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First evidence for truffle production from plants inoculated with mycelial pure cultures

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Abstract

Truffle (Tuber spp.) cultivation is based on raising mycorrhizal trees in greenhouses that have been inoculated with suspensions of ascospores. The problem with this is that pests, pathogens, and other mycorrhizal fungi can contaminate the trees. Furthermore, because ascospores are produced sexually, each plant potentially has a different genetic mycorrhizal makeup from each other so tailoring the mycorrhizal component of plants to suit a particular set of soil and climatic conditions is out of the question. Here, we report on the production of Tuber borchii-mycorrhized plants using pure cultures, establishing a truffière with these and subsequent production of its fruiting bodies. This study opens up the possibility of producing commercial numbers of Tuber-mycorrhized trees for truffle cultivation using mycelial inoculation techniques. It also poses questions about the mechanism of fertilization between the different strains which were located in different parts of the experimental truffière.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L’Aquila, Via Vetoio, Coppito 1, L’Aquila, 67100, Italy

    Mirco Iotti

  2. Department of Agricultural Sciences, Bologna University, Viale Fanin 46, 40127, Bologna, Italy

    Federica Piattoni, Pamela Leonardi & Alessandra Zambonelli

  3. Truffles and Mushrooms (Consulting) Ltd, P.O. Box 268, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand

    Ian R. Hall

Authors
  1. Mirco Iotti
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  2. Federica Piattoni
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  3. Pamela Leonardi
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  4. Ian R. Hall
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  5. Alessandra Zambonelli
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alessandra Zambonelli.

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Fig. 1S

First ascomata produced in the experimental plantation of Cadriano harvested the 6th of February 2016. Ascomata (a), peridium (b), spores (c, d) (GIF 458 kb)

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Iotti, M., Piattoni, F., Leonardi, P. et al. First evidence for truffle production from plants inoculated with mycelial pure cultures. Mycorrhiza 26, 793–798 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00572-016-0703-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00572-016-0703-6

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