Mineral composition of field grown winter wheat inoculated with phosphorus solubilizing bacteria at different plant growth stages

ABSTRACT: A two year field experiment was conducted in field conditions using wheat (Triticum aestivum ssp. vulgare L. cv. Bezostaja) as the test plant for the evaluation of phosphate solubilizing (+PS) microorganisms. Bacterial strains significantly (P < 0.05) increased plant biomass (by 13 to 36%) without plant P enrichment. Only Bacillus sp. #189 significantly (P < 0.05) raised plant P-content, biomass and rhizosphere soil Olsen P at Zadoks Scale 62 simultaneously. Inoculations variably increased plant potassium (K-), magnesium (Mg-), zinc (Zn-), and managenese (Mn-) contents at harvest (Zadoks 92) but not earlier (Zadoks 31 and 61). The enrichment of the inoculated plants with nutrients other than P indicates the presence of alternative plant growth promoting mechanisms. This study showed that promising phosphate solubilizing microorganisms could increase not only the P content of the plants, but also the soil available P in rhizosphere transiently.