I am working on a project which requires the cultivation of C.vulgaris in a commercial fertilizer. The phosphorus form stated on the fertilizer's composition list is P2O5. I would like to know if the phosphorus can be utilized.
Several agriculture fertilizers incorporating P2O5 as P source have been successfully used since long to grow Microalgae. So, I do not think you may have any problem with your Chlorella.
It is convention to express the phosphorus(P) concentration/content in fertilizers as P2O5, oxide form of P.Plants absorb the P in ionic form as H2PO4 and HPO4 form, mostly as H2PO4 form. You can use calculated amounts of any of the water soluble P fertilizers as per requirement in the experiment as source of P to plants.
H2PO4, HPO4 ( soluble) or PO4 (insoluble) forms of P are present in fertilizers but the P content is calculated and expressed as P2O5 content by fertilizer companies.While measuring P by colorimetric methods, H2PO4 ion participates in reactions and is actually measured . But the measured H2PO4 concentration is expressed in terms of P (elemental form of P is not measured) for both available P in soil and plant uptake P.
The dominant forms of Phosphates in solutions depend on the pH value of the solution. What will be the pH value of the of the material (soil) in which you cultivate your crop?
The answer is very simple. No, they cannot, because fertilisers do not contain P2O5.
To read more about this, check this Editorial: Lambers H, Barrow NJ (2020) P2O5, K2O, CaO, MgO, and basic cations: pervasive use of references to molecules that do not exist in soil. Plant Soil 452: 1-4