Abstract

Ectomycorrhizal mushroom Cantharellus tropicalis was grown in axenic culture to study the effect of pH, temperature, nitrogen, carbon, phosphorus and heavy metals/trace elements on production of acid phosphatase and mycelial growth. The results of present study showed optimum mycelial growth with pH 4 at 15 and 35 ± 2°C. The ectomycorrhizal mushroom mycelia utilized lactose and yeast extract as best carbon and nitrogen source for biomass production. Ferrous sulphate supported the maximum mycelial growth when different trace and heavy metal were used. Among phosphorus sources, di-Sodium hydrogen phosphate supported maximum growth. The acid phosphatase production did not follow a uniform pattern as inferred from observations in this study. Moreover, results showed that high biomass did not mean more acid phosphatase production. However, pH 5 at temperature 15 and 35 ± 2°C supported high enzyme production. Fries Das medium supplemented with inositol and yeast extract produced maximum acid phosphatase at in vitro conditions. Ferric chloride produced considerably higher acid phosphatase among different trace elements tested. The present study demonstrates various factors affecting acid phosphatase production, an important feature for selecting ectomycorrhizal mushrooms for field inoculations.

Key words: Dendrocalamus, Cantharellus, acid phosphatase, ectomycorrhizal mushrooms.