02786naa a2200265 a 450000100080000000500110000800800410001902400520006010000190011224502200013126000090035130000140036052018980037465300180227265300190229070000200230970000260232970000140235570000220236970000180239170000180240970000190242770000160244677300580246221440022024-01-23       2022    bl uuuu     u00u1 u    #d7 ahttps://doi.org/10.1007/s10924-022-02380-x2DOI1 aMAJARON, V. F.  aBioactive material with microorganisms can enhance the micronutrients solubilization and sulfate availability from low reactive sourcesbInsight for application as coating fertilizer granules.h[electronic resource]  c2022  a2602-2613  aFertilization is essential to provide suitable conditions for plant development and crop productivity, but the environmental cost of fertilizers is a drawback for achieving a sustainable agriculture. A potential alternative is the use of unprocessed (raw) nutrient sources such as elemental sulfur (S0 ) and mineral oxides (ZnO, MnO, CuO) as fertilizers. However, these low reactive sources are not readily available to plants. Here, we developed a bioactive coating material containing microorganisms that allowed diferent nutrients to be made available from unprocessed nutrient sources. For that, the coating material composed of maize starch, elemental sulfur (S0 ), mineral oxides (ZnO, MnO, CuO), and a microbial source (Aspergillus niger or Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans) was applied on monoammonium phosphate (MAP) granules, as a model fertilizer. Our results revealed that the bioactive coating did not afect the phosphorus (P) release, since it did not impose a physical barrier. However, the acidifying capacity of both microorganisms signifcantly enhanced the oxide solubilization and elemental sulfur oxidation. The presence of Aspergillus niger or Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans promoted local acidifcation, achieving sulfate release of up to 76.4 and 83.8% in 42 days of soil incubation. Furthermore, the bioactive coating material with Aspergillus niger reached Cu, Zn and Mn solubilization up to 10.9, 14.6 and 34.3% in 42 days of soil incubation. This phenomenon suggested that the organic acids produced by Aspergillus niger chelate the cations, reducing precipitation and, therefore, increasing their solubilization. This innovative system can efectively supply nutrients to plants using cheap and low reactivity nutrient sources with the advantage that it can be co-applied on currently used fertilizer granules in a single delivery, making easier the adoption by producers  aFertilization  aMineral oxides1 aSILVA, M. G. da1 aBORTOLETTO-SANTOS, R.1 aKLAIC, R.1 aRIBEIRO, S. J. L.1 aPOLITO, W. L.1 aBEVILAQUA, D.1 aFARINAS, C. S.1 aRIBEIRO, C.  tJournal of Polymers and the Environmentgv. 30, 2022.