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Fig. 2. Potassium solubilization activity of KSB isolates in liquid medium. Each bar represents a mean (±standard deviation)
solubilize K content in mg L−1. Uninoculated Aleksandrov solution was used as a control (1st bar). Error bars represent standard
errors for three samples from three replications.
22 C. Zhang, F. Kong / Applied Soil Ecology 82 (2014) 18–25
Table 2 Genetic characterization of selected KSB strains to gene level.
Microbe group Respective strain Collection site GenBank accession no. Closest relatives in NCBI (GenBank accession no.)
Max. identity (%)
Klebsiella GL4 Gulin Shuikou KC853283 Klebsiella variicola (NR 025635) 100 GL6 Gulin Shuikou KC853284 Klebsiella
variicola (CP001891) 99 GL9 Gulin Shuikou KC853286 Klebsiella variicola (HQ407252) 99 JM2 Jimo Wenquan KC853290
Klebsiella variicola (HQ259961) 99 JM3 Jimo Wenquan KC853291 Klebsiella variicola (HQ259961) 99 JM5 Jimo Wenquan
KC853292 Klebsiella variicola (HQ259961) 99 JM10 Jimo Wenquan KC853309 Klebsiella variicola (HQ259961) 99 JM12 Jimo
Wenquan KC853294 Klebsiella variicola (HQ259961) 99 JM13 Jimo Wenquan KC853295 Klebsiella variicola (HQ407252) 99
JM16 Jimo Wenquan KC853296 Klebsiella variicola (HQ259961) 99 XF4 Xianfeng Wanjiaba KC853300 Klebsiella variicola
(CP001891) 99 XF6 Xianfeng Wanjiaba KC853302 Klebsiella variicola (JF690980) 100 XF7 Xianfeng Wanjiaba KC853303
Klebsiella variicola (CP001891) 99 XF9 Xianfeng Wanjiaba KC853304 Klebsiella variicola (CP001891) 99 XF11 Xianfeng
Wanjiaba KC853305 Klebsiella variicola (HQ259961) 99 XF13 Xianfeng Wanjiaba KC853306 Klebsiella variicola (HQ259961)
99 XF16 Xianfeng Wanjiaba KC853308 Klebsiella variicola (HQ259961) 99 Enterobacter GL7 Gulin Shuikou KC853285
Enterobacter cloacae (JF772064) 99 JM11 Jimo Wenquan KC853293 Enterobacter cloacae (JF772064) 99 XF2 Xianfeng
Wanjiaba KC853299 Enterobacter asburiae (JQ659657) 99 XF5 Xianfeng Wanjiaba KC853301 Enterobacter asburiae
(JQ271799) 99 XF15 Xianfeng Wanjiaba KC853307 Enterobacter aerogenes (EU855208) 99 Pantoea GL10 Gulin Shuikou
KC853287 Pantoea agglomerans (EU590682) 99 Agrobacterium GL11 Gulin Shuikou KC853288 Agrobacterium tumefaciens
(FN433082) 99 Microbacterium JM17 Jimo Wenquan KC853297 Microbacterium foliorum (EU714341) 100 Burkholderia GL13
Gulin Shuikou KC853289 Burkholderia cepacia (FN178432) 100 Myroides JM19 Jimo Wenquan KC853298 Myroides
odoratimimus (GU186112) 99
3.3. Phylogenic analysis of tobacco rhizosphere KSB
The 16S rDNA sequences of the 27 KSB strains were com- pared to those of known 16S rDNA sequences using BLAST and
the GenBank database. The results showed that the 27 isolates of KSB from the tobacco rhizosphere can be categorized into five
groups (Table 2, Fig. 3). Among them, 23 isolates were gammaproteobacteria (85.19%), and the other 4 were alphapro-
teobacteria, betaproteobacteria, actinobacteria, and bacteroidetes, respectively. Eighteen isolates (62.96%) were found to be
closely phylogenetically related to Klebsiella, showing with 99–100% sim- ilarity in their 16S rDNA sequences, making
Klebsiella the most dominant genus. Five isolates (18.52%) were found to be closely phylogenetically related to Enterobacter,
making Enterobacter the second most dominant genus.
