Insight into the truffle brûlé: tripartite interactions between the black truffle (Tuber melanosporum), holm oak (Quercus ilex) and arbuscular mycorrhizal plants

Plant and Soil volume 446, pages577–594(2020)Cite this article

Abstract

Aim

Tuber melanosporum is an ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungus from Mediterranean transitional ecosystems where ECM trees start to dominate among arbuscular-mycorrhizal (AM) shrubs and herbs (companion plants). Its presence entails the development of ‘brûlés’, where vegetation is scarce for unknown reasons. Current T. melanosporum production comes from plantations where management often suppresses the understory vegetation, although empirical knowledge advocates a positive role of some companion plants in truffle production. This study aimed at (i) experimentally testing the reciprocal interaction between T. melanosporum and companion plants and (ii) examining T. melanosporum-mediated soil feedback involved in the dynamics of truffle ground vegetation.

Methods

A three-year experiment was set up with Quercus ilex associated with T. melanosporum (or not, as control), grown in association (or not, as control) with a companion plant. Six companion plant species were chosen based on different empirical criteria including those indicated by local truffle growers’ knowledge. A trait-based approach was applied to plants and associated fungi (abundance of T. melanosporum and AM fungi mycelium).

Results-conclusion

Companion plants promoted the development of truffle mycelium. In the presence of T. melanosporum, companion plant growth and nutrition and AM fungi abundance decreased, while the nutrition status of its host increased. The truffle inhibited germination of weed seeds. These results highlight the role of T. melanosporum in mediating plant-plant interactions, possible mechanisms underlying brûlé formation and a potential successional role for T. melanosporum.

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Acknowledgements

We warmly acknowledge Pierre Bernadach who kindly allowed us to collect soil in his truffle grounds. This paper is dedicated to the memory of the late Philippe Nguyen, who helped a lot to establish this research. We are particularly thankful to Thierry Mathieu and David Degueldre who helped us to set up the experiment, to Catherine Roumet, Jean-Marc Ourcival, and Michael Staudt for helpful advice, to Romain Domingo and Nancy Rakotondrazafy for soil characterization, to Laure Schneider-Maunoury for a read-through, to David Marsh for correcting our English and to Thomas Kuyper as well as two anonymous reviewers for their comments on earlier versions of this paper. Long-term monitoring and all measurements would not have been possible without the enthusiastic participation of Camille Cros, Benjamin Sembeil, Alexis Corbara, Johan Quilbe and Franklin Fabre. This work was funded by the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche (programme SYSTRUF), the Région Languedoc-Roussillon (program SYSTRUF-LR), the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, grant RTI2018-093907-B-C21, and the Fondation de France.

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Affiliations

  1. Eco&Sols, INRA, CIRAD, IRD, Univ Montpellier, Montpellier SupAgro, 34000, Montpellier, France

    E. Taschen & B. Vincent

  2. CEFE UMR 5175, CNRS - Université de Montpellier - Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier – EPHE, 1919 route de Mende, 34293, Montpellier, France

    E. Taschen, M. Sauve, Y. Aumeeruddy-Thomas & F. Richard

  3. IRTA, Sustainable Plant Protection, Centre de Cabrils, km. 2, 08348 Cabrils, Barcelona, Spain

    J. Parladé

  4. UMR Agroecologie INRA, UMR 1347/AgroSup/Universite de Bourgogne, Pôle Interactions Plantes Microorganismes ERL CNRS 6300, 17 rue Sully, BP 86510, 21065, Dijon Cedex, France

    D. van Tuinen

  5. Chambre d’Agriculture du Gard, 1120 Route de Saint-Gilles, 30932, Nîmes, France

    B. Assenat

  6. Faculty of Biology, University of Gdańsk, ul. Wita Stwosza 59, 80-308, Gdańsk, Poland

    M.-A. Selosse

  7. Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB), Muséum National d’Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, EPHE, CP 39, 57 rue Cuvier, 75005, Paris, France

    M.-A. Selosse

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  1. E. Taschen
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Correspondence to E. Taschen.

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M.-A. Selosse and F. Richard equally supervising

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Taschen, E., Sauve, M., Vincent, B. et al. Insight into the truffle brûlé: tripartite interactions between the black truffle (Tuber melanosporum), holm oak (Quercus ilex) and arbuscular mycorrhizal plants. Plant Soil 446, 577–594 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-019-04340-2

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Keywords

  • Ectomycorrhizae
  • Endophytism
  • Quantitative PCR
  • Plant-soil feedback
  • Secondary succession