The Effects of Nitrogen and Phosphorus on Colony Growth and Zoospore Characteristics of Soil Chytridiomycota

The Chytridiomycota phylum contributes to nutrient cycling and the flow of energy between trophic levels in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems yet remains poorly described or absent from publications discussing fungal communities in these environments. This study contributes to the understanding of three species of soil chytrids in vitro—Gaertneriomyces semiglobifer, Spizellomyces sp. and Rhizophlyctis rosea—in the presence of elevated concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus and with different sources of nitrogen. Colony growth was measured after 4 weeks as dry weight and total protein. To determine the impacts on zoospore reproduction, motility, lipid content, and attachment to organic substrates, 4- and 8-week incubation times were investigated. Whilst all isolates were able to assimilate ammonium as a sole source of nitrogen, nitrate was less preferred or even unsuitable as a nutrient source for G. semiglobifer and R. rosea, respectively. Increasing phosphate concentrations led to diverse responses between isolates. Zoospore production was also variable between isolates, and the parameters for zoospore motility appeared only to be influenced by the phosphate concentration for Spizellomyces sp. and R. rosea. Attachment rates increased for G. semiglobifer in the absence of an inorganic nitrogen source. These findings highlight variability between the adaptive responses utilised by chytrids to persist in a range of environments and provide new techniques to study soil chytrid biomass and zoospore motility by total protein quantification and fluorescent imaging respectively.