Sulphur Oxidizing Bacteria and Pulse Nutrition - A Review

Sulphur oxidizers are involved in oxidation of elemental sulphur to plant available sulphate. Sulphur is the key element for higher pulse production and plays an important role in the formation of proteins, vitamins and enzymes. Sulphur is a constituent of the essential amino acids cystine, cysteine and methionine. In the recent years the importance of sulphur in pulse nutrition has been well recognized because of the widespread occurrence of its deficiency in the soil world over. Majority of sulphur taken up by plant roots is in the form of sulphate (SO ), which undergoes a series of transformation prior to its incorporation into the original 4 compounds. The soil microbial biomass is the key driving force behind all sulphur transformations. The biomass acts as both a source and sink for inorganic sulphate. They make available sulphate from element or any reduced forms of sulphur, through oxidation process in the soil. The role of chemolithotrophic bacteria of the genus Thiobacillus in this process is usually emphasized. Use of sulphur oxidizers enhance the natural oxidation and speed up the production of sulphates.