6533b7d0fe1ef96bd125ae40

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Prospects of in vivo 31P NMR method in glyphosate degradation studies in whole cell system

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Abstract The degradation of the phosphonate herbicide glyphosate ( N -phosphonomethylglycine) by four taxonomically distinct microorganisms was studied in vivo in whole cell system using phosphorus nuclear magnetic spectroscopy ( 31 P NMR). The time-course of glyphosate metabolization in dense cell cultures was followed by means of 31 P NMR up to 21 days after the addition. The results obtained by this non-invasive way confirmed that the cells of Spirulina platensis and Streptomyces lusitanus biodegrade herbicide. Moreover, phosphorus starvation influenced the rate of glyphosate degradation by S. platensis . On the other hand, the results of similar measurements in the cultures of green algae Chlorella vulgaris showed that this aquatic plant, however growing in the medium containing 1 mM of N -phosphonomethylglycine, did not seem to posses the ability of its biodegradation. Additionally, the use of this method allowed us to find the new fungal strain Fusarium dimerum , which is able to biodegrade and utilize the glyphosate as the sole source of phosphorus. The results of our studies on usefulness of in vivo 31 P NMR for tracing glyphosate degradation in whole cell systems revealed that this non-invasive, one-step method, might be considered as a valuable tool in environmental biotechnology of organophosphonate xenobiotics.