ci Over the past 10 years a series of substituted 1,3-cyclohexanediones (alloxydim, sethoxydim, and clethodim) has been introduced as postemergence grass herbicides for use in broadleaf crops (Fig. 1). These compounds exhibit a remarkably similar spectrum of phytotoxicity on both annual and perennial grasses without affecting broadleaf plants (6,13,14). Studies on the uptake, translocation, and metabolic fate of these herbicides in tolerant and susceptible plants have shown that the selectivity for monocotyledonous species is probably not due to differential metabolism of the compounds to nonherbicidal forms, or to differential uptake or transport (4,24,25). These results suggest that the tolerance of broadleaf crops and weeds is based on the insensitivity of the target site to these compounds.Recent studies on the mode of action of sethoxydim (2, 3, 10) have shown that de novo fatty acid biosynthesis is inhibited by this herbicide in susceptible plants. In order to elucidate the mode of action of clethodim (16), we began to examine the individual enzymes involved in the biosynthetic pathway. Both flavonoid and fatty acid biosynthetic pathways in plants share the first two steps which are catalyzed by acetyl-CoA synthetase and acetyl-CoA carboxylase. In addition, fatty acid synthesis in plants involves six separate enzymes which use ACP1-bound intermediates. In this report, we describe the potent inhibition in grasses of the second enzyme common to these pathways, acetylCoA carboxylase (EC 6.4.1.2), by alloxydim, sethoxydim, and clethodim, and the much weaker inhibition of this enzyme in tolerant broadleaf species.