A new function of white-rot fungi Ceriporia lacerata HG2011: improvement of biological nitrogen fixation of broad bean (Vicia faba)

The inoculation of plant growth-promoting microbes with multifarious functions is a simple, economic, and effective way to improve nodulation and biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) of legumes. Broad bean (Vicia faba) is commonly grown in the winter in tropics and subtropics for increasing soil N and farmers’ income. The new functions of Ceriporia lacerata HG2011, a white-rot fungus, in nodulation and BNF (measured by ¹⁵N natural abundance) were studied with the broad bean in liquid culture, soil incubation, and greenhouse pot experiments. The results showed that this fungus released IAA, GA, and Fe-binding ligands into culture solutions, increased lateral roots and root surfaces, and mobilized phosphorus and iron into bioavailable forms in the soil. These performances may be beneficial to nodulation and BNF. The indigenous rhizobia that infect broad been were long-lived in the experimental soil. The efficiency of exogenous rhizobium inoculation may be unsatisfactory in the soils for frequently growing broad beans because of fierce competition with native rhizobia. Compared with no inoculation, the fungal inoculant increased nutrient (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) availability in the fertilized soil, nodule mass, and plant BNF and nutrient uptake, leading to higher plant biomass and grain yield. Thus, C. lacerata HG2011 provided more potential sites for rhizobia infection in nodulation, increased nodule size, and improved nodule mineral nutrient (particularly phosphorus and iron) and photosynthate acquisitions, resulting in better nodulation and increased plant BNF. These significant findings firstly proved a new function of C. lacerata HG2011 in improving the inoculation and BNF of legume plants.