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Effects of phosphorus supply on in vitro growth and phosphatase activity of Frankia isolates from Casuarina

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Abstract

An in vitro experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of different sources and levels of P supply on growth, viability and phosphatase activity of three tropical Frankia strains isolated from Casuarina. P concentration for optimum growth was between 0.1 and 10.0 μM in the absence of external combined nitrogen. Specific viability was not influenced by P supply. Morphological features of Frankia, such as hyphal length and vesicle numbers, were found to largely mirror growth. Phosphatase activity was detected in all three Frankia strains and was highest when P was omitted from the culture solution. There were more than 10-fold differences between the Frankia strains in the level of phosphatase activities shown. This study suggested that soils low in P are unlikely to restrict micro-symbiont growth activity.

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Yang, Y., Shipton, W. & Reddell, P. Effects of phosphorus supply on in vitro growth and phosphatase activity of Frankia isolates from Casuarina. Plant and Soil 189, 75–79 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1004238021805

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