Abstract
ABSTRACT The expansion of agribusiness in Brazil is partly due to the expansion of arable areas in the Cerrado biome, which, consequently, leads to an increase in the use of herbicides, including glyphosate. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the physiological and morphoanatomic responses of Bowdichia virgilioides Kunth. (Fabaceae), when exposed to the herbicide glyphosate, under controlled greenhouse conditions. In addition, the study proposed to identify possible response patterns of the studied species and provide subsidies for the study of the species in areas affected by the drift of the herbicide. The experimental design was in randomized blocks, with seven doses of the herbicide: 25, 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1200 g i.a ha-1 besides the control (0), with four repetitions each. Gas exchange, chlorophyll a fluorescence emission, chloroplast pigment content, membrane permeability, and visual and anatomical features were analyzed. The results showed that glyphosate is phytotoxic to B. virgilioides because, even at low doses, this herbicide was able to affect all parameters analyzed. There was also confirmation of the presence of phenolic compounds, mainly in the palisade parenchyma. The metabolic alterations presented demonstrated the sensitivity of B. virgilioides to glyphosate. Thus, the observed responses can serve as a tool for diagnosing the effects of glyphosate exposure on this species, present in native areas affected by the drift of this herbicide. Its indiscriminate use poses a risk to Cerrado biodiversity.
Highlights
Brazilian agriculture has grown at an accelerated pace, influenced by the exploration of new arable areas, associated with the modernization of machinery and implements, and the strengthening of the input sector (Belchior et al, 2014)
The gas exchange parameters of B. virgilioides were affected by glyphosate (Figure 1)
Similar responses were observed by Batista et al (2018), when analyzing the effects caused by glyphosate in the Pouteria torta species, where it was observed that these parameters decreased in response to the increase in glyphosate doses and the evaluation times, suggesting that the decrease in the photosynthetic process occurred, at least in part through stomatal limitations
Summary
Brazilian agriculture has grown at an accelerated pace, influenced by the exploration of new arable areas, associated with the modernization of machinery and implements, and the strengthening of the input sector (Belchior et al, 2014). In the last four decades, the expansion of agriculture in the Cerrado was the one that most contributed to the increase of the sector in the country, standing out in the production of soybeans, corn, cotton, sugar cane, sorghum and rice (Santana et al, 2020). Even though it is of great importance for the Brazilian economy, agribusiness has caused several impacts to natural resources, mainly due to the exacerbated use of pesticides, which directly affect the soil, water resources and biodiversity (Gomes, 2019). It is necessary to investigate the phytotoxic effects caused by glyphosate drift on native vegetation (Freitas-Silva et al, 2020)
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