Mycorrhizal detection of native and non-native truffles in a historic arboretum and the discovery of a new North American species, Tuber arnoldianum sp. nov.

Abstract

During a study comparing the ectomycorrhizal root communities in a native forest with those at the Arnold Arboretum in Massachusetts (USA), the European species Tuber borchii was detected on the roots of a native red oak in the arboretum over two successive years. Since T. borchii is an economically important edible truffle native to Europe, we conducted a search of other roots in the arboretum to determine the extent of colonization. We also wanted to determine whether other non-native Tuber species had been inadvertently introduced into this 140-year-old Arboretum because many trees were imported into the site with intact soil and roots prior to the 1921 USDA ban on these horticultural practices in the USA. While T. borchii was not found on other trees, seven other native and exotic Tuber species were detected. Among the North American Tuber species detected from ectomycorrhizae, we also collected ascomata of a previously unknown species described here as Tuber arnoldianum. This new species was found colonizing both native and non-native tree roots. Other ectomycorrhizal taxa that were detected included basidiomycetes in the genera Amanita, Russula, Tomentella, and ascomycetes belonging to Pachyphlodes, Helvella, Genea, and Trichophaea. We clarify the phylogenetic relationships of each of the Tuber species detected in this study, and we discuss their distribution on both native and non-native host trees.

Tuber melanosporum shapes nirS-type denitrifying and ammonia-oxidizing bacterial communities in Carya illinoinensis ectomycorrhizosphere soils

“…Truffles can form symbiotic relationships with trees from several genera, including Corylus, Quercus, Abies Pinus, Populus and Salix (Healy et al, 2016;Wan et al, 2016). The pecan tree, Carya illinoinensis (Wangenh.)…”

Tuber indicum shapes the microbial communities of ectomycorhizosphere soil and ectomycorrhizae of an indigenous tree (Pinus armandii)

“…Truffles can form a symbiotic relationship with trees of several genera, including Quercus , Corylus , Pinus and Abies [3–6]. The black truffle ( Tuber melanosporum ) and the white truffle ( T .…”

Mycorrhizal associations of the exotic hickory trees, Carya laciniosa and Carya cordiformis, grown in Kórnik Arboretum in Poland

“…Recently, several authors have intensively studied this issue in forest plantations of different exotic tree species grown outside their native ranges (e.g., Bahram et al 2013 ; Lothamer et al 2014 ; Nuñez and Dickie 2014 ; O’Hanlon and Harrington 2012 ; O’Hanlon et al 2013 ; Richardson et al 2000 ; Tedersoo et al 2007 ; Trocha et al 2012 ; Walbert et al 2010 ). In contrast to these studies on forest plantations, investigations on EM fungal assemblages of trees from arboreta remain scarce (Healy et al 2016 ), especially records based on molecular analysis of their mycorrhizae.…”