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Solubilization of rock phosphate by phosphate solubilizing bacteria isolated from effluent treatment plant sludge of a fertilizer plant

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Abstract

This study evaluates the efficiency of Phosphate solubilizing bacteria isolated from Effluent Treatment Plant sludge of Paradeep Phosphate Limited, Odisha, India, to solubilize rock phosphate (RP) and the mechanism and structural changes during solubilization investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Out of 13 bacterial isolates, Bacillus cereus S0B4, Solibacillus isronensis S0B8, and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens S0B17 strains were found to be the best RP solubilizers. This is the first report on S. isronensis S0B8 with the ability to solubilize RP. In particular, the potent strain B. cereus S0B4 showed maximum soluble P (338.5 mg/L) on the 7th day. Negative correlations (r = -0.70; p ≤ 0.01) were observed between soluble P concentration and pH, whereas positive correlation exists with the growth of B. cereus S0B4 (r = 0.91, p ≤ 0.01), S. isronensis S0B8 (r = 0.75, p ≤ 0.01), and B. amyloliquefaciens S0B17 (r = 0.77, p ≤ 0.01) respectively. The P release kinetics followed the 1st order model well (R2 = 0.8001–0.8503). It seems that H+ ions and organic anions released from the organic acids are major factors responsible for RP solubilization. The SEM observations demonstrate that B. cereus S0B4 corroded the RP surface significantly due to the proton attack. The XRD analysis confirms that the intensity of all mineral peaks decreases after treatment with B. cereus S0B4. The FTIR analysis indicated a significant decrease of calcite and fluorapatite’s vibrational bands with the disappearance of quartz.

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Acknowledgements

The author gratefully acknowledges Hindustan Zinc Limited, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India, for providing the rock phosphate and Paradeep Phosphate Limited, Odisha, for ETP Sludge for present experiments. AcSIR Ph.D. student, Ms. Rojali Maharana expresses thanks to the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, for providing INSPIRE fellowship (DST/INSPIRE/03/2015/000438, IF160155), and Prof. S. Basu the Director CSIR-IMMT, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India, for providing lab facilities to undertake the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CSIR-Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology, Bhubaneswar, Odisha-751013, India

    Rojali Maharana & Nabin Kumar Dhal

  2. Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad-201002, India

    Rojali Maharana & Nabin Kumar Dhal

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  1. Rojali Maharana
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  2. Nabin Kumar Dhal
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Contributions

RM and NKD conceived and designed research that contributed to the acquisition of data and writing the first version of the manuscript. RM conducted the experiment. RM contributed analytical tools. RM and NKD analyzed data. RM wrote the manuscript and contributed to the acquisition of data. NKD contributed for drafting and revising the manuscript and coordinated the project.

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Correspondence to Rojali Maharana.

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Highlights

• Effective rock phosphate (RP) solubilization by Bacillus cereus S0B4, Solibacillus isronensis S0B8, and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens S0B17isolated from ETP Sludge of PPL, Odisha, India.

• First report of RP solubilization by S. isronensis S0B8.

• Organic acids produced by microorganisms were responsible for RP solubilization and morphological and mineralogical changes, confirmed by SEM, XRD, and FTIR respectively.

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Maharana, R., Dhal, N.K. Solubilization of rock phosphate by phosphate solubilizing bacteria isolated from effluent treatment plant sludge of a fertilizer plant. Folia Microbiol 67, 605–615 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12223-022-00953-w

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