Isolation and characterization of two phosphate-solubilizing fungi from rhizosphere soil of moso bamboo and their functional capacities when exposed to different phosphorus sources and pH environments

<div><p>Phosphate-solubilizing fungi (PSF) generally enhance available phosphorus (P) released from soil, which contributes to plants’ P requirement, especially in P-limiting regions. In this study, two PSF, TalA-JX04 and AspN-JX16, were isolated from the rhizosphere soil of moso bamboo (<i>Phyllostachys edulis</i>) widely distributed in P-deficient areas in China and identified as <i>Talaromyces aurantiacus</i> and <i>Aspergillus neoniger</i>, respectively. The two PSF were cultured in potato dextrose liquid medium with six types of initial pH values ranging from 6.5 to 1.5 to assess acid resistance. Both PSF were incubated in Pikovskaya’s liquid media with different pH values containing five recalcitrant P sources, including Ca₃(PO₄)₂, FePO₄, CaHPO₄, AlPO_4, and C₆H₆Ca₆O₂₄P₆, to estimate their P-solubilizing capacity. No significant differences were found in the biomass of both fungi grown in media with different initial pH, indicating that these fungi could grow well under acid stress. The P-solubilizing capacity of TalA-JX04 was highest in medium containing CaHPO₄, followed by Ca₃(PO₄)₂, FePO₄, C₆H₆Ca₆O₂₄P₆, and AlPO₄ in six types of initial pH treatments, while the recalcitrant P-solubilizing capacity of AspN-JX16 varied with initial pH. Meanwhile, the P-solubilizing capacity of AspN-JX16 was much higher than TalA-JX04. The pH of fermentation broth was negatively correlated with P-solubilizing capacity (<i>p</i><0.01), suggesting that the fungi promote the dissolution of P sources by secreting organic acids. Our results showed that TalA-JX04 and AspN-JX16 could survive in acidic environments and both fungi had a considerable ability to release soluble P by decomposing recalcitrant P-bearing compounds. The two fungi had potential for application as environment-friendly biofertilizers in subtropical bamboo ecosystem.</p>