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Stress-tolerant P-solubilizing microorganisms

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Abstract

Drought, high/low temperature, and salinity are abiotic stress factors accepted as the main reason for crop yield losses in a world with growing population and food price increases. Additional problems create nutrient limitations and particularly low P soil status. The problem of phosphate fertilizers, P plant nutrition, and existing phosphate bearing resources can also be related to the scarcity of rock phosphate. The modern agricultural systems are highly dependent on the existing fertilizer industry based exclusively of this natural, finite, non-renewable resource. Biotechnology offers a number of sustainable solutions that can mitigate these problems by using plant beneficial, including P-solubilizing, microorganisms. This short review paper summarizes the current and future trends in isolation, development, and application of P-solubilizing microorganisms in stress environmental conditions bearing also in mind the imbalanced cycling and unsustainable management of P. Special attention is devoted to the efforts on development of biotechnological strategies for formulation of P-solubilizing microorganisms in order to increase their protection against adverse abiotic factors.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Projects CTM2008-03524, CTM2011-027797 (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, España), P09-RNM-5196 (Project from the Junta de Andalucía, Proyecto de Excelencia), and EU COST FA0905 and FA1103. NV is grateful for the SABF PR2010-0422—Ministerio de Educacion, España and DAAD-Germany.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Granada, c/Fuentenueva s/n, 18071, Granada, Spain

    N. Vassilev & M. Vassileva

  2. Institute of Biotechnology, University of Granada, c/Fuentenueva s/n, 18071, Granada, Spain

    N. Vassilev

  3. Department of Crop Science, University of Rostock, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 6, 18059, Rostock, Germany

    B. Eichler-Löbermann

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  1. N. Vassilev
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Vassilev, N., Eichler-Löbermann, B. & Vassileva, M. Stress-tolerant P-solubilizing microorganisms. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 95, 851–859 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-012-4224-8

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