Vol. 11, Special Issue 4 (2022)

Author(s):
Harshita Singh, Anita Sharma and Damini Maithani

Abstract:
Agriculture sector contributes significantly in Indian economy where application of different pesticides has become mandatory to protect the quality and quantity of agricultural produce. Indigenous use of toxic chemicals including pesticides gives rise to environmental pollution as percolation of these chemicals in ground water causes contamination which is a matter of great concern for the environmentalists as well as for the health of human beings. In the present study, a Cypermethrin and Profenofos resistant bacteria was isolated from a pesticide contaminated soil of an agriculture field of Pantnagar using enrichment technique. The bacterium was characterized as a species of Staphylococcus using standard microbiological, biochemical and molecular methods (based on 16S rRNA sequencing). The bacteria showed maximum sequence homology with Staphylococcus gallinarum. Cypermethrin and profenofos are highly toxic, soluble and absorbable pesticides and used to control Boll worm, shoot and fruit borer and some Lepidopteron pests of cotton and tobacco. Staphylococcus gallinarum was capable to grow in the presence of Cypermethrin and Profenofos upto 100 ppm concentration. This bacterial strain could also effectively degrade Cypermethrin and Profenofos as it used the pesticides as a primary carbon source in minimal salt medium. Out of various enzymes like laccase, manganese peroxidase and lignin peroxidase tested to characterize the microbe, S. gallinarum showed the presence of lignin peroxidase. Present study provides a good opportunity to remediate pesticides-containing soil using a pesticide resistant bacteria.