Development and evaluation of biofertilizers containing S0 and S oxidizing bacteria

• Grant number: 11/09637-6
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): August 01, 2011
• Effective date (End): July 31, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Soil Science
• Principal researcher: Fernando Dini Andreote
• Grantee: Adriano Reis Lucheta
• Home Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The use of concentrated NPK fertilizers without S in its composition, coupled with the largest exportation of nutrients by crops and reduction of atmospheric S inputs is resulting in increased agricultural areas deficient in S in the world. One possibility for the replacement of sulfur in the soil is the use of elemental sulfur (S0). However, before being absorbed by plants, S0 must be microbiologically oxidized to sulfate. The oxidation of S0 was always associated with the specie Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans, although a great diversity of organisms have this capacity on the soil. The S0 oxidation rate in soil is influenced by abiotic factors, but the main factor of variation is the diversity of native microbial community. During the candidate's doctoral thesis (FAPESP Process 2007/06957) was determined the S0 oxidation rates based on the production of sulphate and the diversity of sulfur oxidizing bacteria (SOB) and archaea, using techniques dependent and independent of cultivation, in three Brazilian soil samples. The prototype of a biofertilizer containing isolates of SOB, A. thiooxidans and S0, encapsulated in alginate was produced successfully, showing potential for the supply of sulfate in agriculture. The present work aims at the improvement of the biofertilizer prepared previously by: the prospection of new SOB's in Brazilian stratiform S0 reserves (Siriri, SE); encapsulating these SOB's, A. thiooxidans and A. ferrooxidans in microspheres of alginate and chitosan alternatively, determining the S0 oxidation rates "in vitro" and finally for evaluating the agronomic performance of those in the nutrition of corn in green-house experiments, accompanied by the monitoring of bacteria inoculated population using qPCR.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

VALADARES, RAFAEL B. S.; PEROTTO, SILVIA; LUCHETA, ADRIANO R.; SANTOS, EDER C.; OLIVEIRA, RENATO M.; LAMBAIS, MARCIO R.. Proteomic and Transcriptomic Analyses Indicate Metabolic Changes and Reduced Defense Responses in Mycorrhizal Roots of Oeceoclades maculata (Orchidaceae) Collected in Nature. JOURNAL OF FUNGI, v. 6, n. 3, SEP 2020. (11/09637-6, 11/01727-6)