Characterization of Glyphosate Resistance and Degradation Profile of Caballeronia zhejiangensis CEIB S4-3 and Genes Involved in Its Degradation

Herbicides are the most employed pesticides in agriculture worldwide; among them, glyphosate is the most successful herbicide molecule in history. The extensive use of glyphosate has been related to environmental pollution and toxic effects on non-target organisms. Effective remediation and treatment alternatives must be developed to reduce the environmental presence of glyphosate and its adverse effects. Bioremediation using microorganisms has been proposed as a feasible alternative for treating glyphosate pollution; due to this, identifying and characterizing microorganisms capable of biodegrading glyphosate is a key environmental task for the bioremediation of polluted sites by this herbicide. This study characterized the glyphosate resistance profile and degradation capacity of the bacterial strain <i>Caballeronia zhejiangensis</i> CEIB S4-3. According to the results of the bacterial growth inhibition assays on agar plates, <i>C. zhejiangensis</i> CEIB S4-3 can resist exposure to high concentrations of glyphosate, up to 1600 mg/L in glyphosate-based herbicide (GBH) formulation, and 12,000 mg/L of the analytical-grade molecule. In the inhibition assay in liquid media, <i>C. zhejiangensis</i> CEIB S4-3 resisted glyphosate exposure to all concentrations evaluated (25-400 mg/L). After 48 h exposure, GBH caused important bacterial growth inhibition (>80%) at concentrations between 100 and 400 mg/L, while exposure to analytical-grade glyphosate caused bacterial growth inhibitions below 15% in all tested concentrations. Finally, this bacterial strain was capable of degrading 60% of the glyphosate supplemented to culture media (50 mg/L), when used as the sole carbon source, in twelve hours; moreover, <i>C. zhejiangensis</i> CEIB S4-3 can also degrade the primary glyphosate degradation metabolite aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA). Genomic analysis revealed the presence of genes associated with the two reported metabolic pathways for glyphosate degradation, the sarcosine and AMPA pathways. This is the first report on the glyphosate degradation capacity and the genes related to its metabolism in a <i>Caballeronia</i> genus strain. The results from this investigation demonstrate that <i>C. zhejiangensis</i> CEIB S4-3 exhibits significant potential for glyphosate biodegradation, suggesting its applicability in bioremediation strategies targeting this contaminant.