Is Tuber brumale a threat to T. melanosporum and T. aestivum plantations?

Abstract

True truffles in the genus Tuber are the most valuable ectomycorrhizal fungi and their cultivation has become widespread around the world. Competition with other ectomycorrhizal fungi and especially with undesired Tuber species, like T. brumale, can threaten the success of a truffle plantation. In this work, the competitiveness of T. brumale towards T. melanosporum and T. aestivum was assessed in a 14 year-old plantation carried out planting seedlings inoculated with these three truffle species in adjacent plots. Analyses of both truffle ectomycorrhizas and extra-radical mycelium were carried out in the transects separating the T. brumale plot from T. melanosporum and T. aestivum plots. The results confirm the competitiveness of T. brumale against T. aestivum and T. melanosporum due to its major ability to colonize the soil around its ectomycorrhizas. However, its competitiveness is limited to the transect areas and it was never found inside T. melanosporum plot. These results remark that, in presence of optimal conditions for T. melanosporum and T. aestivum, the greatest risk of contamination with T. brumale is due to wrong greenhouse activity.

Keywords

• Competition
• Black Truffles
• Extra-Radical Mycelium
• Ectomycorrhizas
• Species-Specific Primers