Isolation and characterization of a lindane degrading bacteria Paracoccus sp. NITDBR1 and evaluation of its plant growth promoting traits.

Lindane contamination in different environmental compartments is still posing a serious threat to our environment and effective measures need to be taken for the detoxification of lindane. Soil bacteria isolated from agricultural fields are known to possess certain plant growth promoting traits like the production of phytohormones, production of ammonia, nitrogen fixation and solubilization of phosphorus, etc. In the present study, an indigenous bacterial strain Paracoccus sp. NITDBR1 have been isolated from an agricultural field in Manipur, India which could grow on 100 mg L lindane as the sole source of carbon and could degrade up to 90% of lindane in mineral salt media under liquid culture conditions in 8 days. The strain NITDBR1 was able to form biofilm in lindane media and the addition of substrate like glucose and sucrose enhanced the biofilm formation by 1.3 and 1.17-fold respectively in 3 days. The strain NITDBR1 could produce glycolipid and glycoprotein based biosurfactants. It was also found to possess plant growth promoting traits like nitrogen fixation and indole-3-acetic acid production to assist crop production. The phytotoxicity studies carried out on mustard seeds revealed that the degradation products formed after treatment with NITDBR1 could lower the toxicity of lindane for root elongation by 1.3-fold. Therefore, strain NITDBR1 could be useful for the bioremediation of soil contaminated with lindane with lesser damage to the environment, biofilm forming ability may help the bacteria survive under stressed environmental conditions, and biosurfactant production will help in increasing the bioavailability of contaminants. The plant growth promoting traits can be beneficial for agriculture. With such soil friendly activities coupled with pesticide degradation, this strain can be used for environmental as well as agricultural applications.