Bioprospection of multifunctional properties in bacteria aiming to promote plant growth by increase in the availability of nutrients

• Grant number: 22/11801-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Program to Stimulate Scientific Vocations
• Start date: January 20, 2023
• End date: March 08, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Soil Science
• Principal Investigator: Mariangela Hungria da Cunha
• Grantee: Alince Laura Modesto Lima
• Host Institution: Embrapa Soja. Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA). Ministério da Agricultura, Pecuária e Abastecimento (Brasil). Londrina , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Brazil occupies the fifth position in the world in agricultural areas, being considered a key country for food production, and agriculture is responsible, today, for almost a third of the national GDP. However, the country must prepare itself for a new phase of agriculture and new concepts, such as regenerative agriculture, and the intensification of the use of biological inputs, must be encouraged. In this scenario, the use of microorganisms that promote plant growth, in total or partial replacement of chemical fertilizers, becomes increasingly important. This is even more evident in face of the difficulties encountered by Brazil this year, with the war between Ukraine and Russia, where the country's great dependence on chemical fertilizers was clearly demonstrated. The country currently imports 85% of the fertilizers consumed, a situation of great fragility for a country with an agricultural vocation. In this context, microbial properties that lead to root growth, for example, by the synthesis of phytohormones, or by the ability to solubilize poorly soluble sources of phosphorus and potassium, can strongly contribute to the greater availability of these nutrients. The "Collection of Cultures of Multifunctional Microorganisms of Embrapa Soja: Diazotrophic Bacteria and Plant Growth Promoters" (CNPSo) currently has a collection of around 4,500 bacteria, organized according to quality principles and kept in deep-frozen and lyophilized forms. Representative bacteria from this collection were chosen to evaluate their ability to solubilize sources of phosphorus and potassium, in vitro and in vivo. The bacteria identified as elite will also have their genome sequenced and analyzed, looking for metabolic pathways related to these microbial processes. (AU)