Pyrethroids are the botanical origin pesticides commonly used in agriculture for fruit and vegetable protection against various pests. Cypermethrin belongs to fourth generation of pyrethroids effective at very low concentration. Cypermethrin shows insecticidal activity by interfering with the nervous system functioning of insects. Generally Cypermethirin is applied in the form of sprays on the crops. Along with the beneficial effects of this pesticide, it also shows toxicity towards aquatic life, shows carcinogenic effects on human beings. So removal of the remaining amount of Cypermethrin is important and microorganisms are found to be important in removal of this pesticide from the soil. Present study focuses on removal of Cypermethrin from the soil by using microorganisms. For this the soil samples were obtained from different farms sprayed with cypermethrin for last few years. Microorganisms capable of utilizing pyrethroid insecticide -cypermethrin were isolated from this soil by enrichment method. These microorganisms were identified by morphological, biochemical characterization and 16srRNA sequencing. The isolated microorganism P. aeruginosa showed capacity of growing in presence of 200mg/L concentration of cypermethrin.Parameters such as pH, temperature and incubation time were optimized by single parameter at a time for cypermethrin degradation. The organism degraded cypermethrin as evidenced by isolation and identification of metabolite extracts by thin layer chromatography. Thus, P.aeruginosa was found to be versatile in degradation of pyrethroid - cypermethrin.
