КУЛЬТУРАЛЬНО-МОРФОЛОГИЧЕСКИЕ И БИОХИМИЧЕСКИЕ ОСОБЕННОСТИ ШТАММОВ ASPERGILLUS NIGER В УСЛОВИЯХ РОСТА НА СРЕДЕ С ТРИБУТИЛФОСФАТОМ

Morphological Characteristics of Aspergillus niger under Growth with Tributylphosphate

Tributylphosphate finds industrial application as an extractant of metal salts from ore minerals, and is produced in large quantities. Due to the widespread use of tributylphosphate, the problem of environmental pollution with this compound and its negative impact on living organisms arises. It was shown that culture media with tributylphosphate had a strong toxic effect on Paramecium caudatum and Artemia salina. A solution to this problem could be its biodegradation – enzymatic hydrolysis to inorganic phosphates. Until now, the known biodegraders of tributylphosphate were mainly bacteria. However, fungi are apparently also capable of biodegradation of this substance. The object of study was two strains of the filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger, which had previously shown the ability to use white phosphorus as a substrate. As a result of the experiments, the possibility of growth of two A. niger strains on a medium with tributylphosphate was shown. For strain F-4815D, the addition of tributylphosphate had a negative effect at the stage of conidiophores formation and spore maturation. Strain F-4815D was also characterized by a lower radial growth rate and a smaller colony diameter with the addition of tributylphosphate than strain F-4816D. Both strains were capable of growth on medium without phosphates. For strain F-4815D, the presence of tributylphosphate in the medium without inorganic phosphorus enhanced the toxic effect, which was reflected in a decrease in the diameter of colonies and hyphae, a decrease in the radial growth rate and a later appearance of conidiophores. Strain F-4816D is more resistant to tributylphosphate, and the exclusion of inorganic phosphates from the medium stimulated the growth of the fungus, which may indicate the ability of this strain to biologically degrade TBP and reduce the toxicity. © 2025, Russian Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.