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The Regulation of Phosphorus Release by Penicillium chrysogenum in Different Phosphate via the TCA Cycle and Mycelial Morphology

  • Microbial Physiology and Biochemistry
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Abstract

Phosphate-solubilizing fungi (PSF) efficiently dissolve insoluble phosphates through the production of organic acids. This study investigates the mechanisms of organic acid secretion by PSF, specifically Penicillium chrysogenum, under tricalcium phosphate (Ca3(PO4)2, Ca–P) and ferric phosphate (FePO4, Fe–P) conditions. Penicillium chrysogenum exhibited higher phosphorus (P) release efficiency from Ca-P (693.6 mg/L) than from Fe–P (162.6 mg/L). However, Fe–P significantly enhanced oxalic acid (1193.7 mg/L) and citric acid (227.7 mg/L) production by Penicillium chrysogenum compared with Ca–P (905.7 and 3.5 mg/L, respectively). The presence of Fe–P upregulated the expression of genes and activity of enzymes related to the tricarboxylic acid cycle, including pyruvate dehydrogenase and citrate synthase. Additionally, Fe–P upregulated the expression of chitinase and endoglucanase genes, inducing a transformation of Penicillium chrysogenum mycelial morphology from pellet to filamentous. The filamentous morphology exhibited higher efficiency in oxalic acid secretion and P release from Fe–P and Ca–P. Compared with pellet morphology, filamentous morphology enhanced P release capacity by > 40% and > 18% in Ca–P and Fe–P, respectively. This study explored the strategies employed by PSF to improve the dissolution of different insoluble phosphates.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NO. 42007030 and 41877099), the Science and Technology Major Project of Anhui Province (202103a06020012), the program at the department of natural resources of Anhui Province (NO. 2021-K-4 and 2021-K-11), and the program at Anhui Agricultural University (NO. yj2019-20). The authors would like to thank BGI Genomics Co., Ltd. (Shenzhen, China) for assistance with sequencing services, and Yang Xu at Anhui Agricultural University for the assistance in SEM analysis.

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  1. Liyan Wang, Da Tian have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Anhui Province Key Lab of Farmland Ecological Conservation and Pollution Prevention, Anhui Province Engineering and Technology Research Center of Intelligent Manufacture and Efficient Utilization of Green Phosphorus Fertilizer, College of Resources and Environment, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230036, People’s Republic of China

    Liyan Wang, Da Tian, Xiaoru Zhang, Mingxue Han, Xiaohui Cheng, Xinxin Ye, Chaochun Zhang & Hongjian Gao

  2. Key Laboratory of JiangHuai Arable Land Resources Protection and Eco-Restoration, Ministry of Natural Resources, College of Resources and Environment, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230036, People’s Republic of China

    Liyan Wang, Da Tian, Xiaoru Zhang, Mingxue Han, Xiaohui Cheng, Xinxin Ye, Chaochun Zhang & Hongjian Gao

  3. College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China

    Zhen Li

  4. Jiangsu Provincial Key Lab for Organic SolidWaste Utilization, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, People’s Republic of China

    Zhen Li

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  1. Liyan Wang
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Wang, L., Tian, D., Zhang, X. et al. The Regulation of Phosphorus Release by Penicillium chrysogenum in Different Phosphate via the TCA Cycle and Mycelial Morphology. J Microbiol. 61, 765–775 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12275-023-00072-2

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