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Glyphosate Biodegradation Potential in Soil Based on Glycine Oxidase Gene (thiO) from Bradyrhizobium

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Abstract

Despite the intensive use of glyphosate (GP) and its ubiquitous presence in the environment, studies addressing the presence of microbial genes involved in glyphosate degradation in natural conditions are scarce. Based on the agronomical importance of Bradyrhizobium genus and its metabolic versatility, we tested the hypothesis that species or genotypes of Bradyrhizobium could be a proxy for GP degrader potential in soil. A quantitative PCR assay was designed to target a specific region of the glycine oxidase gene (thiO), involved in the oxidation of glyphosate to AMPA, from known sequences of Bradyrhizobium species. The abundance of the thiO gene was determined in response to herbicide application in soils with different GP exposure history both under field and microcosm conditions. The gene coding for RNA polymerase subunitB (rpoB) was used as a reference for the abundance of total Bradyrhizobia. The assay using the designed primers was linear over a very large concentration range of the target and showed high efficiency and specificity. In a field experiment, there was a differential response related to the history of glyphosate use and the native Bradyrhizobium genotypes. In a soil without previous exposure to herbicides, thiO gene increased over time after glyphosate application with most genotypes belonging to the B. jicamae and B. elkanni supergroups. Conversely, in an agricultural soil with more than 10 years of continuous glyphosate application, the abundance of thiO gene decreased and most genotypes belonged to B. japonicum supergroup. In a microcosm assay, the amount of herbicide degraded after a single application was positively correlated to the number of thiO copies in different agricultural soils from the Pampean Region. Our results suggest that Bradyrhizobium species are differently involved in glyphosate degradation, denoting the existence of metabolically versatile microorganisms which can be explored for sustainable agriculture practices. The relationship between the abundance of thiO gene and the GP degraded in soil point to the use of thiO gene as a proxy for GP degradation in soil.

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Data Availability

The authors of this work declare that all data and materials as well as software applications used support their published results. The data are either deposited in public genomic databases or presented in the main manuscript.

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Acknowledgment

We thank Prof. Graciela Caruso for her help in data statistical analysis and María de Carmen D’Elía and Maximiliano Dosanto for their support in soil analysis. This work was financed by INTA through the Program of Postgraduation and Training (Res. 743/12) and Project 2019-PD-E2-I039-002.

Funding

This work was financed by Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA) through Research Project 2019-PD-E2-I039-002 and Program of Postgraduation and Training (Res. 743/12) granted to Keren Hernández Guijarro.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA), Balcarce Experimental Station, Ruta Nac, 226, Km 73,5, CP 7620 Balcarce, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Keren Hernández Guijarro & Eduardo De Gerónimo

  2. National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Eduardo De Gerónimo & Leonardo Erijman

  3. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular – “Dr Héctor N Torres” (INGEBI-CONICET), Vuelta de Obligado 2490, C1428ADN, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Leonardo Erijman

  4. Department of Physiology, Molecular and Cellular Biology “Prof Héctor Maldonado,” School of Sciences, University of Buenos Aires, C1428, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Leonardo Erijman

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  1. Keren Hernández Guijarro
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KHG and LE conceived and designed the study. Research and data analysis were performed by KHG and EDG. The first draft of the manuscript was written by KHG and LE and all authors commented on previous versions of this manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Leonardo Erijman.

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Hernández Guijarro, K., De Gerónimo, E. & Erijman, L. Glyphosate Biodegradation Potential in Soil Based on Glycine Oxidase Gene (thiO) from Bradyrhizobium. Curr Microbiol 78, 1991–2000 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-021-02467-z

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