Abstract
A newly isolated phosphate-solubilizing fungus from the topsoil of Spartina alterniflora habitats in Yancheng coastal salt marsh was cultivated. Scanning electron microscopy observation revealed that the sporangia are nearly spherical, peach-shaped, and the spores formed on the top of sporangia. The spores are ellipsoidal with raised white nubbins on the surface. Based on a polyphasic study and the genetic distance analysis referring to the sequence analysis of ITS (ITS1 + 5.8S + ITS2) and 28S rDNA (D1/D2 domains) genes, the novel species belongs to the genus Apophysomyces and is named as A. jiangsuensis. The optimum growth temperature and salinity of the new species were 28 °C and 1.15% NaCl, respectively. A study of its phosphate-solubilizing ability revealed that the fungus had an obvious decomposition effect on lecithin, Ca3(PO4)2, and AlPO3, respectively. The pH of the fermented liquid progressively decreased from 6.85 to 2.27 after 7 days of incubation, indicating that the low molecular weight organic acids excreted into the culture liquor were oxalic, succinic, and malic acids and a trace amount of citric acid. Among these, oxalic acid was the major organic acid, and its amount reached 652.5 mg/L. These results indicated that the main mechanism underlying the dissolved phosphorus was related to the secretion of large amounts of organic acids.
Highlights
The genus Apophysomyces was first proposed by Misra et al (1979) and A. elegans was the type specimen that was isolated and identified in the soils in Northern India [1]
According to the phylogenetic result, the Apophysomyces genus was separated into four main clades with high statistical support
A. jiangsuensis was clearly separated from the other Apophysomyces species and formed an independent lineage with high statistical support (ML/Bayesian inference (BI) = 100/1)
Summary
The genus Apophysomyces was first proposed by Misra et al (1979) and A. elegans was the type specimen that was isolated and identified in the soils in Northern India [1]. Apophysomyces belongs to the order Mucorales and Benny et al (2001) identified it as a genus in the family Mucoraceae based predominantly on morphology [2], while Hoffmann et al (2013) put it into Saksenaeaceae based on a phylogenetic analysis of four molecular markers [3]. The type species A. elegans has been reported as an agent of zygomycosis in immunocompromised patients [7,8]. The method of combining molecular biology and morphological characteristics was used by Alvarez et al (2010), and three species were identified, namely, A. ossiformis, A. trapeziformis, and A. variabilis [9]. Six species of the Apophysomyces have been discovered far, all of which failed to sporulate on routine mycological media [9,10,11]
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