Alyona Dmitrievna Zheleznova

In laboratory conditions, the decomposition of glyphosate with the formation of aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) and its effect on the total abundance of bacteria and fungi, as well as the number of copies of genes encoding the enzymes C-P lyase of a-proteobacteria ( phnJ ), acid and alkaline phosphatase ( phoC and phoD ) and Fe-protein nitrogenase ( nifH ). It is shown that when applying glyphosate in recommended doses (5-10 mg/kg) 5-7% of the introduced herbicide is detected after 14 days, but when the dose is increased to 100 mg/kg, this value increases to 23%. Slowing down the rate of degradation of the herbicide appears only in the first week of incubation and is accompanied by a decrease in the number of copies of the phoC, phoD, nifH genes and an increase in the abundance of fungi. The obtained results indicate a predominant degradation of glyphosate with the C-P bond breaking and the formation of phosphates, as well as a possible inhibition of the nitrogen fixation process. It is shown that at an application dose of glyphosate 100 mg/kg, the accumulation of the first metabolite AMPA can occur during the degradation of the herbicide with a break in the C—N bond. Bioassay using wheat showed that when applying glyphosate at a dose of 100 mg/kg, there is an inhibition of plant development: the length of the roots and the biomass of the shoots reduced by 60 and 20% compared to the control, respectively. Based on the obtained data, it is proposed to use the reduction in the content of copies of the phoC gene and the growth of copies of ITS rRNA as indicators of the predominant decomposition of glyphosate through the sarcosin pathway. A reduction of copies of ITS rRNA gene by 40% or more can be used as an indicator of the possibility of AMPA accumulation during glyphosate degradation.