MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF BACTERIAL STRAINS ISOLATED FROM PESTICIDES CONTAMINATED SOILS OF DISTRICT GUJRAT, PAKISTAN

In the present study, bacterial strains were isolated from Fenitrothion and Diamethioate contaminated soils. Due to identical morphological characteristics only two strains, APDB9 and APDB10, were randomly selected for molecular identification through 16S rRNA gene sequence. These two strains were found closely related to Bacillus megaterium and Bacillus thuringiensis , respectively. The presence of 21 kb plasmid in all strains isolated suggests the involvement of this plasmid in pesticide resistance. However, none of the bacterial strains showed amplification of organophosphate degrading (opd) gene with gene specific primers, which suggested that the nucleotide sequence of the genes in these strains was different from the ones already reported. These results may help to characterize and investigate the new types of opd genes, so that they may be utilized in pesticides biodegradation in future.

Automated summary

In this study, bacterial strains isolated from contaminated soils were found to have pesticide-resistant plasmids, but none showed amplification of organophosphate degrading genes. This may contribute to characterizing new types of opd genes for potential use in pesticide biodegradation in the future.