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The effect of temperature and inorganic phosphorus supply on growth and acid phosphatase production in arctic and temperate strains of ectomycorrhizal Hebeloma spp. in axenic culture

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 1998

M. TIBBETT
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, University of Leeds. LS2 9JT, U.K.
F. E. SANDERS
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, University of Leeds. LS2 9JT, U.K.
J. W. G. CAIRNEY
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Western Sydney, Nepean, PO Box 10, Kingswood, NSW 2747, Australia
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Abstract

Acid phosphatase production by 12 Hebeloma strains was usually derepressed when inorganic phosphorus in the growth medium was limited, but appeared to be constitutive in some strains. At low temperatures ([les ]12°) arctic strains produced more extracellular and wall-bound acid phosphatase, yet grew more slowly than the temperate strains. We suggest that low growth rates in arctic strains may be a physiological response to cold whereby resources are diverted into carbohydrate accumulation for cryoprotection. At near freezing temperatures, increased extracellular phosphatase production may compensate for a loss of enzyme activity at low temperature and serve to hydrolyse organic phosphorus in frozen soil over winter.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
The British Mycological Society 1998

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