Phytase producing mycobiota isolated from soil and litter of Cerrado Biome

Abstract

The majority of Brazilian arable soils shows P deficiency, due to the fact that most of this element in the soil is unavailable for the plant absorption, for this and other reasons, the ability of filamentous fungi to solubilize P from various sources, insoluble, organic and inorganic, has been considered a desirable feature for several uses. The aim of this study was to characterize the production of phytase mycobiota in soil located in Cerrado in two seasons, under dry and rainy seasons, and also characterize abiotic factors in this biome in order to verify the existence of correlations between the quantitative and qualitative aspects of their mycobiotas in these conditions. The samples were collected from eight forest fragments twice, two soil depths (0-5 and 5-10 cm) and litter layer to quantify mycobiota and the evaluation of phytase production. In the collection carried out in the rainy season, the total number of phytase producing fungi was lower, but the number of Aspergillus section Nigri producers of phytase was greater. In the dry season the number of phytase producing fungi belonging to the genus Penicillium was higher. The year season´s factor alters quantitatively and qualitatively the phytase producer mycobiota. It was concluded that the soils are potentially exploitable in relation to obtaining phosphorus solubilizing fungi, and the dry season is more propitiate to the achievement of these fungi.