Imidacloprid is systemic insecticide (1-[(6-chloro-3-pyridinyl) methyl]-N-nitro-2-imidazolidinimine) and the world’s most widely used has significant efficacy against a broad variety of pests and a unique mode of action by using it spreader and irrigation. The persistence of this pesticide in the soil means that it causes environmental damage that must be cleaned up. In this study collected and identified the best bacteria isolate that breakdown imidacloprid from the Plant Protection Director in Baghdad, which has been using neonicotinoid pesticides for years in their own greenhouse for pest control. Using high-performance liquid chromatography HPLC to measuring the residual concentrations of imidacloprid in MSM media at a concentration of 25 mg/L for 21 days to know the best degrading bacterial isolate for imidacloprid. The best bacterial isolate No.43 was able to degrade 50.2% for 21 days of imidacloprid which was identified as Rhizobium pusense according to morphological, cultural and biochemical tests. Moreover, genetic analysis for the 16S rRNA gene and given a new accession number (OP218458.1.) in the GenBank of NCBI. It could be concluded, from this study that the soil previously contaminated for long periods of time with imidacloprid can be treated by degrading the imidacloprid residues in it by isolated bacteria Rhizobium pusense.
