Isolation, Screening and Identification of Organophosphate Pesticide Degrading Bacterium, Kocuria sp

Chlorpyrifos is an insecticide that has been one of the pesticides most used worldwide since 1965. Asoil bacterium capable of utilizing chlorpyrifos as sole carbon source was isolated by selective enrichment on mineral medium containing chlorpyrifos. The objective of this study was to identify the Organophosphate pesticides degrading bacterium. Dilution plating was used to quantify the numbers of Kocuria propagules, and DNA sequence analysis was used to identify Kocuria species. Kocuria species was identified basing on the microscopic observations and Biochemical characterization. It was ultimately confirmed based on DNA sequence (16S rRNA sequence) analysis and finally concluded by BLAST analysis by constructing a phylogenetic tree.