BiOWiSH Bacillus are applied to the soil as dormant endospores, which cannot move on their own. They remain in this condition until they’re exposed to sufficient levels of nutrients, soil moisture, and needed soil temperature to germinate. However, whether they’re still dormant endospores or have germinated into vegetative cells, there are many different mechanisms by which bacteria are known to move through the soil, even under harsh conditions. When water levels are sufficient, bacterial cells may spread passively through processes such as leaching or evapotranspiration. The minimal soil type and moisture level combination required to produce healthy plants, is in many cases, much lower than the requirement to drive the processes that promote BiOWiSH biology migration. When water is scarce, processes such paramagnetism may transport Bacillus through the charged surfaces of the soil particles. In addition, Bacillus can be shuttled in the bodies of earthworms and other soil fauna. Vegetative bacterial cells may also spread actively in response to nutrient and root exudate gradients, through biofilm formation, or transportation within fungal hyphae networks.
Soil environments may vary widely in their physical and chemical properties such as pH, water content, oxygen content, and temperature. Some of the processes described above, such as evapotranspiration and invertebrate transport, are known to occur naturally anyplace that plants are grown, and so would be in play across a wide range of field-relevant chemical gradients (such as pH, salinity, and oxygen). Laboratory data have shown that BiOWiSH Bacillus are stable across a wide range of pH, salinity, and oxygen gradients, making them perfect candidates for transport by these universal processes.
A review of field efficacy data across a variety of geographies and fertilizer application practices can help assess whether the mechanisms cited above, among others, consistently result in the successful uptake of BiOWiSH Bacillus through the roots of the host plant. Independent 3rd party replicated data from trials in which BiOWiSH coated fertilizer was applied to the soil through incorporation at planting versus surface applied after planting (i.e., topdress) shows no statistically significant difference in product performance, confirming the mechanisms of bacterial dispersion most relevant to BiOWiSH customers remain consistent across application practices.