Biodegradation of Glyphosate in Aqueous Medium by Strain JAN3 Aspergillus tubingensis isolated from Agricultural Soil

The use of glyphosate has raised a major concern among researchers around the world because of its adverse effects and toxic nature. In the present study, the enrichment technique was used to isolate the strain JAN3 Aspergillus tubingensis from agricultural soil. The ability of the isolate to utilize glyphosate as the sole carbon and energy source was evaluated using HPLC and FTIR. The results revealed that the strain JAN3 could mineralize 96% of glyphosate within 5 days of incubation. The infrared spectrum of standard glyphosate when compared to degradation by strain Aspergillus tubingensis showed the absence of peak for major functional groups which could be due to the breakdown of the compound into simpler structures. IR spectra of the degraded sample showed the presence of an aldehyde group and carboxylic acid which confirmed that glyphosate was mineralized by the strain JAN3. The degradation results were further fitted into different kinetic models and the results showed that the reaction followed pseudo first order kinetics. The extracellular enzymatic activity was analysed during glyphosate degradation. The results of the study highlight that the strain Aspergillus tubingensis may have the potential to mineralize high concentrations of the herbicide in the contaminated areas.