Glyphosate and its metabolite aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) draw great concern due to their potential threat to aquatic ecosystems. The individual and combined effects of glyphosate and AMPA on aquatic plants in different ecological niches need to be explored. This study aimed to investigate the ecotoxicity of glyphosate and AMPA on the emergent macrophyte Acorus calamus, phytoplankton Chlorella vulgaris, and submerged macrophyte Vallisneria natans after their exposure to glyphosate and AMPA alone and to their mixture. Medium and low concentrations of glyphosate (≤ 0.5 mg L-1) significantly inhibited the growth of V. natans and promoted the growth of C. vulgaris (P < 0.05) but had no significant effect on the growth of A. calamus (P > 0.05). AMPA (≤ 5.0 mg L-1) did not significantly influence the relative growth rate (except C. vulgaris) or malonaldehyde levels but significantly altered the expression levels of chlorophyll-related genes and superoxide dismutase [Cu-Zn] genes in the aquatic plants examined. AMPA mainly affected the oxidative phosphorylation pathway in V. natans and not those in other two plants, indicating that V. natans was more sensitive to AMPA-induced oxidative damage. Moreover, antagonistic effects on plant growth were observed when plants were exposed to low concentrations of glyphosate + AMPA (≤ 0.1 + 0.1 mg L-1). When the concentration of glyphosate + AMPA reached 0.5 + 0.5 and 5.0 + 5.0 mg L-1, the growth of the submerged macrophyte was additively or synergistically inhibited, but the growth of the emergent macrophyte and phytoplankton was antagonistically inhibited. Our results indicated that both the individual and combined effects of glyphosate and AMPA might alter the vertical structure of shallow lakes and accelerate the conversion of shallow lakes from grass-based to algal-based lakes.
Keywords: Aminomethylphosphonic acid; Aquatic plants; Combined effect; Ecological niches; Glyphosate; Individual effect.
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