australia
| | - Jessica K Holien
- School of Science, STEM College, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia
| | - Matthew A Perugini
- Department of Biochemistry and Genetics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria 3086, Australia
| | - Belinda M Abbott
- Department of Chemistry and Physics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria 3086, Australia.
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Hall CJ, Lee M, Boarder MP, Mangion AM, Gendall AR, Panjikar S, Perugini MA, Soares da Costa TP. Differential lysine-mediated allosteric regulation of plant dihydrodipicolinate synthase isoforms. FEBS J 2021; 288:4973-4986. [PMID: 33586321 DOI: 10.1111/febs.15766] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2020] [Revised: 01/16/2021] [Accepted: 02/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Lysine biosynthesis in plants occurs via the diaminopimelate pathway. The first committed and rate-limiting step of this pathway is catalysed by dihydrodipicolinate synthase (DHDPS), which is allosterically regulated by the end product, l-lysine (lysine). Given that lysine is a common nutritionally limiting amino acid in cereal crops, there has been much interest in probing the regulation of DHDPS. Interestingly, knockouts in Arabidopsis thaliana of each isoform (AtDHDPS1 and AtDHDPS2) result in different phenotypes, despite the enzymes sharing > 85% protein sequence identity. Accordingly, in this study, we compared the catalytic activity, lysine-mediated inhibition and structures of both A. thaliana DHDPS isoforms. We found that although the recombinantly produced enzymes have similar kinetic properties, AtDHDPS1 is 10-fold more sensitive to lysine. We subsequently used X-ray crystallography to probe for structural differences between the apo- and lysine-bound isoforms that could account for the differential allosteric inhibition. Despite no significant changes in the overall structures of the active or allosteric sites, we noted differences in the rotamer conformation of a key allosteric site residue (Trp116) and proposed that this could result in differences in lysine dissociation. Microscale thermophoresis studies supported our hypothesis, with AtDHDPS1 having a ~ 6-fold tighter lysine dissociation constant compared to AtDHDPS2, which agrees with the lower half minimal inhibitory concentration for lysine observed. Thus, we highlight that subtle differences in protein structures, which could not have been predicted from the primary sequences, can have profound effects on the allostery of a key enzyme involved in lysine biosynthesis in plants. DATABASES: Structures described are available in the Protein Data Bank under the accession numbers 6VVH and 6VVI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cody J Hall
- Department of Biochemistry and Genetics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia
| | - Mihwa Lee
- Department of Biochemistry and Genetics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia
| | - Matthew P Boarder
- Department of Biochemistry and Genetics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia
| | - Alexandra M Mangion
- Department of Biochemistry and Genetics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia
| | - Anthony R Gendall
- Department of Animal, Plant and Soil Sciences, AgriBio, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia.,Australian Research Council Research Hub for Medicinal Agriculture, AgriBio, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia
| | - Santosh Panjikar
- Australian Synchrotron, ANSTO, Clayton, Australia.,Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Matthew A Perugini
- Department of Biochemistry and Genetics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia
| | - Tatiana P Soares da Costa
- Department of Biochemistry and Genetics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia
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