Knowra Glyphosate Glyphosate Glyphosate is a broad-spectrum systemic herbicide that inhibits an enzyme in the shikimate pathway, preventing plants and many microorganisms from making three aromatic amino acids.
Shikimate pathway : A metabolic pathway that synthesizes aromatic amino acids in plants, fungi, bacteria, and some other organisms. Glyphosate disrupts this pathway, blocking production of aromatic amino acids.
Herbicide : A substance used to kill or suppress unwanted plants. Glyphosate is one widely used herbicide, distinguished by its broad-spectrum activity.
John E. Franz : An American chemist who identified glyphosate's herbicidal activity while working at Monsanto. Franz recognized the compound's potential for weed control in 1970.
Herbicide-resistant weeds : Weed populations that survive herbicides that once controlled them, owing to inherited traits. Repeated glyphosate use has selected resistant weed populations worldwide.
5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase : An enzyme that catalyzes a key reaction in the shikimate pathway. Glyphosate inhibits this enzyme, known as EPSPS.
Roundup Ready crops : Crops genetically engineered to tolerate glyphosate applications. These crops allow glyphosate to control weeds without killing the cultivated plants.
Monsanto : An American chemical and agricultural biotechnology company acquired by Bayer in 2018. Monsanto developed and commercialized glyphosate as the herbicide Roundup.
Glyphosate and cancer : The scientific and regulatory debate over whether glyphosate exposure increases cancer risk. Glyphosate's cancer classification has differed among major health and regulatory bodies.
Aromatic amino acids : Phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan, amino acids whose side chains contain aromatic rings. Their synthesis is curtailed when glyphosate blocks the shikimate pathway.
No-till farming : A farming method that plants crops without plowing the soil. Glyphosate can replace some pre-plant tillage used to control weeds.
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