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White mulch and irrigation increase black truffle soil mycelium when competing with summer truffle in young truffle orchards

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Abstract

The black truffle (Tuber melanosporum Vittad.) and the summer truffle (Tuber aestivum Vittad.) are two of the most appreciated edible fungi worldwide. The natural distributions of both species partially overlap. However, the interspecific interactions between these truffles and how irrigation and mulching techniques impact the dynamics between them are still unknown. Here, an experimental truffle plantation with Quercus ilex was established in Maials (Catalonia, Spain), combining three soil mulch treatments (white mulch, black mulch and bare soil as a control) and two irrigation regimes (irrigated and non-irrigated as a control) to investigate truffle mycelial dynamics in soil when both truffle species co-occur. The development of truffle mycelium in two different seasons (spring and autumn) in two consecutive years (2017 and 2018) was quantified using qPCR. Truffle mycelia of both species showed greatest development under white mulch. When mycelia of both truffle species co-occurred in soil, irrigation combined with white mulch resulted in greater quantities of T. melanosporum mycelial biomass, whereas the control irrigation treatment favoured the development of T. aestivum. Mulch treatments were also advantageous for seedling growth, which was expressed as root collar diameter and its increment during the study period. Significant relationships between root collar diameter and root growth and the amount of mycelial biomass in the soil were observed for both truffle species. Our results indicate the potential advantages of using white mulch to support irrigation in truffle plantations located in areas with dry Mediterranean climatic conditions to promote the development of Tuber mycelium.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Mr. Didac Espasa (Vice President of Catalonian Truffle growers’ association, PROTOCAT and owner of the company Tofona de la Conca) and Dr. Simon Egli for their valuable contribution. We are grateful to Ms. Caroline Woods for the linguistic revision of the text. Y.P. thanks the University of Lleida for her contract (UdL-Impuls).

Funding

This work was supported by the Project INNOVATRUF (PECT El bosc, el primer recurs de l’economia verda—Fons Europeu de Desenvolupament Regional de la Unió Europea-Programa operatiu FEDER de Catalunya 2014–2020), by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, grant RTI2018-099315-A-I00, by the ‘Direcció General d’Ecosistemes Forestals i Gestió del Medi Departament d’Agricultura, Ramaderia, Pesca i Alimentació’ of ‘Generalitat de Catalunya’ and by the BLACKDYNAMITE project, funded by the WSL and CTFC. J.G.A. was supported by the Ramon y Cajal fellowship (RYC-2016-20528), D.O. received support from the ‘Secretaria d’Universitats i Recerca del Departament d’Economia i Coneixement de la Generalitat de Catalunya’ through the program of ‘Doctorats Industrials’; F.B.’s salary was partially funded by the Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities through the National Agency of Research (PTA2017-14041-I), and J.A.B. benefitted from a Serra-Húnter Fellowship provided by the Generalitat of Catalunya.

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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. YP, DO and FB performed the experiments. YP performed laboratory analyses under the supervision of CCa and JAB. YP and JGA analysed the data. YP wrote the manuscript with inputs from JAB, JGA, FB, DO, CCa and CCo. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Yasmine Piñuela.

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Piñuela, Y., Alday, J.G., Oliach, D. et al. White mulch and irrigation increase black truffle soil mycelium when competing with summer truffle in young truffle orchards. Mycorrhiza 31, 371–382 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00572-020-01018-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00572-020-01018-x

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