Faculty of Applied Sciences and Biotechnology, Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences, Solan (HP) India

School of Public Health and Zoonoses, GADVASU, Ludhiana, 141004, Punjab, India

CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology, Sector 39A, Chandigarh, India

Centre for Biotechnology, MD University. Rohtak, Haryana, India

Chlorpyrifos is one of the most commonly used organophosphate insecticides that are implicated in serious environmental and human health problems. Herein, we aim to isolate potential bacterial strains that could metabolize chlorpyrifos. For this, we screened the endophytes from the roots of the strawberry plants that could metabolize and degrade chlorpyrifos (10 mg/L). Two strains named B5 and B8 identified that grow at the expense of chlorpyrifos as the sole carbon source. B5 and B8 are able to degrade 100% and 90% chlorpyrifos (10 mg/L) in vitro within 72 h and 96 h respectively as tested spectrophotometrically and via Gas Chromatographic (GC) analysis. Furthermore, using pea-seedling as model, our in plantae experiments show that chlorpyrifos taken up by the seeds can be efficiently degraded by strains B5 and B8 as reckoned by Gas Chromatographic (GC) analysis. Both the strains, B5 and B8 are able to degrade 97% and 88% of chlorpyrifos (10 mg/L) within 24 h of the treatment. 16S rRNA gene sequencing revealed that strain B5 showed 99% identity with Acinetobacter beijrenckii strain MP17_2B and strain B8 also shared 99% identity with the Enterobacter aerogens strain BPRIST043. Additionally the strains also possess biofertilzer activities like phytate production, ammonia production and nitrogen fixation. The results strongly suggest that these strains possess useful bioremediation activities which can be used to improve the quality of food products.

Keywords: Organophosphorous Insecticides; Chlorpyrifos; Endophytes; Biodegradation; Biofertilizer.