Screening of Pombhurna sub-district soil (Chandrapur), India for Pesticide-Degrading Bacteria and Assessment of Plant Growth-Promoting Features

The extensive and continuous use of organophosphate pesticides in agriculture has resulted in their accumulation in soil ecosystems, posing serious environmental and public health concerns. The present study aimed to isolate and characterize indigenous pesticide-degrading bacteria from agricultural soils of the Pombhurna sub-district of Chandrapur, Maharashtra, India, and to evaluate their plant growth-promoting (PGPR) attributes. Soil samples collected from pesticide-exposed fields were enriched on Minimal Salt Media (MSM) supplemented with chlorpyrifos, acephate, and profenophos as sole carbon sources. More than sixty bacterial isolates were obtained, among which four promising strains demonstrating efficient pesticide degradation were selected for further characterization. The selected isolates were screened for PGPR traits including indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) production, gibberellic acid (GA) production, phosphate solubilization, nitrogen fixation, hydrogen cyanide (HCN) production, ammonia production, and biochemical profiling (IMViC and sugar fermentation tests). High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) confirmed IAA and GA production in all four isolates. Three isolates demonstrated phosphate solubilization, while two showed strong nitrogen-fixing potential. HCN production was observed in three isolates, and all strains produced ammonia. Molecular identification through 16S rRNA gene sequencing revealed the isolates as Rhodococcus pyridivorans, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Bacillus cereus.