Project description:Human health effects from chronic exposure to pesticide residues are little investigated. We compared standard histopathology and serum biochemistry measures and multi-omics analyses in an in vivo subchronic toxicity test of a glyphosate, its formulated product MON 52276, and mixture of six pesticide active ingredients frequently detected in foodstuffs (azoxystrobin, boscalid, chlorpyrifos, glyphosate, imidacloprid and thiabendazole). Sprague-Dawley rats were administered with the pesticide mixture with each ingredient at its regulatory permitted acceptable daily intake.
Project description:Human health effects from chronic exposure to pesticide residues are little investigated. We compared standard histopathology and serum biochemistry measures and multi-omics analyses in an in vivo subchronic toxicity test of a glyphosate, its formulated product MON 52276, and mixture of six pesticide active ingredients frequently detected in foodstuffs (azoxystrobin, boscalid, chlorpyrifos, glyphosate, imidacloprid and thiabendazole). Sprague-Dawley rats were administered with the pesticide mixture with each ingredient at its regulatory permitted acceptable daily intake.
Project description:One of the most widely used agricultural compounds worldwide is the herbicide glyphosate (N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine), commonly known as Roundup. The current study using a transient exposure of gestating F0 generation female rats found negligible impacts of glyphosate on the directly exposed F0 generation or F1 generation offspring, but dramatic increases in pathologies in the F2 generation grand-offspring and F3 transgenerational great-grand-offspring. The transgenerational pathologies observed include prostate disease, obesity, kidney disease, ovarian disease, and parturition (birth) abnormalities. Epigenetic analysis of the F1, F2 and F3 generation sperm identified altered DNA methylation.
Project description:Despite all debates about its safe use, glyphosate still is the most widely applied active ingredient in herbicide products with renewed approval in the European Union until 2033. Non-target organisms are commonly exposed to glyphosate as a matter of its mode of application, with its broader environmental and biological impacts remaining under investigation. Glyphosate displays structural similarity to phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP), thereby competitively inhibiting the 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS), crucial for the synthesis of aromatic amino acids in plants, fungi, bacteria, and archaea. The majority of microbes, including the gut bacterium Escherichia coli (E. coli), possess a glyphosate-sensitive class I EPSPS, making them vulnerable to glyphosate's effects. Yet, little is known about glyphosate’s interactions with other bacterial proteins or its broader modes of action at the proteome level. Here, we employed a quantitative proteomics and thermal proteome profiling (TPP) approach, to identify novel protein binding partners of glyphosate in the E. coli proteome. Glyphosate exposure significantly altered amino acid synthesizing pathways, including increased abundance in shikimate pathway proteins, suggesting a compensatory mechanism. Extracellular riboflavin concentrations were elevated upon glyphosate exposure, while intracellular levels remained stable. Thermal proteome profiling indicated an effect of glyphosate on the thermal stability of certain proteins beyond the target enzyme EPSPS, including AroH and ProA. An elevated structural similarity between the substrates of the interaction candidates and glyphosate, similar to the competitive binding between PEP and glyphosate at the EPSPS, could be a reason for their interaction with the herbicide. Overall, glyphosate induced metabolic disturbances in E. coli, extending beyond its primary target, thereby providing new insights into glyphosate's broader impact on microbial systems.
Project description:Glyphosate is one of the most widely used herbicides globally. It acts by inhibiting an enzyme in an aromatic amino synthesis pathway specific to plants and microbes, leading to view that glyphosate poses no risk to other organisms. However, there is growing concern that glyphosate is associated with detrimental health effects in humans, and an ever-increasing body of evidence suggests that glyphosate affects other animals including pollinating insects such as bees. Although pesticides have long been considered a contributing factor in the decline of wild bee populations most research on bees has focussed on demonstrating and understanding the effects (particularly sublethal ones) of insecticides. To assess whether glyphosate poses a potential risk to bees we characterised the changes in survival, behaviour, digestive tract proteome and microbiome in the bumblebee Bombus terrestris after chronic exposure to field relevant doses of glyphosate alone and as part of the commercially available product RoundUp Optima+®. Regardless of source, changes in response to herbicide exposure in important cellular and physiological processes in the digestive tract of B. terrestris were observed, with the abundances of proteins associated with oxidative stress regulation, metabolism, cellular adhesion, the extracellular matrix, and various signalling pathways being altered. Interestingly, endocytosis, oxidative phosphorylation, the TCA cycle, and carbohydrate, lipid, and amino acid metabolism were differentially altered depending on whether the exposure source was glyphosate AI or RoundUp Optima+®. In addition, RoundUp Optima+®, but not the active ingredient glyphosate, impacted fungal diversity in the digestive tract microbiota. Our research provides new insights into the potential mode of action and consequences of glyphosate exposure at the molecular and cellular levels in bumblebees and highlights issues with current regulatory measures involving commercial formulations of pesticides where the impact of the co-formulants on non-target organisms are generally overlooked.
