Glyphosate is the most commonly used agricultural herbicide in the world. In aquatic ecosystems, glyphosate adsorbs to benthic substrates or is metabolized and degraded by microorganisms. The effects of glyphosate on microbial communities varies widely as microorganisms respond differently to exposure. To help understand the impacts of glyphosate on the sediment microbiome we conducted a microcosm experiment examining the responses of benthic sediment microbial communities to herbicide

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... s. Sediments from a prairie pothole wetland were collected and 16S rRNA gene sequencing was used to analyze community composition 14-days after a single treatment of low (0.07 ppm), medium (0.7 ppm), or high (7 ppm) glyphosate, aminomethylphosphonic acid (glyphosate metabolite), or a glyphosate-based commercial formula. Our results showed no significant differences in microbial community composition between treatments. These findings suggest that microbial species in the Prairie Pothole Region of North America may be tolerant to glyphosate exposure.