Glyphosate did not affect the morphology and anatomy of H. stigonocarpa leaves, regardless of herbicide doses and evaluation time. There are reports of weeds whose herbicide tolerance mechanism is due to low absorption and/or translocation of the herbicide to the action site [17, 24, 38, 39, 40], which is why it led us to believe that the wax layer or cuticle serves as a physical and hydrophobic barrier that hinders absorption via the leaves [41].
Glyphosate can present different responses in relation to morphological characteristics, being beneficial or inhibiting [42, 43]. In the case of H. stigonocarpa, glyphosate promoted stem thickening the diameter, which in turn is one of the characteristics whose analysis enables indicating the ability of a seedling to survive in the field and should be used as one of the best indicators of seedling quality and consequently survival in the field [44, 45]. Stem thickening is an important parameter to generate greater plant resistance and support the weight of leaves and fruits [46]. Species that have morphological characteristics which hinder glyphosate absorption causing the compound to only be absorbed in sub-doses may be related to “beneficial” changes; first, the occurrence of physiological changes such as photosynthetic rate, electron transport, transpiration and on the effective quantum yield of photosystem II stimulate the species to produce more photoassimilates [3]. The increase in these rates positively influences the plants, and this is all related to the degree of absorption; low doses have a hormesis effect as already reported in other forest species, and thus promote a positive effect of stem thickening [47, 48].
Defoliation can probably be related to lower plant height production, a fact which is intensified by the decrease in transpiration rate and potential quantum yield of photosystem II verified at 60 days after glyphosate application. Leaf abscission has already been related to a reduction in photosynthetic capacity [49, 50], and with an increase in the herbicide dose, the intoxication level increased, causing leaf abscission and consequently a reduction in leaves to perform photosynthesis and is related to the drop in the growth rate of H. stigonocarpa seedlings. Defoliation reduces the production of carbohydrates for plants, followed by a high demand for photoassimilates [51]. Thus, something similar is believed to have occurred with H. stigonocarpa from the Cerrado, in which the energy demand for plant growth was not met at the highest glyphosate doses.
It is known that the main symptoms of glyphosate appear hours after application and include chlorosis followed by necrosis, and become more accentuated according to the dose of the active ingredient in sensitive plants. However, these symptoms were absent during the analysis period and doses. Anatomical analyzes on leaves are important tools that help in the detection of damage caused by contact with herbicides, as these can determine absorption by the plant [16]. However, for this work, no anatomical damage was observed in the leaf structures evaluated. Glyphosate is rapidly absorbed and transported to meristematic tissues [52], and doses higher than 360 g e.a h− 1 would be enough to kill the plant 21 days after glyphosate application, which did not occur with H. stignocarpa [53]. We can analyze the defense mechanism through anatomical evaluations, which contributes to understanding the barrier that each species imposes to its penetration [16]. In the case of H. stignocarpa, it was found that the main protection barrier is the thickness of the cuticle in the leaf, which minimizes how much of the active principle the plant absorbs.
According to a study [54], about 785,300 tons of products containing glyphosate were marketed worldwide in 2017. The results of histochemical tests were negative for detecting phenolic compounds and starches, and these results indicate that the species did not undergo oxidative stress [55]. No accumulation of starch grains was observed in H. stigonocarpa leaves, indicating that carbohydrate translocation was not impaired, as already observed in species exposed to various atmospheric pollutants [56].
Glyphosate is one of the most studied herbicides by the scientific community in recent years [57]. Glyphosate foliar phytotoxicity is related to absorption through the cuticle, in which case the removal of the wax layer due to herbicide application increases the chance of glyphosate absorption [58], which is why H. stigonocarp did not present visible or anatomical damage. Epicuticular wax is a very effective barrier against the foliar absorption of water-soluble herbicides, such as glyphosate [59]. For this reason, it may indicate that only sub-doses of glyphosate were absorbed by the plants, providing benefits to the studied plants.
Non-photochemical quenching was not affected by the glyphosate application, so the dissipation of non-radiative energy 24 hours and 60 days after the exposure of the seedlings to the herbicide was not affected. We know that non-photochemical quenching is involved in dissipating excess energy and regulating the photosystem II reaction center, which in turn is a photoprotection mechanism [60, 61]. The initial increase in the transpiration rate after 24 hours has already been pointed out as a defoliation compensation mechanism [62], which in turn could not be maintained during the 60 days as there was a progressive decrease, which may suggest that the plant’s capacity to absorb enough water to replace that consumed in the transpiration process was not sufficient, as has been shown by other authors [62, 63].
Glyphosate acts by inhibiting the activity of the 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3 phosphate synthase (EPSPS) enzyme, which catalyzes the condensation of shikimic acid and pyruvic acid, preventing the synthesis of three aromatic amino acids (e.g., phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan), negatively influencing plant growth [15]. This happened in treated plants which had their growth affected depending on the glyphosate dose, as many herbicides were created with the objective of regulating growth [3].