Bioavailability of organic and inorganic phosphates adsorbed on short-range ordered aluminum precipitate

A nonreductive community-level study of P availability was conducted using various forms of adsorbed P. Orthophosphate (Pi), inositol hexaphosphate (IHP), and glucose 6-phosphate (G6P) were adsorbed to a short-range ordered Al precipitate. These bound phosphates provided a P source sufficient to support the growth of microbial communities from acidic Brazilian soils (oxisols). Adsorbed IHP, the most abundant form of organic phosphate in most soils, had the lowest bioavailability among the three phosphates studied. Adsorbed G6P and Pi were almost equally available. The amount of adsorbed Pi (1 cmol P kg^–1) required to support microbial growth was at least 30 times less than that of IHP (30 cmol P kg^–1). With increased surface coverage, adsorbed IHP became more bioavailable. This availability was attributed to a change in the structure of surface complexes and presumably resulted from the decreased number of high-affinity surface sites remaining at high levels of coverage. It thus appears that the bioavailability of various forms of adsorbed phosphate was determined primarily by the stability of the phosphate-surface complexes that they formed, rather than by the total amount of phosphate adsorbed. IHP, having the potential to form stable multiple-ring complexes, had the highest surface affinity and the lowest bioavailability. Bioaggregates consisting of bacteria and Al precipitate were observed and may be necessary for effective release of adsorbed P. Bacteria in the genera Enterobacter and Pseudomonas were the predominate organisms selected during these P-limited enrichments. Correspondence to: C. Shang