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Morphophysiological indicators of the glyphosate action on Brazilian savanna plants: a multivariate analysis

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Abstract

Native plants from the Brazilian savanna (the Cerrado) are exposed to agrochemicals widely used in the crops around them. However, there are few studies on the toxicity of herbicides on the vegetation of this biome. Thus, the objective of this study was to identify and establish morphological and physiological indicators of glyphosate effects on two native Cerrado plants. Independent experiments were carried out for the species Pouteria torta and Alibertia edulis, exposing them to four glyphosate doses (0, 200, 400, and 800 g a.e. ha−1). The photosynthetic process and the morphoanatomy in developing leaf (F1) and full-expanded leaf (F3), at different days after herbicide application (DAA) were evaluated. Physiological indicators of glyphosate toxicity in P. torta, such as decreases in photosynthetic rate, in chlorophylls, and in the efficiency of photosystem II were identified. Increments of carotenoids and heat dissipation (NPQ) were common responses to glyphosate in both plants. Reduction in photochemical efficiency in A. edulis was more pronounced in older leaves. Multivariate analysis confirmed the physiological data and the contrasting response of plants to the herbicide. The damages on the foliar surface in P. torta are anatomical indicators of glyphosate toxicity. The susceptibility of P. torta makes it a phyto-indicator for the passive biomonitoring of the glyphosate effects on Cerrado vegetation. There were no changes in the micromorphology of the leaf surface in A. edulis. This plant showed tolerance to the glyphosate through morphological barriers in leaves, which reduced the absorption of the herbicide.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico-CNPq, the Programa SISBIOTA-BRASIL, the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP), the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior-CAPES, the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Goiás (FAPEG), and the Instituto Federal Goiano-Campus Rio Verde for providing financial support to this work. SLRS, AJCF, GMA, AAS (Grant number 88882.317497/2019-01) and KJTN are grateful to the CAPES, and PFB (Grant number 154958/2018-2) to the CNPq for scholarships. The authors would like thank also the Instituto de Botânica de São Paulo/Anatomy Research Center for the partnership in this study.

Funding

This work was supported by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico-CNPq (Grant numbers 551456/2010-8, 552689/2011-4); Directorate of Research and Graduate Studies of the Instituto Federal Goiano-Campus Rio Verde (Grant number 052/2015); and Sistema Nacional de Pesquisa em Biodiversidade (SISBIOTA-BRASIL Program) [Grant numbers 563335/2010-CNPq, 523192/2010-FAPESP (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo)].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratório de Ecofisiologia e Produtividade Vegetal (Laboratory of Plant Ecophysiology and Productivity), Instituto Federal Goiano-Campus Rio Verde (Goiano Federal Institute - Campus Rio Verde), P.O. Box 66, Rio Verde, Goiás, 75901-970, Brazil

    Sueisla Lopes Rezende-Silva, Alan Carlos Costa, Priscila Ferreira Batista, Ailton José Crispim-Filho, Gabriel Martins Almeida, Kelly Juliane Telles Nascimento & Adinan Alves da Silva

  2. Instituto de Botânica, Núcleo de Pesquisa em Ecologia (Institute of Botany, Research Center in Ecology), P.O. Box 68041, São Paulo, São Paulo, 04045-972, Brazil

    Andrea Nunes Vaz Pedroso & Marisa Domingos

  3. Centro Universitário de Mineiros (Mineiros University Center), 75.833-130, Mineiros, Goiás, Brazil

    Luiz Leonardo Ferreira

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  1. Sueisla Lopes Rezende-Silva
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Correspondence to Alan Carlos Costa.

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Lopes Rezende-Silva, S., Costa, A.C., Nunes Vaz Pedroso, A. et al. Morphophysiological indicators of the glyphosate action on Brazilian savanna plants: a multivariate analysis. Acta Physiol Plant 44, 73 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-022-03409-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-022-03409-3

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