Increased Phosphorus Uptake by Wheat and Field Beans Inoculated with a Phosphorus-Solubilizing Penicillium bilaji Strain and with Vesicular-Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi.

Greenhouse and field experiments were conducted to test the effect of a P-solubilizing isolate of Penicillium bilaji on the availability of Idaho rock phosphate (RP) in a calcareous soil. Under controlled greenhouse conditions, inoculation of soils with P. bilaji along with RP at 45 mug of P per g of soil resulted in plant dry matter production and P uptake by wheat (Triticum aestivum) and beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) that were not significantly different from the increases in dry matter production and P uptake caused by the addition of 15 mug of P per g of soil as triple superphosphate. Addition of RP alone had no effect on plant growth. Addition of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi was necessary for maximum effect in the sterilized soil in the greenhouse experiment. Under field conditions, a treatment consisting of RP (20 kg of P per ha of soil) plus P. bilaji plus straw resulted in wheat yields and P uptake equivalent to increases due to the addition of monoammonium phosphate added at an equivalent rate of P. RP added alone had no effect on wheat growth or P uptake. The results indicate that a biological system of RP solubilization can be used to increase the availability of RP added to calcareous soils.