The ectomycorrhizal community in natural Tuber borchii grounds

Although Tuber borchii is a commercially valuable truffle, its habitat has been virtually ignored. Here, we examine the ectomycorrhizal fungal communities in natural T. borchii grounds. Ectomycorrhizas under T. borchii ascomata and up to 1 m away were collected and morphologically assigned to pine or oak host plants. They were then morphotyped and molecular typed using internal transcribed spacer regions. Seventy ectomycorrhizal taxa were identified, many of which were rare. Tuber borchii dominated, forming 20% of ectomycorrhizas, with Thelephoraceae, Inocybaceae and Sebacinaceae being the other main species. Species composition was markedly affected by the host plant, although community structure and composition was also influenced by the location from which the soil cores were collected. Tuber dryophilum, an edible truffle, but without commercial value, shared the habitat with T. borchii. Its mycorrhizas were never found together with those of T. borchii. Tuber borchii was present on both oaks and pines, but was more abundant in soil cores where the roots of both hosts were present. It is suggested that the presence of young oaks contributed to the maintenance of T. borchii colonization on pines.