Glyphosate Does Not Inhibit Photosynthetic Electron Transport and Phosphorylation in Pea (Pisum sativum) Chloroplasts

Abstract

The activity of glyphosate [N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine], formulated as the isopropylamine salt, on in vitro photosynthesis was investigated. When pH 4.7 glyphosate solutions were titrated to a pH equal to that of the reaction media (pH 7.8), glyphosate additions had no effect on whole chain electron transport between coupled photosystem II (PS II) and photosystem I (PS I) in stroma-free chloroplast thylakoids from peas (Pisum sativumL. ‘Morse's Progress No. 9′). Inhibition did not occur even after a 2-h dark incubation of lamellae in a 5-mM solution of glyphosate. Fluorescence studies failed to detect an effect of glyphosate on PS-II mediated electron transport processes or upon light harvesting properties of PS II even after a 2-h glyphosate/chloroplast preincubation. Glyphosate had no effect on cyclic and noncyclic photophosphorylation even after a 100-min dark incubation of chloroplast membranes in a 5-mM solution of glyphosate. Based on these assays it is concluded that glyphosate has no direct effect on the photochemical reactions of photosynthesis when the pH of the active compound is adjusted to that of the reaction mixture prior to addition to a chloroplast suspension.