ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microbiotechnology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1664730
This article is part of the Research TopicMicroorganisms Coupled with Functional Materials for Environmental Pollution Control and RemediationView all articles
Contrasting the influences of phosphate and phosphite on growth of Aspergillus niger
Provisionally accepted
- 1Nanjing Agricultural University College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing, China
- 2North China Power Engineering Co., Ltd of China Power Engineering Consulting Group, Beijing, China
- 3Nanjing Agricultural University Jiangsu Provincial Key Lab for Organic Solid Waste Utilization, Nanjing, China
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Phosphite serves as an alternative phosphorus material in terrestrial ecosystems. Aspergillus niger (A. niger), a prominent phosphate-solubilizing fungus (PSF), facilitates phosphorus and leaches heavy metal ions via organic acids and enzymes. With the synergistic effect of phosphate materials, heavy metal ions can be effectively immobilized by A. niger to achieve remediation of contaminated soils. This study investigated the structural distinctions between phosphite and phosphate compounds by using ATR-IR and Raman spectroscopy, while concurrently assessing the physiological impact of phosphite on A. niger. After incubation with phosphite, the average fungal biomass and acid phosphatase activities were reduced by approximately 50% with respect to phosphate. These results demonstrated a significant inhibitory effect of phosphite on PSF functionality. This inhibition likely stems from fundamental differences in the molecular structures of phosphite and phosphate, which influence their biochemical interactions. The observed suppression underscores the limited evolutionary adaptation of organisms to phosphite detoxification or metabolic assimilation. Consequently, phosphate persists as the dominant bioavailable phosphorus form on Earth. Finally, this induces its geological abundance and the lower metabolic cost required for assimilation.
Keywords: phosphite, Phosphate, Reduced phosphorus material, Aspergillus niger, Inhibitory effect
Received: 12 Jul 2025; Accepted: 31 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Ding, Ji, Xu, Yan, Fan, Yu and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Dan Yu, North China Power Engineering Co., Ltd of China Power Engineering Consulting Group, Beijing, China
Zhen Li, Nanjing Agricultural University College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing, China
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