Project description:Small RNAs have emerged as a promising new type of biomarker to monitor health status and track the development of diseases. Here we report changes in the levels of small RNAs in the liver of rats exposed to a mixture (MIX) of six pesticides frequently detected in foodstuffs (azoxystrobin, boscalid, chlorpyrifos, glyphosate, imidacloprid and thiabendazole), and glyphosate (G50) (50 mg/kg bw/day), or its representative EU commercial herbicide formulation Roundup MON 52276 (R50) at the same glyphosate equivalent doses in comparison to a control group (CON).
Project description:This project aimed to investigate the effects of glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup LB Plus on bacteria. For this, ten environmental strains of Salmonella enterica were exposed to the increasing concentrations of Roundup over several passages to obtain Roundup-resistant mutants. Four stable re-sequenced resistant mutants and their respective ancestors were characterized by global proteomics in the presence and absence of sub-inhibitory (1/4xMIC) concentrations of the herbicide. By comparing the proteomes of the Roundup-challenged ancestors with constitutive non-challenged ancestors, it became possible to deepen the understanding of how Roundup stress affects naïve bacteria. Similarly, comparing Mutants versus Ancestors in the absence of Roundup allowed to understand how Roundup resistance constitutively affects bacterial physiology, while the comparison of Roundup-challenged mutants versus constitutive mutants helped improve the understanding of the inducible responses in the resistant background.
Project description:Background: Herbicides are environmental contaminants that have gained much attention due to the potential hazards they pose to human health. Glyphosate, the active ingredient in many commercial herbicides, is the most heavily applied herbicide worldwide. The recent rise in glyphosate application to corn and soy crops correlates positively with increased death rates due to Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. Glyphosate has been shown to cross the blood-brain barrier in in vitro models, but has yet to be verified in vivo. Additionally, reports have shown that glyphosate exposure increases pro-inflammatory cytokines in blood plasma, particularly TNFα. Methods: Here, we examined whether glyphosate infiltrates the brain and elevates TNFα levels in 4-month-old C57BL/6J mice. Mice received either 125, 250, or 500 mg/kg/day of glyphosate, or a vehicle via oral gavage for 14 days. Urine, plasma, and brain samples were collected on the final day of dosing for analysis via UPLC-MS and ELISAs. Primary cortical neurons were derived from amyloidogenic APP/PS1 pups to evaluate in vitro changes in Aβ40-42 burden and cytotoxicity. RNA sequencing was performed on C57BL/6J brain samples to determine changes in the transcriptome. Results: Our analysis revealed that glyphosate infiltrated the brain in a dose-dependent manner and upregulated TNFα in both plasma and brain tissue post-exposure. Notably, glyphosate measures correlated positively with TNFα levels. Glyphosate exposure in APP/PS1 primary cortical neurons increases levels of soluble Aβ40-42 and cytotoxicity. RNAseq revealed over 200 differentially expressed genes in a dose-dependent manner and cell-type-specific deconvolution analysis showed enrichment of key biological processes in oligodendrocytes including myelination, axon ensheathment, glial cell development, and oligodendrocyte development. Conclusions: Collectively, these results show for the first time that glyphosate infiltrates the brain, elevates both the expression of TNFα and soluble Aβ, and disrupts the transcriptome in a dose-dependent manner, suggesting that exposure to this herbicide may have detrimental outcomes regarding the health of the general population.
Project description:Using whole genome microarray (Affymetrix ATH1) we studied the transcriptional response of Arabidopsis thaliana to glyphosate (Roundup Original) herbicde that inhibits 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) enzyme and thus disrupts aromaticamino acid biosynthesis. Few genes related to defense and secondary metabolism were altered. Experiment Overall Design: Surfactant (preference 0.25%) treated plants were used as carrier control group and EC50 concentration of glyphosate was used as the herbicide treatment group. Each of the control and treatment group consisted of 3 biological replicates and each biological replicates comprised leaves from 10 individual plants. RNA was extracted at 24h post treatment to study the transcriptional alterations caused by the herbicide treatment.
Project description:To investigate the gene expression changes observed with exposure to organophosphate esters in the adrenal glands of Sprague Dawley rats.