Is soil contamination by a glyphosate commercial formulation truly harmless to non-target plants? – Evaluation of oxidative damage and antioxidant responses in tomato

Glyphosate-dependent effects on photosynthesis of Solanum lycopersicum L.—An ecophysiological, ultrastructural and molecular approach

“…A control with no GLY (CTL; 0 mg kg −1 ) was also included. The concentrations herein used were selected based on a recent work of our group (Soares et al, 2019a) and are all environmentally relevant, as previously demonstrated. For each treatment, four replicates (pots) were prepared, with six plants each.…”

“…Although there are still few studies reporting the accumulation, fate and transport of GLY and of its degradation products in soils, especially in EU countries (Silva et al, 2018), residual levels of GLY and AMPA have been detected up to μg kg −1 and mg kg −1 , reaching values up to 8 mg kg −1 in agricultural soils (Costa et al, 2017;Peruzzo et al, 2008). Besides, since GLY residues in surface waters have also reached 15 mg L −1 (Wei et al, 2016), it is expected that soil can present even higher amounts due to repetitive applications (Soares et al, 2019a). Thus, given the widespread use of GLY-based herbicides, along with data confirming its accumulation in the environment, there is a growing need to adequately evaluate its potential toxicity to non-target biota.…”

“…In this way, new studies addressing this issue under realistic and ecologically relevant concentrations of GLY are of special importance to identify the main effects of the environmental contamination by GLY on the growth and development of crops, produced for both human and animal feeding. Recent research unequivocally indicated that the presence of high levels of GLY greatly impaired the growth and performance of nontarget plant species (Soares et al, 2019a;Gomes et al, 2017;Spormann et al, 2019), affecting multiple biological mechanisms, from the oxidative metabolism to cellular respiration and photosynthesis (Gomes et al (2014) and references therein).…”

“…Although S. lycopersicum is not directly exposed to GLY, since it is a non-target plant species, the environmental contamination by this herbicide may end up affecting tomato plants' growth, development and survival. Actually, a recent work from our group revealed that realistic levels of GLY in the soil greatly impair tomato growth, by inducing severe oxidative damage in both shoots and roots after 28 days of growth (Soares et al, 2019a). However, to the best of our knowledge, no study on the interplay between GLY contamination and the carbon (C) metabolism on non-target plants has been reported so far.…”

Aqueous Extracts Prepared with Young <em>E. globulus L</em>eaves as a Biocide - A Novel Post-Fire Management Strategy of Eucalyptus Stands

“…For this reason, modern agriculture is highly dependent on the use of synthetic herbicides, which can cost up to US$7 billion annually [2]. However, although these products are effective in eliminating weeds and avoiding major economic losses, their continued application has resulted in herbicide resistance acquisition by weed species [2] and, also, in the contamination of several environmental matrices, such as air, soil and water [3][4][5], where they can negatively affect nontarget organisms, including crops [6,7]. In this way, new, eco-friendly, and economic solutions to combat weeds need to be urgently found.…”