STATUS AND PHOSPHORUS SOLUBILIZATION POTENTIAL OF BACTERIA AND ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZAL FUNGI ISOLATED FROM VARIOUS

LOCATIONS OF KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA PROVINCE

 

FAZLI WAHID^*, MUHAMMAD SHARIF, MUHAMMAD AZIM KHAN

AND MUHAMMAD JAMAL KHAN

 

The University of Agriculture Peshawar, Pakistan

^*Corresponding author’s email: azim@aup.edu.pk

 

Abstract

 

The soils of Pakistan are alkaline calcareous in nature and its high pH makes phosphorus (P) unavailable for plants uptake. Chemical sources of P fertilizers are a costly and detrimental practice. Therefore, investigations were conducted to determine the native status of phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB) and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in three different zones of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. In order to select the efficient PSB strains for solubility enhancement of P from rock phosphate (RP), rhizosphere soil samples were collected from irrigated and rainfed fields of maize, sorghum, pastures and vegetables. Population density of PSB ranged from 1.7×10⁷ to 2.7×10⁸ CFU g^-1 rhizosphere soil. The bacterial strains Coccus, Streptoccocus and Bacillus sp. were identified on the basis of their microscopic, phenotypic and morphological characters. Most of the AM fungal spores identified were belonging to Glomus mosseae and Glomus intradices. A range of 02-35 spores per 20 g air dried soil were recorded.The PSB strains such as Coccus DIM7, Streptococcus PIM6 and Bacillus sp. PIS7 solubilized more P from RP than any other strain in both of the liquid and solid medium. Results show that areas under investigations are rich in P solubilizing micro flora providing a rich source for inoculum production. Moreover, the PSB strains have the capability to solubilize P from RP that can be used as biofertilizers for optimum crop production.

 

Key words: Phosphate solubilizing bacteria, AM fungi, Phosphorus, Rock phosphate, Crops and Locations.