Glyphosate-induced oxidative stress in Arabidopsis thaliana affecting peroxisomal metabolism and triggers activity in the oxidative phase of the pentose phosphate pathway (OxPPP) involved in NADPH generation.

Glyphosate is a broad-spectrum systemic herbicide used worldwide. In susceptible plants, glyphosate affects the shikimate pathway and reduces aromatic amino acid synthesis. Using Arabidopsis seedlings grown in the presence of 20μM glyphosate, we analyzed H2O2, ascorbate, glutathione (GSH) and protein oxidation content as well as antioxidant catalase, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and ascorbate-glutathione cycle enzyme activity. We also examined the principal NADPH-generating system components, including glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH), 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6PGDH), NADP-malic enzyme (NADP-ME) and NADP-isocitrate dehydrogenase (NADP-ICDH). Glyphosate caused a drastic reduction in growth parameters and an increase in protein oxidation. The herbicide also resulted in an overall increase in GSH content, antioxidant enzyme activity (catalase and all enzymatic components of the ascorbate-glutathione cycle) in addition to the two oxidative phase enzymes, G6PDH and 6PGDH, in the pentose phosphate pathway involved in NADPH generation. In this study, we provide new evidence on the participation of G6PDH and 6PGDH in the response to oxidative stress induced by glyphosate in Arabidopsis, in which peroxisomal enzymes, such as catalase and glycolate oxidase, are positively affected. We suggest that the NADPH provided by the oxidative phase of the pentose phosphate pathway (OxPPP) should serve to maintain glutathione reductase (GR) activity, thus preserving and regenerating the intracellular GSH pool under glyphosate-induced stress. It is particularly remarkable that the 6PGDH activity was unaffected by pro-oxidant and nitrating molecules such as H202, nitric oxide or peroxynitrite.