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The Black Truffles Tuber melanosporum and Tuber indicum

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True Truffle (Tuber spp.) in the World

Part of the book series: Soil Biology ((SOILBIOL,volume 47))

Abstract

The European species Tuber melanosporum and the Asian species T. indicum are phylogenetically and morphologically very close. T. indicum is formed by a complex of cryptic species or ecotypes spread from India to Japan, while T. melanosporum is a well-defined species localised in South of Europe. T. melanosporum has been harvested and consumed in Europe for several centuries and is cultivated in orchards since the XIXe century. On the contrary, T. indicum, naturally occurring in primary or secondary Asian forests, is rarely consumed by local populations. Since the 1990s, T. indicum has been traded from China in the European market to compensate the decline of T. melanosporum production. After a peak of production of about 1000 t in 2000, production and exportation of T. indicum have considerably decreased in the last years. This decline could be explained by the destruction of its natural habitat due to the systematic digging of forest soils. T. indicum ectomycorrhizas were detected in Italy in 2008 and in 2011 in the USA. Moreover, T. indicum is able to fruit in the USA. For the moment we do not know if both species are able to inbreed nor if T. indicum can successfully compete with T. melanosporum and replace it in European truffle grounds.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, 100193, Beijing, China

    Juan Chen

  2. INRA, Université de Lorraine, UMR1136, Interactions Arbres/Micro-organismes, Laboratoire d’Excellence ARBRE, 54280, Champenoux, France

    Claude Murat & François Le Tacon

  3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, HASTS Program, 77 Massachusetts Ave. Bldg. E51, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Peter Oviatt

  4. ARL EU International, 132 rue Faubourg Saint Martin, 75010, Paris, France

    Yongjin Wang

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  2. Claude Murat
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  4. Yongjin Wang
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  5. François Le Tacon
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Correspondence to Juan Chen .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agricultural Science, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Alessandra Zambonelli

  2. Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L’Aquila , L’Aquila , Italy

    Mirco Iotti

  3. Interactions Arbres-Microorganismes Lab of Excellence ARBRE, INRA, Université de Lorraine, Champenoux, France

    Claude Murat

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Chen, J., Murat, C., Oviatt, P., Wang, Y., Le Tacon, F. (2016). The Black Truffles Tuber melanosporum and Tuber indicum . In: Zambonelli, A., Iotti, M., Murat, C. (eds) True Truffle (Tuber spp.) in the World. Soil Biology, vol 47. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31436-5_2

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