Design and evaluation of new environmentally-benign herbicides that inhibit branched-chain amino acid biosynthesis

除草剂干扰植物中发生的过程，如光合作用或某些氨基酸的生物合成。在这个项目中，我们将专注于支链氨基酸的生物合成，设计和评估在这个过程中的前两个酶的抑制剂。基于它们的三维结构，我们将了解有助于有效抑制剂的分子特征以及对植物有效所需的分子特征。利用这些信息，我们将设计和合成新的化合物作为潜在的环境友好型除草剂。

Herbicides interfere with processes that occur in plants, such as photosynthesis or the biosynthesis of certain amino acids. In this project we will focus on branched-chain amino acid biosynthesis, designing and evaluating inhibitors of the first two enzymes in this process. Based on their three dimensional structures we will develop an understanding of the molecular features that contribute to a potent inhibitor and those that are required for it to be effective upon plants. Using this information we will design and synthesis new compounds as potential environmentally-benign herbicides.