The Competitive Relationship of the Ectomycorrhizal Fungus Tuber Melanosporum with Common Native Mid-Atlantic Ectomycorrhizal Fungi

Abstract

This study provides a better understanding of various fungal types which share the soil in a North American orchard colonized with Tuber melanosporum and identifies major fungal competitors for colonization of tree roots. This work also determines various soil conditions in the Mid- Atlantic region of the United States which can encourage or discourage Tuber melanosporum colonization. Quercus robur seedlings were inoculated with Tuber melanosporum. Groups of inoculated trees were split into six separate soil groups. One year after inoculation mycorrhized root tips were sampled from each seedling. Fungal DNA was extracted, amplified, and sequenced. Multi-variant analyses were run to identify possible correlations of environment and speciation. The results indicate that there are fungal types with the potential for competition with T. melanosporum and that these types change as the conditions in the soil change, and that T. melanosporum struggles to colonize trees outside of an established orchard.