3.4. Plant growth and nutrient uptake among tobacco seedlings
Inoculation influenced the plants’ growth and ability to absorb nutrients (Table 3). Tobacco seedlings inoculated with JM3,
XF4, and XF11 showed greater height and dry weight than uninocu- lated tobacco seedlings (P≤0.05). The GL7 did not
significantly
influence plant height, but it did significantly increase plant dry weight. Uninoculated soil showed no significant difference
between plants treated with K-feldspar and those not so treated. However, after inoculating soil with KSB, the height of plants
treated with added K-feldspar differed from that of plants without K-feldspar addition in the XF11 inoculation treatment. Plants
inoc- ulated with JM3, GL7, and XF4 and treated with added K-feldspar did not show significant differences in height from those
not treated with added K-feldspar. However, the dry weight of plants inocu- lated with JM3, GL7, XF4, and XF11 and treated
with K-feldspar addition was significantly different from that of plants not treated with added K-feldspar.
Inoculation with JM3, GL7, XF4, and XF11 significantly increased seedling absorption of N, P, and K. Seedlings exposed to
K-feldspar absorbed significantly more N and K than those not exposed to added K-feldspar. The only KSB isolate that had
significant effects on P absorption was JM3.
3.5. Changes in pH and available K content in tobacco rhizosphere
Inoculation with KSB decreased soil pH value and increased available K content in the tobacco rhizosphere (Table 3).
Treatment
Table 3 Effects of K-solubilizing bacteria on plant growth, nutrient uptake and soil chemical properties.
Treatment Tobacco seedling Rhizosphere soil of tobacco
Plant height (cm)
Dry weight
Total K uptake
Total N uptake
Total P uptake
pH Available K (g)
(g kg−1)
(g kg−1)
(g kg−1)
(mg kg−1)
Control 7.95ea 0.48f 38.40i 22.23j 4.59e 7.0a 121.78g Feldspar powder 8.10e 0.49f 39.23h 23.39i 4.81e 6.9b 131.79f GL7
8.30de 0.63e 41.87f 24.71h 5.28d 6.9b 135.47e JM3 9.04b 0.70d 43.68e 25.61g 5.58cd 6.8c 145.09d XF4 8.80c 0.63e 41.63g
26.46f 5.42d 6.8c 130.53f XF11 10.10a 0.81c 46.00c 28.11d 5.93b 6.7d 149.18c Feldspar powder + GL7 8.56cd 0.69d 44.87d
26.76e 5.58cd 6.8c 151.08c Feldspar powder + JM3 9.05b 0.87b 47.38b 29.36b 5.93b 6.8c 165.48b Feldspar powder + XF4
8.60cd 0.71d 43.63e 28.62c 5.78c 6.8c 144.65d Feldspar powder + XF11 8.48d 1.02a 49.30a 30.71a 6.21a 6.70d 185.38a
a Values within a column followed by the same lower case letters are not significantly different P< 0.05.
Fig. 3. Phylogenetic tree of K-solubilizing bacteria from tobacco rhizosphere soil based on 16S rDNA sequences. All tested
isolates had their 16S rRNA gene partially sequenced and were grouped according to its genus or species designation.
with both KSB and K-feldspar increased the concentration of K in the tobacco rhizosphere over that of plants treated with KSB
alone. Among the KSB isolates, XF11 showed the highest increase in the concentration of available K in the soil and the lowest
pH value.
3.6. Correlation matrix
A significant correlation (P<0.01) was observed between tobacco biomass, nutrient uptake by tobacco, and soil available K
content. Biomass yield was significantly (P<0.01) and posi- tively correlated with K uptake (r= 0.98), N uptake (r= 0.94), and P
uptake (r= 0.95) by tobacco and with available K content in the soil (r= 0.95). Similarly, a significant positive correlation was
observed between K uptake and the amount of available K in the soil (r= 0.95).
4. Discussion
Potassium is one of the mass nutrients essential for plant growth and development. Most of the K in soil exists in various
insolu- ble rocks, minerals, and sedimentary materials (Goldstein, 1994). Soil K may be solubilized and absorbed by plants under
cer- tain circumstances. Microbes play an important role in natural K cycles. Many studies have shown that soil contains a variety
of KSB (Friedrich et al., 2004). These microbes decompose silicate minerals such as K-feldspar and mica. They transform solid
K in the soil into available K that can be directly absorbed by plants, and they secrete active substances that promote plant growth
(Sheng et al., 2001). The use of KSB as a biological fertilizer is a hotspot in the study of agriculture and environmental
conservation (Deng et al., 2003).
