Dose-Dependent Effects of Butachlor Accumulation and Degradation on Amino Acid Metabolism and Lignin Biosynthesis in Rice

Abstract

The excessive use of amide herbicides (AHs) poses a substantial environmental threat by disrupting the growth and development of crops. Using butachlor as a representative AH, this study investigated the dose-dependent effects of butachlor's accumulation, subcellular distribution, and degradation on rice metabolism and growth. Employing an untargeted high-throughput mass spectrometry screening technology, we successfully identified 16 degradation products of butachlor, spanning both phase I and phase II metabolism. Biotoxicity of both butachlor and these degradation products was evaluated using the established machine learning models. Transcriptomics and metabolomics analyses revealed that butachlor reallocated the amino acids in rice from phenylpropanoid metabolism and lignin synthesis (at low doses) to antioxidant defenses (at high doses). This dose-dependent response suggested an affinity interaction between butachlor and laccase in cell wall to potentially facilitate its degradation. As doses increased, laccase activity and lignin synthesis were decreased, reducing shoot elongation by up to 76%. The interaction between butachlor and laccase can be extrapolated to a broader range of AHs and crops. This study provides a scientific basis for a more thorough environmental risk assessment of AHs and informs the safety management of agrochemicals.