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Role of Plasmid in Pesticide Degradation and Metal Tolerance in Two Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria Bacillus cereus (NCIM 5557) and Bacillus safensis (NCIM 5558)

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Abstract

Disha A (Bacillus cereus) and Disha B (Bacillus safensis) were isolated from pesticide-infested agricultural field and showed tolerance against pesticides, heavy metals, and antibiotics. The isolates exhibited PGPR activities in vitro as well as in field conditions in lentil (Lens culinaris) and cow pea (Vigna unguiculata). Both the Bacillus species could not be grown in mineral salt medium but efficiently grown in the media supplemented with pesticide (imidacloprid/carbendazim) demonstrating the utilization of pesticide as carbon/nitrogen source. The HPLC studies exhibited the pesticide (imidacloprid/carbendazim) degradation by both the bacteria. B. safensis showed better degradation of carbendazim (88.93%) and imidacloprid (82.48%) than that of B. cereus 78.07% and 49.12%, respectively. The bacterial isolates showed high concentration of heavy metal tolerance viz. lead, molybdenum, cadmium, copper, cobalt, and zinc, except mercury. Both the bacteria possessed single plasmid. The plasmid-cured isolates of B. cereus did not tolerate any pesticide, whereas that of B. safensis tolerated all the pesticides, like wild strains. The plasmid curing experiments did not affect the heavy metal tolerance ability of both the bacteria indicating the genomic nature of heavy metal tolerance genes, whereas pesticide resistance genes are plasmid-dependent in B. cereus but genomic in B. safensis.

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Availability of Data and Material

Available in supplementary materials. The other datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Abbreviations

HPLC:

High-performance liquid chromatography

LB:

Luria Bertani

MS:

Mineral salt

MSM:

Mineral salt medium

MIC:

Minimum inhibitory concentration

NB:

Nutrient broth

NA:

Nutrient agar

PGPR:

Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria

PGPF:

Plant growth-promoting fungi

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Acknowledgements

The work was financially supported by Department of Science and Technology (West Bengal), India [Memo no. 757 (Sanc)/ST/P/S&T/1G-15/2014]. We acknowledge the help of Mr. S. Biswas, Central Instrumental Facility, Bose Institute, Kankurgachhi, Kolkata, India for HPLC analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, University of Gour Banga, Malda, W.B., 732103, India

    Tina Roy & Sukanta Majumdar

  2. Department of Botany, Barasat Government College, 24 Parganas (N), Kolkata, W.B., 700124, India

    Tina Roy, Anuradha Bandopadhyay, Chandana Paul & Nirmalendu Das

  3. Department of Microbiology, St. Xavier’s College, Park Street, Kolkata, 700016, India

    Chandana Paul

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Contributions

ND and SM developed the concept. ND and SM designed the experiment. TR performed the experiments. ND, AB, and SM analyzed the data. ND, TR, and CP interpreted the results. TR, AB, CP, and ND wrote the manuscript. ND overall supervised the work.

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Correspondence to Nirmalendu Das.

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Roy, T., Bandopadhyay, A., Paul, C. et al. Role of Plasmid in Pesticide Degradation and Metal Tolerance in Two Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria Bacillus cereus (NCIM 5557) and Bacillus safensis (NCIM 5558). Curr Microbiol 79, 106 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-022-02793-w

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