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Use of Cunninghamella Blakesleeana and Aspergillus Niger for Measuring the Manurial Requirements of Plants
Author(s) -
Mehlich Adolf
Publication year - 1938
Publication title -
soil science society of america journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1435-0661
pISSN - 0361-5995
DOI - 10.2136/sssaj1938.036159950002000c0045x
Subject(s) - permission , citation , library science , computer science , political science , law
The principal reasons for selecting fungi as a means of testing the manurial requirements of plants are,that they have the same general requirements as higher plants, that culture experiments in the laboratory are rapid, require little space in comparison to greenhouse experiments, and the procedure for testing is simple. The fungi which are principally employed for testing purposes are Aspergillus niger and Cunninghamella blakesleeana. Both have been investigated regarding some of their nutritional requirements (12, 14, 16) ,and their testing value compared with results of chemical, Neubauer, Mitscherlich, and field methods (6, 7). This investigation was undertaken in part to reexamine the usefulness of A_. niger and C_. blakesleeana for measuring the potash and phosphorus deficiencies of soils. In previous tests the growth of Cunninghamella on the untreated soil served to indicate the phosphorus supply and need of fertilization. However, the fungus-available supply of phosphorus does not quantitatively correspond to the available supply of phosphorus for higher plants, and in this test the responsiveness of Cunninghamella to an application of phosphorus and its availability for fungous growth is also studied. A more universal use of this test is, therefore, possible, since natural variations of soils regarding their effect on the availability of applied phosphorus are also considered. A new method has been proposed for measuring the nitrogen deficiencies of soil and the response of C_^ blakesleeana to fertilization with nitrogen, with a view to the possible use of this test for the recommendation of nitrogenous fertilizer requirements of higher plants.