Isolation of bacterial strains for efficient degradation of organophosphate pesticide

Regular use of organophosphate pesticides (OPPs) such as chlorpyrolifos in agriculture results in a variety of environmental issues, including groundwater contamination, surface water pollution, enhanced floral and faunal resistance, soil acidity, reduced soil fertility, and nitrate leaching. The objective of the current study was to identify and isolate bacterial strains from native soil that could degrade chlorpyrifos and had high pesticide resistance. A total of 60 distinct microbial strains were isolated from the soil samples and subsequently evaluated for their capacity to degrade chlorpyrifos. Serratia liquefaciens, one of the strains, was discovered to be the most effective among them for degrading chlorpyrifos. It was subsequently examined for the biodegradation of chlorpyrifos under various environmental conditions and was then identified using 16S rRNA sequencing. The strain S. liquefaciens degraded more than 90% of 50 mg L^-1 of chlorpyrifos. The strain performed better when urea and sucrose were used as nitrogen and carbon sources, respectively. At a temperature of 35 °C and a basic pH range, the strain functioned exceptionally well. The finding demonstrated that the bacterial strain S. liquefaciens, which was isolated from agricultural soil, is a top contender for cleaning up OPP-contaminated soil.