Understanding How <i>Pochonia chlamydosporia</i> Increases Phosphorus Availability

The fungus Pochonia chlamydosporia (Pc) has been increasingly used to control plant-parasitic nematodes. This fungus also increases the uptake of nutrients by plants. However, the mechanisms by which Pc modifies the soil nutrient supply and, or the capacity of plants to acquire nutrients are not fully understood. In this research we investigated possible mechanisms that explain how Pc increases phosphorus uptake by plants. We tested the hypothesis that Pc produces phosphatases, which are enzymes that promote depolymerization of organic phosphate compounds. We further investigated if the known effect of Pc on inorganic phosphate (IP) solubilization could be credited to the release of organic acids and, if so, which organic acids are secreted by the fungus. Three isolates of the fungus (Pc-10, Pc-40, and Pc-46) were used in the study. We found that Pc can produce acid (Pc-10 = 0.0209 U/ml, Pc-40 = 0.0282 U/ml, Pc-46 = 0.0094 U/ml) and alkaline phosphatases (Pc-10 = 0.0490 U/ml, Pc-40 = 0.0000, Pc-46 = 0.0306 U/ml). All isolates were able to solubilize IP. The isolate Pc-10 solubilized higher amounts of phosphate (47.5 mg/l) compared to Pc-40 (37.9 mg/l) and Pc-46 (36.6 mg/l). We also identified three organic acids (acetic, citric, and propionic acid) produced by Pc-10. To our knowledge, this is the first report of Pc producing phosphatases and organic acids.