Extended Data Fig. 7: Spray assay of aspterric acid on A. thaliana.

Glufosinate-resistant A. thaliana was treated with (right) or without (left) aspterric acid in the solvent, which is a commercial glufosinate-based herbicide marketed as Finale. To improve the wetting and penetration, aspterric acid was first dissolved in ethanol and then added to the solvent (0.06 g l⁻¹ Finale (Bayer) with 20 g l⁻¹ ethanol) to make 250 μM aspterric acid spraying solution. The control plants were treated with solvent containing ethanol only. Spraying treatments began upon seed germination, and were repeated once every two days with approximately 0.4 ml aspterric acid solution per time per pot for four weeks. The picture shown is taken after one month of treatment. The application rate of aspterric acid is approximately 1.6 lb per acre, which is comparable to the commonly used herbicide glyphosate (0.75–1.5 lb per acre). The experiments were repeated independently three times with similar results.