Molecular characterization of monocrotophos and chlorpyrifos tolerant bacterial strain for enhancing seed germination of vegetable crops Durgesh Kumar Jaiswal a , Jay Prakash Verma a, c, * , Ram Krishna a , Anand Kumar Gaurav a , Janardan Yadav b a Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, 221005, Uttar Pradesh, India b Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, 221005, UP, India c Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Hawkesbury Campus, Pobox 1797, Penrith NSW, 2750, Sydney, Australia highlights  Strains BHUJP-P4 and BHUJP-P3 showed higher EPS, IAA, PSB, HCN, ammonia production.  BHUJP-P3 and BHUJP-P4 have organophosphorus degrading gene opdA and opd.  They showed more tolerance and degradation against organophosphorus pesticides (OPs).  These strains can be used as OP tolerant consortia for vegetable production.  This is first & novel study of MCP and CLS on seed germination of vegetables. article info Article history: Received 30 December 2018 Received in revised form 1 February 2019 Accepted 10 February 2019 Available online 14 February 2019 Handling Editor: Daniel C.W. Tsang Keywords: Monocrotophos Chlorpyrifos PGPR Biodegradation Opd gene Seed germination abstract The main aim of this study is to investigate the toxicity of organophosphate (OPs) insecticides mono- crotophos (MCP) and chlorpyrifos (CLS) on plant growth promoting (PGP) properties and seed germi- nation of brinjal, tomato and okra vegetables inoculated by Microbacterium hydrocarbonoxydans (BHUJP- P1), Stenotrophomonas rhizophila (BHUJP-P2), Bacillus licheniformis (BHUJP-P3) and Bacillus cereus (BHUJP-P4). Maximum increase in microbial growth (52.6% & 47.9%) with enhanced EPS production (447.67 mg/ml & 75.00 mg/ml) was showed by BHUJP-P4 and BHUJP-P3 at 10 dose of MCP and CLS over control, BHUJP-2 and BHUJP-P1 respectively. Simultaneously, both strains recorded minimum reduction in PGP activities and seed germination at 3 dose of both insecticides as compared to BHUJP-2 and BHUJP-P1, respectively. Strains BHUJP-P3 and BHUJP-P4 showed 83 and 81% of monocrotophos degra- dation at 50 mg/kg concentration; 81 and 80% at 150 mg/kg concentration within 5days respectively. Concurrently, these strains BHUJP-P3 and BHUJP-P4 were recorded 53 and 90% of chlorpyrifos degra- dation at 50 mg/kg concentration; 49% and 87% at 100 mg/kg concentration within 72 h, respectively. The OPs insecticide degrading gene opdA and opd was found in strain BHUJP-P3 and BHUJP-P4, respectively. The multifarious biological activities of strain BHUJP-P3 and BHUJP-P4 showed maximum tolerance against insecticide, and minimum reduction in P-solubilisation, IAA, siderophore and HCN production for plant growth promotion and biological control under insecticide stress. Thus, these novel isolates may be used as biodegradation of organophosphate insecticide and plant growth promoting bacterial (PGPB) inoculum for enhancing seed germination of vegetables under stress insecticide. These novel strains will be environment friendly, socially acceptable and economically viable. © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Indian agriculture is facing many problems like unregulated use of chemical fertilizer and pesticide which causes environmental pollution of soils, water, and air as well as decreasing the soil * Corresponding author. Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, 221005, Uttar Pradesh, India. E-mail addresses: verma_bhu@yahoo.co.in, jpv.iesd@bhu.ac.in (J.P. Verma). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Chemosphere journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/chemosphere https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.02.053 0045-6535/© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Chemosphere 223 (2019) 636e650