Not AvailableIn the present study, we studied the distribution of silicate mineral weathering bacteria (SWB) in stressed environments that
release potassium from insoluble source of mineral. Out of 972 isolates, 340 isolates were positive and mineral weathering
potential ranged from 5.55 to 180.05%. Maximum abundance of SWB occurred 44.71% in saline environment followed by
23.53% in low temperature and 12.35% each in high temperature and moisture deficit. Among isolates, silicate mineral
weathering efficiency ranged from 1.9 to 72.8 μg mL−1 available K in liquid medium. The phylogenetic tree of SWB discriminated
in three clusters viz. Firmicutes, Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria. This is the first report on SWB in stressed environments
and identified 27 genera and 67 species which is not reported earlier. Among them Bacillus was the predominant genera
(58.60%) distantly followed by Pseudomonas (6.37%), Staphylococcus (5.10%) and Paenibacillus (4.46%). These bacterial
strains could be developed as inoculants for biological replenishment of K in stressed soils.Not Availabl
