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Plants and apicomplexan parasites are more closely related than many might expect. Both evolved from a red algal ancestor and both still possess plastids. Plants have chloroplasts whereas apicomplexans like the malarial parasite Plasmodium falciparum have an apicoplast. This diminished ‘relic’ plastid is no longer photosynthetic, but remains essential for its production of isoprenoid precursors. Proof the apicoplast was of plant origin was provided, in part, by killing P. falciparum with herbicides. We recently turned this idea on its head asking whether drugs designed to treat malaria might be herbicidal and found many indeed were [1]. This has led us to apply the rapid advances in malaria research over the last decade to the stagnant field of herbicide discovery [2-3]. The success of glyphosate and spiralling cost of bringing new compounds to market stopped discovery programs by agrochemical companies and consequently, no new herbicide mode of action has reach the market in 20 years. Herbicide resistance has the world in a panic. Using antimalarial drug libraries and knowledge of malarial drug action we are attempting to put as many new modes of action ‘on the table’ as we can, each accompanied by an herbicidal molecule to probe each target [4]. A by-product of this applied work has already been knowledge about what, in many cases, are under-studied plant proteins [4].

[1] Corral, Leroux, Stubbs, Mylne (2017) Herbicidal properties of antimalarial drugs. Scientific Reports (PMID 28361906).
[2] Gandy, Corral, Mylne*, Stubbs* (2015) An interactive database to explore herbicide physicochemical properties. Org. Biomol. Chem. (PMID 25895669)
[3] Corral, Leroux, Tresch, Newton, Stubbs*, Mylne* (2017) Exploiting the evolutionary relationship between malarial parasites and plants to develop new herbicides. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. (PMID 28654179)
[4] Various et al. (under review or in prep.) ... you have to come to find out more!