Glyphosate utilization by Pseudomonas sp. and Alcaligenes sp. isolated from environmental sources [Herbicide, degradation by microorganisms in soil]

A total of 21 bacterial cultures were isolated that could utilize glyphosate (N-phosphonomethyl glycine) as a sole source of phosphorus in a mineral salts medium. Sources of inocula for enrichment cultures included aerobic digester liquid, raw sewage, trickling filter effluent, pesticide disposal pit liquid, and soil. Eleven cultures were identified as Pseudomonas sp., one as Pseudomonas stutzeri , and nine as Alcaligenes sp. Aminomethylphosphonic acid, the major metabolic intermediate of glyphosate degradation in soil, could also serve as a sole phosphorus source for all 21 isolates. Neither glyphosate nor aminomethylphosphonic acid could serve as carbon sources in mineral salts media.