Determination of some biological parameters providing the basis for the mass production of the phosphorus solving fungus Talaromyces funiculosus

Phosphorus is one of the basic nutritional elements that plants need for development. During agricultural production, the phosphorus needs of plants are met with chemical fertilizers. A very significant part of the phosphorus given to the soil as chemical fertilizer binds to other soil elements such as iron, zinc and aluminum in the soil and turns into a form that plants cannot absorb. While this bound phosphorus can be partially dissolved in acidic soils, this dissolution is very slow in regions such as Turkey, where a significant part of the soil is basic. This situation leads to the need for phosphorus fertilizer supplements every year. Some fungi and bacteria help convert the bound phosphorus in the soil into something useful for plants with the chemicals they produce. Within the scope of this study, it was aimed to reveal some biological parameters that will form the basis for the mass production of a Talaromyces funiculosus (ST976) isolate isolated from pistachio roots and known to have the ability to dissolve phosphorus bound in soil. For this purpose, the growth performances of the fungus at different temperature and water activity values were evaluated. At the end of the experiments, it was determined that the temperature at which the fungus developed best was 25 oC and 99,5% and 99% water activity.