Prospecting Ammoniphilus sp. JF isolated from agricultural fields for butachlor degradation.

Butachlor is a chloroacetamide herbicide used worldwide for controlling weeds in plants of rice, corn, soybean and other crops. In this study, indigenous bacterial species Ammoniphilus sp. JF was isolated from the agricultural fields of Punjab and identified using 16S ribosomal RNA analysis. The bacteria utilized butachlor as the sole carbon source and showed complete degradation (100 mg/L) within 24 h of incubation. Two intermediate products, namely 1,2-benzenedicarboxylic acid, bis(2-methylpropyl) ester and 2,4-bis(1,1-dimethylethyl)-phenol were observed at the end of butachlor degradation. To the best of author's knowledge, biodegradation of butachlor by indigenous Ammoniphilus sp. JF from the agricultural fields of Punjab has not been reported so far.