Abstract
Acidic soils rapidly retain applied phosphorus fertilizers and consequently present low availability of this nutrient to plants. The use of phosphate-solubilizing microorganisms to help plant phosphorus (P) absorption is a promising sustainable strategy for managing P deficiencies in agricultural soils. Trichoderma strains have been one of the most studied filamentous fungi for improving the production and development of several crop species mainly due to their capability for symbiotic associations and their ability to control soil-borne plant diseases. Thus, this work sought to bioprospect Trichoderma strains from the Amazon rainforest capable of solubilizing/mineralizing soil phosphate and promoting soybean growth. Soybean plants inoculated with selected Trichoderma strains were cultivated in soil under greenhouse conditions and under a gradient of rock phosphate and triple superphosphate. As a result, 19.5% of the isolated Trichoderma strains were able to solubilize phosphate. In addition, those strains produced different organic acids during the solubilization process. Trichoderma spp. strains showed positive responses in the promotion of soybean growth—from 2.1% to 41.1%—as well as in the efficiency of P uptake-up to 141%. These results reveal the potential of Trichoderma spp. from the Amazon biome as promising biofertilizer agents.
Highlights
The high demand for fertilizers used in Brazilian agriculture is a result of the growing population, which necessitates an increase in food production[1]
The efficiency of the application of phosphate fertilizers to the soil varies from 10–25%, and the phosphorus accessible to microorganisms and plants provided by these fertilizers is very low[19]
The application of microorganisms as biofertilizers is a promising approach to assist in agricultural production; these applications have contributed to the growth of several crop species[1,27,28], increase plant biomass and total P contents[29] and participate in the cycling of P without affecting the environment
Summary
The high demand for fertilizers used in Brazilian agriculture is a result of the growing population, which necessitates an increase in food production[1]. Sharma et al (2013) reported the ability of fungi to occupy larger spaces and ranges within the soil than bacteria and to produce a range of organic acids that play a trivial role in the solubilization of inorganic phosphate Within this context, we believe that the Amazon rainforest may be an excellent biome for the bioprospection of fungal strains capable of solubilizing/mineralizing insoluble phosphorus and making a portion of this nutrient pool available to plants. We believe that the Amazon rainforest may be an excellent biome for the bioprospection of fungal strains capable of solubilizing/mineralizing insoluble phosphorus and making a portion of this nutrient pool available to plants In this way, the Amazon rainforest can improve the growth and productivity of a wide variety of crop species. With the application of Trichoderma strains in the soil, we sought to optimize the use of different sources of phosphates, as well as the quantity of these sources applied, to contribute to more sustainable agriculture and greater efficiency in the use of phosphorus sources
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