Investigating the mode of actionand target proteins of novel herbicide leadsusing the Marchantia polymorphamodel system

The application of herbicides to control populations of weeds in crops is common practice in modern agriculture. This process aims to increase yields by reducing losses caused by the presence of weeds, which compete with crops for resources such as light, water and nutrients. However, the extensive use of a limited range of herbicides over long periods of time threatens to reduce the efficacy of herbicide application. This is because many weed species have evolved resistance to the limited number of herbicides used by farmers. The reduction in the number of herbicide options for farmers has been exacerbated by no new herbicide mode of action being brought to market in the last 30 years. One way in which the herbicide resistance problem canbe combatted is by developing new herbicides with novel modes of action to which there is no resistance. Herbicide discovery rates are far lower than they once were, however, with the development of new methods of discovery, new compounds with herbicidal activity are beginning to be uncovered.The company,MoA Technology,has identified several compounds with herbicidal activity using a high-throughput in vivo method. This project aims to determine how some of these novel herbicides which are currently in development kill plants. This will be done using a variety of methods in the model land plant system Marchantia polymorpha. A detailed understanding of how these compounds affect plant growth, and in particular spore development in Marchantia, will increase the chances of MoA Technology bringing an effective commercial herbicide to market. Furthermore, a detailed analysis of how a selection of these lead compounds affect their target, and the function of this target in wild-type lines, will increase our ability to manage the development of resistance to these compounds if they are one day used in the field. Increasing the longevity of new herbicides will ensure the new found variety of herbicides available to farmers will be maintained, allowing efficient food production to feed a growing demand in the future.