Mutation breeding ofAspergillus nigerby atmospheric room temperature plasma to enhance phosphorus solubilization ability

Abstract

BackgroundPhosphorus (P) is abundant in soils, including organic and inorganic forms. Nevertheless, most of P compounds cannot be absorbed and used by plants.Aspergillus nigerv. Tiegh is a strain that can efficiently degrade P compounds in soils.MethodsIn this study,A. nigerxj strain was mutated using Atmospheric Room Temperature Plasma (ARTP) technology and the strains were screened by Mo-Sb Colorimetry with strong P-solubilizing abilities.ResultsCompared with theA. nigerxj strain, setting the treatment time of mutagenesis to 120 s, four positive mutant strains marked as xj 90–32, xj120–12, xj120–31, and xj180–22 had higher P-solubilizing rates by 50.3%, 57.5%, 55.9%, and 61.4%, respectively. Among them, the xj120–12 is a highly efficient P solubilizing and growth-promoting strain with good application prospects. The growth characteristics such as plant height, root length, and dry and fresh biomass of peanut (Arachis hypogaeaL.) increased by 33.5%, 43.8%, 43.4%, and 33.6%, respectively. Besides available P, the chlorophyll and soluble protein contents also vary degrees of increase in the P-solubilizing mutant strains.ConclusionsThe results showed that the ARTP mutagenesis technology can improve the P solubilization abilities of theA. nigermutant strains and make the biomass of peanut plants was enhanced of mutant strains.