A bacterial consortium and L-tryptophan boosted glyphosate removal, mungbean growth and physiology in contaminated soil

Here, a pot experiment was carried out to assess the effectiveness of co-application of a microbial consortium and L-tryptophan (L-TRP) on bioremediation of glyphosate and growth of mungbean ( Vigna radiata L.) in glyphosate-contaminated soil. Mungbean seeds (untreated or treated with L-TRP) were sown in the soil that was spiked with glyphosate (600 mg kg −1 ) and the microbial consortium (comprising of Achromobacter xylosoxidans strain MH-13, Stenotrophomonas sp. strain MH-18, Alcaligenes faecalis strain MH-22 and Stenotrophomonas rhizophila strain MH-24) was applied to the selected pots. Results depicted that the microbial consortium and L-TRP considerably ameliorated the physiology, nutrient uptake, growth, and yield attributes of mungbean plants, and their co-application significantly increased agronomic (57–70%), nutrient uptake (19–38%), and physiological (24–78%) and yield (37–72%) attributes of mungbean over un-amended contaminated controls. Furthermore, successful removal of glyphosate was observed by the sole addition of microbial consortium (73%) and L-TRP (49%), and this removal of glyphosate was further increased by co-addition of microbial consortium and L-TRP (61% and 82% in unplanted and planted treatments, respectively) over respective controls. Findings from this study imply that the co-addition of a microbial consortium with L-TRP could be a sustainable strategy for improving the glyphosate remediation and productivity of mungbean in glyphosate-contaminated soil. Graphical Abstract