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Review
. 2020 Dec 11:11:590774.
doi: 10.3389/fpls.2020.590774. eCollection 2020.

Use of Mineral Weathering Bacteria to Enhance Nutrient Availability in Crops: A Review

Affiliations
Review

Use of Mineral Weathering Bacteria to Enhance Nutrient Availability in Crops: A Review

Igor Daniel Alves Ribeiro et al. Front Plant Sci. .

Abstract

Rock powders are low-cost potential sources of most of the nutrients required by higher plants for growth and development. However, slow dissolution rates of minerals represent an obstacle to the widespread use of rock powders in agriculture. Rhizosphere processes and biological weathering may further enhance mineral dissolution since the interaction between minerals, plants, and bacteria results in the release of macro- and micronutrients into the soil solution. Plants are important agents in this process acting directly in the mineral dissolution or sustaining a wide diversity of weathering microorganisms in the root environment. Meanwhile, root microorganisms promote mineral dissolution by producing complexing ligands (siderophores and organic acids), affecting the pH (via organic or inorganic acid production), or performing redox reactions. Besides that, a wide variety of rhizosphere bacteria and fungi could also promote plant development directly, synergistically contributing to the weathering activity performed by plants. The inoculation of weathering bacteria in soil or plants, especially combined with the use of crushed rocks, can increase soil fertility and improve crop production. This approach is more sustainable than conventional fertilization practices, which may contribute to reducing climate change linked to agricultural activity. Besides, it could decrease the dependency of developing countries on imported fertilizers, thus improving local development.

Keywords: biological weathering; crushed rocks; fertilizers; inoculants; plant growth-promotion.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Beneficial effects for crop production from the use of rock powder associated with weathering bacteria. Rock powder extracted from local reserves is an important alternative to manufactured fertilizers. The inoculation of weathering bacteria increases plant growth and crop yields by releasing of macro- and micronutrients from soil minerals or crushed rocks applied in crop fields. Some weathering bacteria living in the rhizosphere can also display plant growth-promoting abilities (i.e., plant hormone production, N fixation, stress reduction, antimicrobials synthesis), enhancing plant development, or even protecting them against phytopathogens. The weathering of silicate rocks applied in croplands leads to the capture of CO2 and the release of carbonates and bicarbonates. This process can be microbiologically enhanced by weathering bacteria inoculated in soils (created with BioRender.com).
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Mechanisms related to weathering of rocks and minerals by soil bacteria. Weathering bacteria perform redox reactions or produce compounds such as organic/inorganic acids and chelating agents that directly affect the dissolution of minerals (represented by curved black arrows). Rhizosphere bacteria can promote plant growth by different mechanisms, such as plant hormone production, N fixation, stress reduction, antimicrobials synthesis (represented by white arrows), and this way, these microorganisms increase the mineral weathering performed by plants indirectly. The beneficial effect of rhizobacteria enhances plant root development and consequently the releasing of exudates (i.e., organic acids) related to weathering by plants. Different organic compound of root exudates (represented by red arrows) supplies bacterial growth and indirectly favors nutrients release from minerals by weathering bacteria activity. Dashed arrows represent nutrients and organic compound uptake by bacteria (created with BioRender.com).

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