Open Access

ARTICLE

Oxidative effects of glyphosate on the lipophobic intracellular environment in the microalgae Chlorella vulgaris

by JUAN MANUEL OSTERA^1,2, SUSANA PUNTARULO^1,2, GABRIELA MALANGA^1,2,*

1 Fisicoquímica, Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, CP 1113, Argentina
2 Instituto de Bioquímica y Medicina Molecular (IBIMOL), CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, CP 1113, Argentina

* Corresponding Authors: GABRIELA MALANGA. Email: ,

BIOCELL 2022, 46(3), 795-802. https://doi.org/10.32604/biocell.2022.017294

Received 29 April 2021; Accepted 15 June 2021; Issue published 18 November 2021

Abstract

The studied hypothesis is that the herbicide glyphosate (GLY) can affect the oxidative balance in the hydrophobic intracellular medium in non-target Chlorella vulgaris cells. Analytical GLY and RoundUp (RUP) supplementation, affected the growth profile. A significant 42% decrease in the cellular biomass in stationary (St) phase was observed in cultures supplemented with either 5 µM of GLY or RUP, as compared to control cultures. The treatment with 0.3 µM of GLY generated non-significant effects on the oxidation rate of 2’, 7’ dichlorofluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA), neither in exponential (Exp) nor in St phase of development, as compared to control cultures. However, the treatment with either 5 µM GLY or 0.3 and 5 µM RUP lead to a significant decrease in the DCFH-DA oxidation rate, as compared to control cultures. The lipid radical (LR^●) generation rate, detected by Paramagnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (EPR), was significantly increased in the presence of RUP, in Lag and Exp phase of growth. The non-enzymatic antioxidants, α-Tocopherol (α-T) and β-Carotene (β-C), are aimed to protect membranes against the damage produced by the radical reactions. The content of β-C was not significantly affected, as compared to control cultures, by any of the treatments, in both growth phases of cellular development. The content of α-T was significantly decreased by the supplementation with either 0.3 or 5 µM of RUP or 5 µM GLY. The LR^●/α-T ratio, used as indicator of the oxidative balance in the hydrophobic cellular media, was significantly different between samples obtained from control and RUP-exposed microalgae in both, Exp and St phase of development, with either 0.3 or 5 μM RUP. The data presented here showed evidence that suggested that oxidative balance in the hydrophobic environment was affected by either GLY or RUP.

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