Effect of temperature on phosphate dissolution efficacy of microorganisms isolated from the cold desert habitat of populus alba (white popler) in trans himalayas

Amongst a wide array of elements required by the plants for their growth, phosphate happens to be the second most important element. However, the degrading availability of soil and the costly chemical fertilizers lead to a shortage of adequate phosphorous supply to the plants. Phosphate Solubilising microorganisms are capable of solubilising inorganic phosphate from the insoluble deposits thus making phosphate readily available for plants. In the present research, Phosphate solubilising microorganisms isolated from the trans Himalayan habitat were tested for their abilities to solubilise various sources of phosphates at different temperature ranges (9°, 12°, 18°, 24°, 35° and 40°C).Strains of both bacteria PBC1 (Bacillus sp.), PBC2 (Bacillus sp.), PBC5 (Unidentified) and Fungi PFC3 (Penicilliumsp.), PFC5 (Aspergillusfumigatus) and PFC6 (Aspergillus niger) were employed to solubilise the phosphate against the varied samples obtained from different habitats, the dessert of Udaipur, Rajasthan subtropical highland climate of Mussoorie,Uttrakhand and humid subtropical climate of North Carolina. Out of these Phosphate solubilises amongst bacteria PBC2 (Bacillus sp.) was solubilising maximum insoluble phosphate while amongst Phosphate solubilising fungi, PFC6 (A. niger) was reported to be highly efficient. The maximum Phosphate solubilisation was observed while solubilising TCP followed by NCRP, MRP and URP, clearly indicating that NCRP has the highest efficacy in making phosphorous dissolve into the soil environment. This potential of the PSB isolated from NCRP can thus be further employed to make phosphorous readily available to the plants as an alternative to chemical fertilizers at varied temperatures and different climatic conditions, habitat.