title: Penicillium menonorum: A Novel Fungus to Promote Growth and Nutrient Management in Cucumber Plants.
abstract: The present study is the first report on the isolation of Penicillium menonorum from rhizosphere soil in Korea and its identification based on morphological characteristics and internal transcribed spacer gene sequence. The fungal isolate was named KNU-3 and was found to exhibit plant growth-promoting (PGP) activity through indole acetic acid (IAA) and siderophore production, as well as P solubilization. KNU-3 produced 9.7 mg/L IAA and solubilized 408 mg of Ca3PO4/L, and inoculation with the isolate significantly (p < 0.05) increased the dry biomass of cucumber roots (57%) and shoots (52%). Chlorophyll, starch, protein, and P contents were increased by 16%, 45%, 22%, and 14%, respectively, compared to plants grown in uninoculated soil. The fungus also increased soil dehydrogenase (30%) and acid phosphatase (19%) activities. These results demonstrate that the isolate KNU-3 has potential PGP attributes, and therefore it can be considered as a new fungus to enhance soil fertility and promote plant growth. Moreover, the discovery of PGP ability and traits of this fungus will open new aspects of research and investigations. In this study, plant growth promotion by P. menonorum KNU-3 is reported for the first time in Korea after its original description.
authors.affiliation: Division of Bioresource Sciences, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 200-701, Korea.
authors.forename: Anam Giridhar
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Babu
authors.affiliation: Division of Bioresource Sciences, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 200-701, Korea.
authors.forename: Sang Woo
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Division of Bioresource Sciences, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 200-701, Korea.
authors.forename: Dil Raj
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Yadav
authors.affiliation: Division of Bioresource Sciences, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 200-701, Korea.
authors.forename: Umyong
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Hyum
authors.affiliation: Division of Bioresource Sciences, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 200-701, Korea.
authors.forename: Mahesh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Adhikari
authors.affiliation: Division of Bioresource Sciences, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 200-701, Korea.
authors.forename: Youn Su
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Lee
keywords: Fungi; Molecular diversity; Morphology; Penicillium menonorum; Sequence analysis