Effect of immobilized phosphate solubilizing bacteria on wheat growth and phosphate uptake

A study was performed to investigate the efficiency of rhizobacteria on solubilization of rock phosphate and their assimilation by wheat plants in quartz sand potted experiments. Two phosphate solubilizing bacteria, P. fluorescens and Serratia sp. were encapsulated in sodium alginate and potato starch beads and selected to investigate the variation on pH values, the enzymatic activity of alkaline and acid phosphatase and phosphate solubilization in Pikovskaya liquid medium. A relation between pH diminution and P solubilization was found. P solubilization of 89 and 93 μg mL-1 was observed with immobilized phosphate solubilizing bacteria, which was significantly higher compared to autoclaved alginate-starch beads. Higher values around 64% in P uptake by wheat plants after 60 days of growth was observed with immobilized P. fluorescens+3.25 ppm of P. The results demonstrated that inoculation of the immobilized rhizobacteria is a promising option for inoculant carriers to increase P level in plants wheat and could be an innovative technique for application in agricultural industry.