Phosphate-solubilizing bacteria as inoculants for agriculture: use of updated molecular techniques in their study

The use of phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (PSB) as inoculants simultaneous ly increases P uptake by the plant and crop yield. A method to isolate effi cient strains, an overview of some updated molecular techniques useful in t heir characterization (16S rRNA sequencing, LMW RNA profiles, TP-RADP and r ep-PCR fingerprinting) and a method for obtaining strain-specific DNA probe s will be briefly explained. These methodologies are not time-consuming and , in general, do not require sophisticated equipment.