C. Zhang, F. Kong / Applied Soil Ecology 82 (2014) 18–25 23
24 C. Zhang, F. Kong / Applied Soil Ecology 82 (2014) 18–25
KSB can be obtained from the crop rhizosphere easily (Altamare et al., 1999). For example, KSB have been successfully
isolated from rice crops, corn crops, and coconut trees (Murali et al., 2005). Most of the KSB obtained from the plant rhizosphere
are Bacillus sp. and Pseudomonas sp., but glial Bacillus B. mucilaginosus is the most widely studied species of KSB (Liu, 2001;
Murali et al., 2005; Zhou et al., 2006; Sugumaran and Janarthanam, 2007). However, there are relatively few studies on KSB in
the tobacco rhizosphere. Zhang et al. (2011) found a KSB isolate K03 in the tobacco rhizosphere. Luo et al. (2011) found an
isolate that could solubilize K very efficiently Bacillus laterosporus K77. In our study, 27 isolates of KSB were found in the
tobacco rhizosphere. There were 7 species in these 27 isolates based on 16S rDNA sequence test. Among these isolates, 17 were
Klebsiella variicola, 2 were Enterobacter cloacae, 2 were Enterobac- ter asburiae, and Pantoea agglomerans, Agrobacterium
tumefaciens, Microbacterium foliorum, Burkholderia cepacia, and Myroides odor- atimimus each contributed 1. K. variicola and
E. asburiae were the dominant species here.
The solubilizing zones of different isolates were found to vary from 0.65 cm to 1.50 cm on silicate culture media. Further
exam- ination of the solubilization activity of the KSB showed that solubilization activity varied from 0.59 mg L−1 to 4.4 mg
L−1 among different isolates. The same isolate also showed different levels of K solubilization activity. Among the 17 isolates of
K. variicola, GL6, GL9, and JM3 showed the least solubilization activity (0.60 mg L−1). The solubilization activity of XF11 was
4.40mgL−1. This is con- sistent with the findings of previous studies (Mikhailouskaya and Tcherhysh, 2005; Sugumaran and
Janarthanam, 2007). There were smaller differences in the solubilization activity of E. cloacae and A. enterobacter. This may be
because of the small number of isolates of these two species found in this study relative to isolates of K. variicola.
Previous studies have shown that KSB can promote plant growth (Lin et al., 2002; Egamberdiyeva and Hoflich, 2003; Basak
and Biswas, 2009). These studies have indicated that inocula can enhance plant growth and increase plant K content. Studies
have shown that inoculating soil with KSB boosts the growth of rye and its absorption of N and K (Basak and Biswas, 2010). In
the present study, we examined the effects of active KSB isolates, specifically JM3, GL7, XF4, and XF11 (solubilization activity
> 2.0 mg L−1) on the growth of tobacco plants. This showed that all four isolates pro- moted the growth of tobacco plants to
different degrees. XF11 had the most pronounced ability to promote growth. This was for two reasons. First, KSB promotes the
growth of tobacco plants by secret- ing auxin, and the growth of the plants promotes nutrient uptake. Second, KSB were found to
dissolve slow-release K compounds in the soil, which increased the concentration of available K in the soil, further facilitating
plant growth. Correlation analysis showed that tobacco biomass and K content were positively correlated with soil K ion content.
Our results confirmed these theories.
Granite can release K, which is then absorbed by plants (Coroneos et al., 1996; Hinsinger et al., 1996). It has been shown that
the degradation of slow-release K compounds, such as K-feldspar, is related to the organic acids secreted by plant roots (Song
and Huang, 1988; Wang et al., 2000; Moritsuka et al., 2004). After the addition of K-feldspar powder, tobacco biomass, and K
content were all found to have increased in the T2 treatment group (uninoc- ulated). This indicates that rocks containing K may
be suitable for use as fertilizer. The combination of K-feldspar powder and KSB inoculation also promoted the growth of tobacco
plants, tobacco uptake of K, and increases in soil K content. This effect may be due to the fact that KSB solubilize a large amount
of K from K-feldspar powder, as supported by previous research (Barker et al., 1998).
In this study, a total of 27 KSB strains were found in the tobacco rhizosphere. We studied the diversity of this population and
the ability each strain to solubilize potassium. The effects of four KSB
isolates on the growth and nutrient absorption of tobacco and soil K content were examined. Strains XF11 and JM3 significantly
improved seedling height, dry weight, and absorption of N and P. This promotive effect was clearer when combined with added
K- feldspar. Using KSB may reduce the negative influence of chemical fertilizers on the environment and facilitate the
sustainable devel- opment of agriculture in China. The XF11 and JM3 isolates observed in our experiment show great potential
for use as biological K fertil- izer. However, our results were obtained in a greenhouse and may differ from field results. Further
studies of the mechanism by which KSB solubilize K-feldspar and the effectiveness of their use in the field are needed.
Acknowledgements
This research was financially supported by Shandong Corpora- tion of State Tobacco Monopoly Bureau (project no. 200901)
and Hubei Corporation of State Tobacco Monopoly Bureau (project no. 027Y2012-083).
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