Effects of phosphorus on polyphosphate accumulation by Cunninghamella elegans

Abstract

The content of inorganic polyphosphate and the polymeric degree of these compounds were evaluated during the growth of Cunninghamella elegans in medium containing varying orthophosphate (Pi) concentrations. For this purpose, a combination of chemical methods for polyphosphate extraction and ultrastructural cytochemistry were used. The orthophosphate and glucose consumption was also determined during the fungal cultivation. At Pi concentrations of 0.5, 2.5 and 0.0 g/L, the maximum amounts of biomass were 3.18, 3.29 and 0.24 g/L, respectively. During growth the cells accumulated Pi from the medium. At three days of growth the biomass consumed up to 100 and 95% of Pi from the media at initial concentrations of 0.5 and 2.5 g/L, respectively. Polyphosphate was observed at different Pi concentrations in medium and at different stages of growth. Polyphosphate was assayed by the content of labile phosphorus in water, acid-insoluble and alkali-soluble fractions. The content of fractions changed according to phosphorus concentration in the media and growth phase. During growth on all three media used, the cytochecmical behavior of polyphosphate changed considerably. The results obtained in this study reveal a potential of Cunninghamella elegans in the polyphosphate accumulation, and suggest a future application in the biotechnological processes.

The influence of phosphorus source and the nature of nitrogen substrate on the biomass production and lipid accumulation in oleaginous Mucoromycota fungi

“…Concerning oleaginous yeasts, phosphorus source limitation is beneficial for the lipid accumulation in nitrogen not-limited conditions (Huang et al 2018 ; Wang et al 2018 ; Wu et al 2010 ). In case of filamentous fungi, the effect of phosphorus was investigated in connection to polyphosphate accumulation (Lima et al 2003 ) or chitosan production (Safaei et al 2016 ). To the authors knowledge, there is no study reported the investigation of the role of phosphorus on the lipid accumulation in oleaginous filamentous fungi.…”

Phosphorus recovery from dairy manure wastewater by fungal biomass treatment

“…The exponential growth was observed for the first 3 days and the total biomass remained constant after 3 days. P is essential to the growth of cells because it is an indispensable element for cellular metabolisms, such as DNA, RNA and phospholipid biosynthesis and energy supply (de Lima et al ., ). Most fungal strains take P mainly in the growing phase and accumulate in cells as polyphosphate, the major fungal P reserve (Beever and Burns, ).…”

Cadmium Tolerance and Removal from Cunninghamella elegans Related to the Polyphosphate Metabolism

“…Moreover, Lima et al [24] detected polyphosphate in the form of electron-dense granules in different cellular compartments of C. elegans , such as cell walls, vacuoles, cell membrane and cytoplasm.…”

“…Fungus species, Cunninghamella elegans , has great ability to accumulate phosphorus in the form of polyphosphate [24], to metabolize xenobiotic recalcitrant substances, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons-PAH [25], azo dyes used in the textile industry [26], oxidation of dibenzothiophene [27] and biotransformation of drugs [28], as well as it is able to grow in the presence of copper [29]. …”