Fluoroacetate in plants - a review of its distribution, toxicity to livestock and microbial detoxification.

ABSTRACT: Fluoroacetate producing plants grow worldwide and it is believed they produce this toxic compound as a defence mechanism against grazing by herbivores. Ingestion by livestock often results in fatal poisonings, which causes significant economic problems to commercial farmers in many countries such as Australia, Brazil and South Africa. Several approaches have been adopted to protect livestock from the toxicity with limited success including fencing, toxic plant eradication and agents that bind the toxin. Genetically modified bacteria capable of degrading fluoroacetate have been able to protect ruminants from fluoroacetate toxicity under experimental conditions but concerns over the release of these microbes into the environment have prevented the application of this technology. Recently, a

SUBMITTER: Leong LEX 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5485738 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature