# Phytomicrobiones: A Potential Approach for Sustainable Pesticide Biodegradation
## 2 Pesticides
### Pesticide Biodegradation Processes  
In our pursuit of a safer and cleaner environment, the elimination of pesticide residues is imperative. Recent investigations have explored a range of physicochemical processes, such as adsorption and percolation filters, alongside innovative techniques like photocatalysis with TiO\({}_{2}\) and photo-degradation, to tackle this formidable challenge [37]. However, these methods often prove to be cost-intensive, laborious, and time-consuming. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates the cost of these operations to range between 3000 and 4000 USD per ton of pesticide removed [38]. Therefore, our quest for effective and sustainable pesticide degradation necessitates a shift towards eco-friendly, cost-effective, and time-efficient techniques. Pesticide biodegradation stands out as a promising solution [39]. As depicted in Figure 2, microorganisms yield a natural prowess to degrade a significant portion of pesticides through the orchestration of diverse biodegradation pathways. These pathways play a pivotal role in identifying the microorganisms capable of breaking down specific pesticides. Table 1 provides an inventory of various phytomicrobes renowned for their pesticide-degrading abilities. Remarkably, these microorganisms can evolve to produce enzymes essential for the degradation of primary pesticide compounds, subsequently harnessing them as sources of growth [40]. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Name of Pesticide** & **Isolation Source** & **Microbe Used** & **Microbe Type** & **Reference** \\ \hline
2,4-D & Pea (_Pisum sativum_) & _Pseudomonas putida_ VM1450 & Bacterium & [41] \\ Thiamethoxam & Rice (_Oryza sativa_) & _Enterobacter cloace_ TMX-6 & Bacterium & [42] \\
2,3,4,6- & & & & \\ tetrachlorophenol, & Contaminated groundwater & _Herhospirillum_ spp. K1 & Bacterium & [43] \\
2,4,6-Trichloropropane & & Coarse textured & _Pseudomonas_ spp. 1G & Bacterium & [44] \\ Imadcloprid & Rhizosphere soil & & & \\ Acetamiprid & Tobacco plant & & & \\ and Imidacloprid & (_Nicotiana tabucum_) & _Acinetobacter_ spp. TW & Bacterium & [45] \\ Acetamiprid & Tobacco plant & & & \\ and Imidacloprid & (_Nicotiana tabucum_) & _Sphingomonas_ spp. TY & Bacterium & [45] \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Example of pesticide-degrading microorganisms isolated from different environmental components. Figure 2: Description of new biodegradation process through expressing the relationship between pesticides and microbial communities. * Molecular pathways: study of microbial DNA, mRNA, rRNA, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, etc. ** Enzymatic reactions are mostly oxygenases, transferases, isomerases, hydrolases, and ligases. Pesticide biodegradation unfolds through a symphony of enzymes, with their genetic blueprints residing on both plasmid and chromosomal DNA. Under stressful conditions, plants receive microbial signal compounds that urge them to activate defense-related genes, initiating pathways for microbial degradation [65; 66]. Microbes, exhibiting an innate tendency to exploit pesticides as an energy source, embark on the journey of pesticide degradation mechanisms [67]. The pages of biodegradation history unveil pioneering bacterial strains, such as _Pseudomonas putida_, bearing the degradative camphor (CAM) plasmid, which boasts the capacity to orchestrate the oxidation of terrant and camphor and encode genes responsible for the degradation of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyayacetic acid (2,4-D), a widely-used herbicide [68; 69]. A plasmid, pJP4, isolated from _Ralstonia eutrophia_ strain JMP134, has been recognized for harboring a broad spectrum of degradation genes that enhance the breakdown of organochlorines, 2,4-D, and 3-chlorobenzoate [70]. Additionally, the genes ptrD, ptrA, ptrB, ptrC, phtAa, phtAb, phtAc, and phtAd, sourced from _Arthobacter