Buffering Reduces Potassium Solubilising Potential of Selected Bacterial Isolates

Mahendra Vikram Singh Rajawat^1,2, Rajni Singh², Devendra Singh³and Anil Kumar Saxena*¹

¹ICAR-National Bureau of Agriculturally Important Microorganisms, Kushmaur, Maunath Bhanjan, Uttar Pradesh – 275103, India.

²Amity Institute of Microbial Biotechnology, Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh – 201303, India.

³Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University Pusa, Samastipur, Bihar - 848125, India.

Corresponding Author E-mail: saxena461@yahoo.com

DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.13005/bbra/2716

ABSTRACT: Twenty three potassium solubilising bacteria (KSB) having potential to weather insoluble potassium bearing minerals were selected from 54 isolates obtained from the rhizosphere of different crop plants. The amount of K solubilised by different isolates in liquid medium ranged from 10.6±0.92 to 50.80±2.43 µg/mL. The isolates positive for solubilisation were categorized into weak, average and good solubiliser. Eleven isolates representing each category were further selected to study the effect of buffering of medium on K solubilisation. All the isolates exhibited the trait of K solubilisation both in the buffered and non-buffered media but with varying efficiency. In general for all the isolates, the amount of K released in the medium was low in buffered medium as compared to non-buffered medium. The buffering strength of medium diminished the effectiveness of KSB to release K from mineral and have no correlation with solubilisation in non-buffered medium (r = 0.89).

KEYWORDS: Aleksandrov Medium; Buffered and Non-Buffered Medium; Potassium Aluminosilicate; Potassium Solubilising Bacteria

[ HTML Full Text]