Absorption, translocation and allocation of glyphosate in resistant and susceptible Chilean biotypes of Lolium multiflorum

Glyphosate [N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine] is currently the most important non-selective, wide-spectrum herbicide used worldwide. Introduced in 1974, glyphosate was initially a non-crop herbicide and plantation crop herbicide, although it is now widely used in no-till crop production and, more recently, for weed control in herbicide-resistant transgenic crops, such as maize, soybean and cotton ( Baylis 2000 ; Caseley & Copping 2000 ). Despite its widespread and long-term use, no case of evolved resistance to glyphosate was documented until 1996 ( Pratley et al . 1996 ). Since then, a few other cases have been reported. To date, evolved resistance to glyphosate has been identified and documented in Lollium rigidum in Australia ( Powles et al . 1998 ; Pratley et al . 1999 ), Eleusine indica in Malaysia ( Lee & Ngim 2000 ), and L. rigidum in South Africa and California (USA), and Conyzia canadensis in Delawere (USA) ( Van Gessel 2001 ). Also, accessions of L. rigidum from South Africa and California have been reported to resist glyphosate ( Heap 2001 ). In Chile, the first case of glyphosate-resistance in Lolium multiflorum was reported in 1999 and documented in 2003 ( Pérez & Kogan 2003 ). This case was the result of an intensive selection pressure caused by the continuous applications of glyphosate in fruit orchards over 8–10 years. The present study is a first approach to elucidating the mechanism involved in the resistance of one biotype of L. multiflorum selected in Chilean orchards.     

Differential phytotoxicity of glyphosate in maize seedlings following applications to roots or shoot

The transport and differential phytotoxicity of glyphosate was investigated in maize seedlings following application of the herbicide to either roots or shoots. One-leaf maize seedlings (Zea mays L.) were maintained in graduated cylinders (250 mL) containing nutrient solution. Half of the test plants were placed in cylinders (100 mL) containing different ¹⁴C-glyphosate concentrations; the remainder received foliar appliation of ¹⁴C-glyphosate. After 26 h, the roots and the treated leaves were washed with distilled water, and the plants placed again in cylinders (250 mL) containing fresh nutrient solution for 5 days. Plants were weighed, and split into root, seed, cotyledon, coleoptile, mesocotyl, first leaf and apex. The recovery of ¹⁴C-glyphosate was over 86%. For both application treatments, the shoot apex was the major sink of the mobilized glyphosate (47.9 ± 2.93% for root absorption and 45.8 ± 2.91% for foliar absorption). Expressed on a tissue fresh weight basis, approximately 0.26 μg a.e. g⁻¹ of glyphosate in the apex produced a 50% reduction of plant fresh weight (ED₅₀) when the herbicide was applied to the root. However, the ED₅₀ following foliar absorption was only 0.042 μg a.e. g⁻¹ in the apex, thus maize seedlings were much more sensitive to foliar application of the herbicide.     

Phytotoxic activity of root absorbed glyphosate in corn seedlings (Zea mays L.)

Growth chamber experiments were conducted in order to study the absorption, translocation and activity of glyphosate when applied to roots with aqueous solution avoiding any glyphosate–substrate interaction. Corn seedlings at the first leaf stage were set up in individual graduated cylinders containing different solutions of ¹⁴C-glyphosate (0–30 mg ae kg⁻¹). After 26 h of root exposure, plants were transferred to fresh nutrient solution and grown for the next 5 days. After harvest, plants were separated into seed, root, mesocotyle, coleoptile, cotyledon, first leaf and all new leaves (apex), and quantified ¹⁴C radioactivity contained in each part. Glyphosate uptake was only 11% of the theoretical mass flow into the plant. The amount of glyphosate translocated from roots was positively correlated with plant uptake ( P  < 0.01). Total plant fresh weight presented a logistic response to glyphosate amounts, including a growth stimulant effect (hormesis), when plants absorbed less than 0.6 µg. The treated plants presented a normal pattern of glyphosate allocation, with the apex the principal sink, accumulating more than 38% of mobilized glyphosate. When corn plants absorbed more than 0.6 µg they showed a decrease in growth. The relatively high glyphosate quantities allocated in the new leaves showed the relevance of the symplastic pathway in the translocation process for root absorbed glyphosate.     

Fermented Milk–Starch and Milk–Inulin Products as Vehicles for Lactic Acid Bacteria

Formulations using cassava starch or inulin plus milk were fermented with three different lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains: Lactobacillus plantarum D34, Lactobacillus sp. SLH6, and Streptococcus thermophilus ST4. Growth and acidification were followed in 3% powdered milk (M3), 3% milk–6% starch (M3-S6), and 3% milk–6% inulin (M3-In6). D34 and SLH6 growth was enhanced by starch in M3-S6, when compared to the count (CFU/ml) obtained in M3. Growth of all strains was promoted by inulin. All fermented products showed LAB counts of 8.0 log or higher. Carbohydrate utilization was in agreement with growth and acidification results. The highest increase in CFU in rat feces was observed in M3-S6 fermented with ST4; the D34 fermented product also increased CFU but SLH6 did not, either with starch or inulin. This suggests that ST4 and D34 strains provide a good choice to ferment the proposed formulations in order to obtain a marked improvement of natural intestinal flora.