Studies on Tuber borchii ectomycorrhizal community, biology and genetics

The work carried out during this PhD has allowed to increase the biological, reproductive and ecological knowledge of Tuber borchii. Moreover, it poses the basis for using the mycelial inoculation for the production of plants mycorrhized with Tuber spp. for truffle cultivation. Initially the interaction of T. borchii with other fungal species in natural productive areas was studied, establishing that the threats to biodiversity of the genus Tuber spp. are mainly due to the fragmentation and loss of natural productive areas and the effect of climate changes. Subsequently, to test the possible effects of global warming on Tuber spp. development, in vitro study was carried out with the aim of testing the response of different strains of T. borchii at high temperatures. A protocol for cryopreservation in liquid nitrogen has been developed to create a germplasm bank to preserve its genetic diversity. Moreover a research was carried out to look for new compounds that could stimulate Tuber borchii mycelial fitness. Among these, nanoparticles gave the best results. In particular, NPs Fe-EPS (esopolysaccharide nanoparticles with iron oxide) had positive effects on the in vitro development of T. borchii, inducing a better quantitative and qualitative development of the T. borchii mycelium. Least but not last in my PhD thesis i followed the experimental T. borchii truffle orchard located at Cadriano University farm. For the first time it was demonstrated that it is possible to obtain truffle productions with seedlings obtained with mycelial inoculation. This discovery opens up the possibility of using this method of mycorrhization, as an alternative to the costly sporal inoculation. In order to understand the dynamics of the inoculated strains in the truffle orchard the mating types of the strains used for inoculation and their distribution as mycorrhizas, fruiting bodies and extra-radical mycelium in soil was investigated.