Phosphorus is an essential nutrient for plant growth, second only to nitrogen in terms of crop nutrient requirements. Compared with other nutrients, phosphorus is the least mobile and available to plants in most soils. New agricultural practices are needed to provide this essential nutrient for production of food and energy crops while sustaining the environment. Phosphate-solubilizing fungi play an important role in the global phosphorus cycle and can supply the nutrient to plants in an environmentally friendly and sustainable manner. The project focuses on sequencing phosphate-solubilizing Penicillium species strains and related Penicillium species that exhibit little or no phosphate-solubilizing ability in order to identify the genes and pathways that underlie phosphate solubilization to learn more about the mechanisms involved.
PI: Dave Greenshields, Novozymes