Insights into the microbial degradation and resistance mechanisms of glyphosate

Abstract

Glyphosate, as one of the broad-spectrum herbicides for controlling annual and perennial weeds, is widely distributed in various environments and seriously threatens the safety of human beings and ecology. Glyphosate is currently degraded by abiotic and biotic methods, such as adsorption, photolysis, ozone oxidation, and microbial degradation. Of these, microbial degradation has become the most promising method to treat glyphosate because of its high efficiency and environmental protection. Microorganisms are capable of using glyphosate as a phosphorus, nitrogen, or carbon source and subsequently degrade glyphosate into harmless products by cleaving C-N and C-P bonds, in which enzymes and functional genes related to glyphosate degradation play an indispensable role. There have been many studies on the abiotic and biotic treatment technologies, microbial degradation pathways and intermediate products of glyphosate, but the related enzymes and functional genes involved in the glyphosate degradation pathways have not been further discussed. There is little information on the resistance mechanisms of bacteria and fungi to glyphosate, and previous investigations of resistance mechanisms have mainly focused on how bacteria resist glyphosate damage. Therefore, this review explores the microorganisms, enzymes and functional genes related to the microbial degradation of glyphosate and discusses the pathways of microbial degradation and the resistance mechanisms of microorganisms to glyphosate. This review is expected to provide reference for the application and improvement of the microbial degradation of glyphosate in microbial remediation.

Keywords: Enzymes; Glyphosate; Metabolic pathways; Microbial degradation; Microorganisms.