Effects of Mineral Structure and Microenvironment on K Release from Potassium Aluminosilicate Minerals by Cenococcum geophilum fr

K-bearing minerals with enormous reserve in the world, were not easy to provide the available K nutrient element for plant direct uptake because of the slow K release rate. With the potential potassium-solubilizing microorganisms, the slow K release rate from minerals would be improved significantly. In this work, Cenococcum geophilum Fr, one of the most common ectomycorrhizal fungi in boreal to temperate regions, was adopted to dissolve K-bearing minerals for K release. Five kinds of potassium aluminosilicate minerals were tested by bioleaching experiments in pure culture, including feldspar, nepheline, biotite, muscovite and illite. The available and unavailable potassium amounts in minerals before and after bioleaching were measured and compared with each other. The effect of mineral structure on the potassium solubilization efficiency by Cenococcum geophilum Fr. was discussed. Furthermore, the microenvironment formation between fungi and mineral surface to enhance the K release rate was investigated through detecting K, Al, Si concentrations and metabolites amounts (polysaccharide and organic acids) in microenvironment and external environment, respectively. Experimental results demonstrated that Cenococcum geophilum Fr. was a potential candidate of potassium solubilizing microorganisms, and both mineral structure and microenvironment have significant effects on the K release rate.