Project R-6626

Glyphosate Rhizoremediation Strategies for Soils Under Intensive Agricultural Use (Research)

According to the Argentinean Chamber of Agricultural Health and Fertilizers, every year more than 300,000 tons of pesticides are applied, which about 65% are formulations of the broad-spectrum herbicide Glyphosate (N-phosphonomethylglicine). During the past years, there was a lot of discussion about glyphosate as a cause of endocrine disruption, DNA damage, reproductive and developmental toxicity, neurotoxicity and cancer, as well as birth defects. The objectives of the work that will be performed at Hasselt University are the following: - To isolate and both phenotypically and genetically characterize glyphosate degrading bacteria from soil, rhizosphere and endophytes of Lotus spp. growing on fields under intensive use of glyphosate. - To assess the plant growth-promoting (PGP) abilities of isolated glyphosate-degrading microorganisms. - To assess the capacity of the isolated glyphosate degrading strains to colonize the root of candidate vegetal species. - Whole genome sequencing of selected strains with ION TORRENT® sequencing facilities and designing a consortium of promising strains based in the outcome of bioinformatics generated data. - To assess the biodegradation efficiency of the designed consortium in greenhouse trials.

01 January 2016 - 31 December 2017