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The effect of glufosinate on nitrogen assimilation at the physiological, biochemical and molecular levels in Phaeodactylum tricornutum

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Abstract

This study investigated the effects of glufosinate, a widely used herbicide, on the marine diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum through short-term toxicity tests at the physiological and gene transcriptional levels. Glufosinate (4 mg L−1) decreased the amount of pigments but increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde levels. As a glutamine synthetase (GS) inhibitor, glufosinate affected the transcripts and activities of key enzymes related to nitrogen assimilation. Transcript levels of GS and nitrate reductase (NR) in P. tricornutum decreased to only 57 and 26 % of the control. However, transcript levels of nitrate transporter (NRT) and the small subunit of glutamate synthase (GltD) were 1.79 and 1.76 times higher than that of the control. The activities of NRT, GS and GOGAT were consistent with gene expression except for NR, which was regulated mainly by post-translational modification. Furthermore, the results of electron microscopy showed that chloroplast structure was disrupted in response to glufosinate exposure. These results demonstrated that glufosinate first disturbed nitrogen metabolism and caused a ROS burst, which disrupted chloroplast ultrastructure. Ultimately, the growth of P. tricornutum was greatly inhibited by glufosinate.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (No. 2010CB126100) and Supported by Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University (IRT13096).

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food Science and Technology, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310032, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaocui Bai, Chongchong Sun & Haifeng Qian

  2. College of Biological and Environmental Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310032, People’s Republic of China

    Jun Xie, Yali Li, Haifeng Qian & Zhengwei Fu

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  1. Jun Xie
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  2. Xiaocui Bai
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  3. Yali Li
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  4. Chongchong Sun
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  5. Haifeng Qian
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  6. Zhengwei Fu
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Correspondence to Haifeng Qian.

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Xie, J., Bai, X., Li, Y. et al. The effect of glufosinate on nitrogen assimilation at the physiological, biochemical and molecular levels in Phaeodactylum tricornutum . Ecotoxicology 23, 1430–1438 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-014-1285-8

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