ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Nutrition
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1644448
Effects of organic carbon, inorganic phosphorus, and phosphorus-solubilizing bacteria on maize growth, nutrient uptake, and rhizosphere phosphorus availability
Provisionally accepted
- 1Institute of Agricultural Resources and Environment, Xinjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Urumqi, Xinjiang, China, Urumqi, China
- 2Agricultural Technology Extension Station of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Urumqi, Xinjiang, China, Urumqi, China
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Phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (PSB), phosphorus(P), and carbon(C ) influence the activity of microbes, P availability in soil, and the growth of crops. In this study, pot experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of C, P and PSB on maize growth, nutrient uptake, and P availability in the rhizosphere soil. Based on a 2 ×3×2 complete factorial design, the pot experiment was performed at two P levels (0 and 50 mg kg -1 potassium dihydrogen phosphate), three C levels (0, 60, and 120 mg kg -1 glucose) and two PSB levels (0 and 60 mL pot -1 ). The results showed that PSB addition caused an average increase of 3.03% in the biomass of maize shoots compared to control group with no PSB. C addition resulted in a significant decrease in the biomass of maize shoots, N concentration, and the uptake of nitrogen and P by maize plants. In the absence of exogenous P, PSB addition led to a decrease in N concentration, P concentration, N uptake, and P uptake in maize plants. On the other hand, at exogenous P concentration of 50 mg kg -1 , PSB addition enhanced N concentration, N uptake, and P uptake in maize plants. The addition of C and PSB led to average decreases of 13.36% and 8.05% in the Olsen P content, respectively, while water-soluble P decreased by 25.52% and 28.42%, respectively. In contrast, microbial biomass C content showed average increases of 78.15% and 60.39%, respectively, while microbial biomass P content increased by 67.52% and 16.19%, respectively.The results showed that C and PSB addition increased the immobilization of microbial C, P and the reduced forms of labile P susceptible to leaching. On the other hand, PSB and exogenous P promoted plant growth by increasing nutrient uptake. The findings of this study will be helpful in promoting the rational use of P fertilizers, reducing P leaching and increasing crop yield.
Keywords: Carbon, P-solubilizing bacteria, nutrient uptake, P availability, microbial biomass
Received: 10 Jun 2025; Accepted: 22 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhou, Wang, Zhu, Wang and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Shaomin Zhang, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Environment, Xinjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Urumqi, Xinjiang, China, Urumqi, China
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