All locust epiphytic bacteria were screened and a total of 62 epiphytic bacteria were obtained from samples of Acrida cinerea. Via phylogenetic analysis, the 62 epiphytic bacteria were allocated to 27 genera, 18 families, 13 orders, six classes, and four phylums. Then, cyhalothrin degradation experiments were conducted, and the 10 strains that degraded more than 30% cyhalothrin and Paracoccus acridae SCU-M53 showed the highest cyhalothrin degradation rate of 70.5%. Furthermore, Paracoccus acridae SCU-M53 was selected for optimal cyhalothrin biodegradation conditions via the response surface method (Design-Expert). Under the optimum conditions (28 °C, 75 mg/L, and 180 rpm), the cyhalothrin degradation rate reached 79.84% after 2 days. This suggests the possibility that isolating biodegradation cyhalothrin strains from Acrida cinerea is feasible.
Keywords: Acrida cinerea; Biodegradation; Biodiversity; Cyhalothrin; Epiphytic bacteria.