Abstract
The combined use of plants and associated microorganisms has great potential for remediating soil contaminated with organic compounds such as pesticides. The objective of this study was to determine whether the bacterial inoculation influences plant growth promotion and chlorpyrifos (CP) degradation and accumulation in different parts of the plant. Ryegrass was grown in soil spiked with CP and inoculated with a pesticide degrading bacterial strain Bacillus pumilus C2A1. Inoculation generally had a beneficial effect on CP degradation and plant biomass production, highest CP degradation (97%) was observed after 45 days of inoculation. Furthermore, inoculated strain efficiently colonized in the rhizosphere of inoculated plant and enhanced CP and its primary metabolite 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol (TCP) degradation. There was significantly less CP accumulation in roots and shoots of inoculated plants as compared to uninoculated plants. The results show the effectiveness of inoculated exogenous bacteria to boost the remediation of CP contaminated sites and decrease levels of toxic pesticide residues in crop plants.