Glutathione S-Transferase's Role in Herbicide Metabolism: Crops Vs. Weeds

The authors briefly describe the discovery and structure of glutathione S-transferases (GST), and how these enzymes are involved in herbicide metabolism. GSTs contribute to both herbicide selectivity in crops and herbicide resistance in weeds. This review highlights examples from research on selected crops and weeds demonstrating how these enzymes can have both positive and negative impacts on the efficacy of herbicides. Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) form a large and complex enzyme superfamily found in all organisms. Plants rely on GSTs for a range of essential functions, including primary and secondary metabolisms, stress tolerance, and cell signaling. The involvement of plant GSTs in xenobiotic detoxification was first reported in 1970 (Frear & Swanson 1970). We will survey the state of knowledge and speculate on future research that could enable us to harness the power of this enzyme superfamily to enhance herbicide selectivity and fight herbicide resistance.