Auxin Exporters as Targets for Herbicide Resistance

In plants, auxins are essential hormones that regulate virtually all aspects of growth and development. Within the plant, auxins are transported in a polar fashion through auxin transporters. The central role of auxins in plant growth regulation has led to the design of synthetic auxins that cause uncoordinated overgrowth. These compounds find wide use as herbicides but how these, agrochemically very important compounds function at the molecular level and how they interfere with auxin transport remains to be discerned.

This Focus Group, which includes Hans Fischer Senior Fellow Bjørn Panyella Pedersen, his host Prof. Claus Schwechheimer (Plant Systems Biology, TUM) and PD Dr. Ulrich Hammes (Plant Systems Biology, TUM), will use state-of-the-art structural and biophysical methods to characterize the distribution and mode of action of auxin herbicides and open the door to design novel, efficient and environmentally safer herbicides for use in modern agriculture.

TUM-IAS funded doctoral candidate:
Sarah Koutnik-Abele, Chair of Plant Systems Biology