Chlorpyrifos degradation, biocontrol potential and antioxidant defence activation under pesticide stress by rhizosphere bacteria isolated from rhizosphere of peach (Prunus persica) plants

Current experiments were done to isolate plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) from peach (Prunus persica) rhizosphere having biocontrol, biodegradation and defence mechanism activation against pesticide toxicity. PGPR strains (Pseudomonas and Bacillus) showed biocontrol activity against phytopathogens. Bacillus flexus PS-26 tolerated a maximum amount of chlorpyrifos and was also able to degrade different concentrations of chlorpyrifos within 30 h. Bacillus flexus PS-26 formed more biofilm, released a high amount of antioxidants and exopolysaccharides under chlorpyrifos stress, which suggested its detoxification role. The present study proved Bacillus flexus PS-26 to be a super-bioinoculant, which could protect plants against pesticide.