Extensive use of chemicals around human environment, in soil and natural waters is a constant source of concern for public health authorities. Pesticide use is one of the biggest cause of chemical contamination in our environment. Bacteria have a great potential as a decomposer of biopolymers and synthetic chemicals in organic waste. In this study the role of bacteria in the degradation of widely used pyrethroid pesticide, cypermethrin is being reported. For this purpose the polluted soil and

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... polluted soil and water samples were collected from different pesticide polluted areas of the Punjab. Eight bacterial strains were isolated on cypermethrin-containing M9 agar plates. On the basis of physical and chemical characterization, these isolates belong to genera Bacillus, Sporosarcina, Pseudomonas, Marinococcus, Arthrobacter, Cupriavidus, Aeromonas and Micrococcus. The optimum growth pH and temperature of the isolates in LB broth was ranged from 6-7 and 30-40°C respectively. In LB broth typical growth patterns of bacterial isolates were observed. These isolates were found sensitive to four metals i.e., Hg 2+ , Co 2+ , Cr 2+ and Cu 2+. The antibiotic sensitivity of isolates was also evaluated against nine antibiotics. All the isolates were resistant to ampicillin, furazolidone, and fusidic acid.