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ARS Home » Plains Area » Fort Collins, Colorado » Center for Agricultural Resources Research » Soil Management and Sugarbeet Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #389709
Research Project: Management Practices for Long Term Productivity of Great Plains Agriculture

Location: Soil Management and Sugarbeet Research

Title: Root exudate-derived compounds stimulate the phosphorus solubilizing ability of bacteria

Author
item PANTIGOSO, HUGO - Colorado State University
item Manter, Daniel
item FONTE, STEVEN - Colorado State University
item VIVANCO, JORGE - Colorado State University

Submitted to: Scientific Reports
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/3/2023
Publication Date: 3/10/2023
Citation: Pantigoso, H.A., Manter, D.K., Fonte, S.J., Vivanco, J.M. 2023. Root exudate-derived compounds stimulate the phosphorus solubilizing ability of bacteria. Scientific Reports. 13. Article e4050. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-30915-2.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-30915-2

Interpretive Summary: Improved fertilizer management is fundamental to sustainable food production. Researchers at USDA and Colorado State University explored the potential to harness natural plant compounds to stimulate soil bacteria to make fertilizer nutrients more available to crops. They found a variety of compounds that could be used to enhance soil conditions and crop growth. This research holds promise to many areas of the world where soils are deficient in fertilizer nutrients.

Technical Abstract: Deficient phosphorus (P) bioavailability in soils is a major challenge for sustainable food production as effective strategies to access unavailable P are limited. Solubilizing-bacteria and root exudate compounds that solubilize P are promising approaches to increase plant-available P. Here, we study the ability of root exudates (galactinol, threonine, and 4-hydroxybutyric acid) induced under low P conditions to stimulate the ability of bacteria to solubilize P. In this study, galactinol, threonine, and 4-hydroxybutyric acid were incubated together with the phosphorus solubilizing bacterial strains Enterobacter cloacae, Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes, and Bacillus thuringiensis under inorganic (calcium phosphate) and organic (phytin) plant-unavailable P. We found that threonine and 4-hydroxybutyric acid induced P solubilization in all bacteria independent of bacterial growth. Subsequent exogenous application of threonine to soils improved the root growth of corn, enhanced nitrogen and phosphorus content in roots and increased available levels of potassium, calcium and magnesium in soils. Thus, it appears that threonine might promote the bacterial solubilization and plant-uptake of a variety of nutrients.