Plant circadian rhythms regulate the effectiveness of a glyphosate-based herbicide

First author: Fiona E. Belbin; Affiliations: University of Bristol (布里斯托大学): Bristol, UK

Corresponding author: Antony N. Dodd 

Herbicides increase crop yields by allowing weed control and harvest management. Glyphosate is the most widely-used herbicide active ingredient, with $11 billion spent annually on glyphosate-containing products applied to >350 million hectares worldwide, using about 8.6 billion kg of glyphosate. The herbicidal effectiveness of glyphosate can depend upon the time of day of spraying. Here, we show that the plant circadian clock regulates the effectiveness of glyphosate. We identify a daily and circadian rhythm in the inhibition of plant development by glyphosate, due to interaction between glyphosate activity, the circadian oscillator and potentially auxin signalling. We identify that the circadian clock controls the timing and extent of glyphosate-induced plant cell death. Furthermore, the clock controls a rhythm in the minimum effective dose of glyphosate. We propose the concept of agricultural chronotherapy, similar in principle to chronotherapy in medical practice. Our findings provide a platform to refine agrochemical use and development, conferring future economic and environmental benefits.

除草剂通过控制杂草生长，有助于采收管理，从而增加作物的产量。草甘膦是全球范围内最常使用的除草剂活性成分，每年大约有110亿美元的产值，释放范围达350百万公顷的土地，总共需要消耗掉86亿千克的草甘膦。除草剂中草甘膦的效用性依赖于一天中碰洒的具体时间。本文的研究显示是植物的生物钟调控草甘膦的有效性。作者鉴定了草甘膦抑制植物发育的日节律和昼夜节律，这是由草甘膦活性、昼夜节律振荡器以及生长素信号转导之间的互作共同作用的。作者发现生物钟控制着草甘膦诱导的植物细胞死亡的时间和程度。此外，生物钟还控制了草甘膦最小效应剂量的节律。作者提出了一个“农业时间疗法”的概念，原则上类似于医疗实践中的时间疗法。本文的研究提供了一个改进农药使用和开发的平台，有利于未来的经济和环境事业。

通讯：Antony N. Dodd  (http://www.bristol.ac.uk/biology/people/antony-n-dodd/index.html)

研究方向：生物钟如何控制植物的光合；生物钟如何协调细胞信号和膜运输。

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-11709-5

Journal: Nature Communications

Published date: August 16, 2019