A bacterial strain capable of utilising carbendazim as the sole carbon and energy source was isolated from soil. The isolate was designated as JAS13 and identified as Rhodococcus sp., based on its biochemical and molecular characteristics carried out by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. The strain JAS13 was confirmed as R. erythropolis showing 99% similarity with Rhodococcus sp., which was able to grow in mineral salt medium spiked with 150mg l-1 of carbendazim as a sole source of carbon and within 4 days of incubation the initial dose of carbendazim was completely degraded. The GC-MS analysis showed that carbendazim was degraded into 2-hydroxybenzimidazole and catechol. Phytotoxicity and genotoxicity assays were performed to assess the toxicity of carbendazim degraded metabolites. Further screening of the strain JAS13 for plant growth-promoting (PGP) traits confirmed its capability to solubilise insoluble phosphate and Zn. Production of organic acids, indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), hydrogen cyanide (HCN) and ammonia was also checked. The findings suggest that R. erythropolis JAS13 could be exploited for integrated bioremediation of pesticide and plant growth-promoting ability in agricultural systems. © Royal Irish Academy.