A comparative study on biodegradation of chlorpyrifos by wild E. coli and Pseudomonas fluorescens bacterial isolates inhabiting different ecosystems of Kashmir valley

Among 1081 naturally occurring wild isolates examined for E. coli and Pseudomonas fluorescens, EC1 (E. coli) from Dal Lake (Srinagar district) and PF1 (P. fluorescens) from soil samples of Ganderbal district showed maximum tolerance (11 mg/ml) towards chlorpyrifos. The high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) based chlorpyrifos (CP) degradation analysis demonstrated that each isolate degraded chlorpyrifos much more efficiently than the reference strain E. coli MTCC-533 used in the current study. The present study suggests that EC1 and PF1 bacterial isolates inhabiting different ecosystems, degrade chlorpyrifos efficiently via genetic determinants and OPP enzymatic system and provide strong basis for development of bioremediation strategies in the area.