Plant glutathione S-transferases and herbicide detoxification.

Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) are a family of multifunctional enzymes involved in the metabolism of xenobiotics and reactive endogenous compounds. The interest in plant GSTs may be attributed to their agronomic value, since it has been demonstrated that glutathione conjugation for a variety of herbicides is the major resistance and selectivity factor in plants. The structure of the Arabidopsis thaliana isoenzyme, the first plant GST whose structure has been solved, may serve as a model system for the understanding of herbicide selectivity in crops.