Streptomycetaceae and Promicromonosporaceae: Two Actinomycetes Families from Moroccan Oat Soils Enhancing Solubilization of Natural Phosphate

Abstract

Soil actinomycetes explorations appear to be an efficient alternative as biofertilizers to optimize the use of phosphorus (P) resources and enhance plant growth. This research aimed to explore the distribution of actinomycetes isolated from four different rhizospheric Moroccan oat soils and to investigate their potential for P solubilization. The distribution of actinomycetes was significantly more abundant in Settat (9.68%), Tangier (7.38%), and Beni Mellal (6.87%) than in the Merchouch-Rabat (4.90%) region. A total of 235 actinomycete strains were isolated from all sites and tested for their ability to grow on a synthetic minimum medium (SMM) containing insoluble natural rock phosphate (RP) or synthetic tricalcium phosphate (TCP) as the unique P source. One hundred forty-three isolates (60.8%) had the ability to grow in the SMM with RP whereas only twenty-five isolates (17%) had the most active growth using the SMM with TCP. Eight isolates with the most active growth in solid SMM were selected for their P solubilization abilities in liquid SMM cultures. The highest amount of P solubilized was 163.8 µg/mL for RP and 110.27 µg/mL for TCP after 5 days of culture. The biosolubilization process of AM2, the most efficient RP and TCP solubilizing strain, probably implied the highest excretion of siderophore substances. Eight of these strains were shown to belong to the Streptomyces genus and one to the Promicromonospora genus. These findings bolster the phosphate biosolubilization abilities of actinomycetes and may participate in increasing agricultural yields in an eco-efficient and environmentally friendly manner.