Abstract
As the awareness on the ecological impact of chemical phosphate fertilizers grows, research turns to sustainable alternatives such as the implementation of phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB), which make largely immobile phosphorous reserves in soils available for uptake by plants. In this review, we introduce the mechanisms by which plants facilitate P-uptake and illustrate how PSB improve the bioavailability of this nutrient. Next, the effectiveness of PSB on increasing plant biomass and P-uptake is assessed using a meta-analysis approach. Our review demonstrates that improved P-uptake does not always translate in improved plant height and biomass. We show that the effect of PSB on plants does not provide an added benefit when using bacterial consortia compared to single strains. Moreover, the commonly reported species for P-solubilization, Bacillus spp. and Pseudomonas spp., are outperformed by the scarcely implemented Burkholderia spp. Despite the similar responses to PSB in monocots and eudicots, species responsiveness to PSB varies within both clades. Remarkably, the meta-analysis challenges the common belief that PSB are less effective under field conditions compared to greenhouse conditions. This review provides innovative insights and identifies key questions for future research on PSB to promote their implementation in agriculture.
Highlights
Phosphorus (P) is vital for plant growth and development as it is an essential component in biomolecules such as nucleic acids, phospholipids, and ATP (Schachtman et al, 1998; Tian et al, 2021)
A thorough literature research was conducted in Web Of Science using the keywords “phosphate solubilizing bacteria” AND “plant growth”, resulting in 253 identified records published between April 1976 and May 2021
After removing extreme values, data robustness and publication bias were evaluated by means of the fail-safe number (FSN) and visual inspection of funnel plots using the R-packages “meta” and “metafor” (Viechtbauer, 2010; Balduzzi et al, 2019)
Summary
Phosphorus (P) is vital for plant growth and development as it is an essential component in biomolecules such as nucleic acids, phospholipids, and ATP (Schachtman et al, 1998; Tian et al, 2021). For P-uptake, adult plants depend entirely on their root system to retrieve the available P from the soil as orthophosphates (Shen et al, 2011). In the light reactions of photosynthesis, low levels of phosphate lead to reduced ATP synthesis (Figure 1A). Other adaptive responses comprise internal P-remobilization from source leaves to sinks within the plant (Figure 1B). Anthocyanins are formed in epidermal cell layers through the flavonoid metabolism upon P-deficiency and act as protectant to alleviate the photooxidative stress (Figure 1C; Jiang et al, 2007; Hernández and Munné-Bosch, 2015)
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