Poster Presentation Society for Freshwater Science 2026 Annual Meeting

Investigating the impact of glyphosate-containing herbicides on Aeromonas growth (135994)

Deeya Chandran 1 , Georgia LaPlante 1 , Zach Kim 1 , Nigel D'Souza 1 , Madeleine Mathews 1 , Christy Andrade 1
  1. Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA, United States

Glyphosate is an organophosphate in commonly used commercial herbicides and may contaminate nearby ecosystems through agricultural runoff. Aeromonas is a genus of bacteria ubiquitously found in freshwater ecosystems. It includes species that are known fish and human pathogens. We tested six Aeromonas isolates representing three species (A. salmonicida, A. eucrenophila, and A. sobria) to determine if glyphosate-containing commercial herbicides impact their growth at environmentally relevant concentrations. Growth kinetics in the presence of varying levels of glyphosate were assessed in two glyphosate-containing commercial herbicides as well as pure glyphosate. Comparison of exponential growth rates and maximum biomass yields revealed species and strain-specific responses within the tested Aeromonas isolates to the presence of environmentally relevant concentrations of glyphosate-containing commercial herbicides. Our findings suggest the potential for altered growth and quantities of bacterial pathogens following glyphosate inputs into freshwater ecosystems.