Nitrogen and phosphorus are critical for the vegetation ecosystem and two of the most insufficient nutrients in the soil. In agriculture practice, many chemical fertilizers are being applied to soil to improve soil nutrients and yield. This farming procedure poses considerable environmental risks which affect agricultural sustainability. As robust soil microorganisms, plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) have emerged as an environmentally friendly way of maintaining and improving the soil's available nitrogen and phosphorus. As a special PGPR, rhizospheric diazotrophs can fix nitrogen in the rhizosphere and promote plant growth. However, the mechanisms and influences of rhizospheric nitrogen fixation (NF) are not well researched as symbiotic NF lacks summarizing. Phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (PSB) are important members of PGPR. They can dissolve both insoluble mineral and organic phosphate in soil and enhance the phosphorus uptake of plants. The application of PSB can significantly increase plant biomass and yield. Co-inoculating PSB with other PGPR shows better performance in plant growth promotion, and the mechanisms are more complicated. Here, we provide a comprehensive review of rhizospheric NF and phosphate solubilization by PGPR. Deeper genetic insights would provide a better understanding of the NF mechanisms of PGPR, and co-inoculation with rhizospheric diazotrophs and PSB strains would be a strategy in enhancing the sustainability of soil nutrients.
Keywords: Co-inoculation; Nitrogen fixation; Plant growth-promoting bacteria; Rhizospheric diazotrophs; Soil nutrients.
© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.