Aswathi_2019_Bioresour.Technol_292_122025

The indiscriminate use of pesticides leads to serious food safety and toxicity issues and threatens the environment and biodiversity. Pseudomonas nitroreducens AR-3 isolated from pesticide contaminated agricultural soil removed 97% of chlorpyrifos (CP) in just 8h, in a mineral salt medium (MSM) containing glucose (1.0g/L) and yeast extract (0.5g/L) at 30 degrees C and 2% (v/v) inoculum when challenged with 100mg/L CP. 3, 5, 6-trichloro 2-pyridinol (TCP), the degradation product of CP was detected only in low levels, indicating its further degradation. Organophosphate hydrolase (OPH), the enzyme considered responsible for CP degradation, had an intracellular localization. Crude OPH (1mg/ml) removed 42% of 100mg/L chlorpyrifos in just 2h, indicating a rapid rate of degradation. Ultra-fast degradation of chlorpyrifos with an inducible OPH marks the potential of P. nitroreducens AR-3 for bioremediation of organophosphates. The strain AR-3 has the fastest rate of organophosphate degradation reported till date among Pseudomonads.