NATGA

North American Truffle Survey Database update June 2021

We’re pleased to announce that dozens of growers have filled out the survey and the database is now growing. We are well on our way to answering a series of pressing questions for growers. Based upon the growers feedback we are launching a revised version that will be more user friendly. In addition we will be introducing the database website that will be accessible to all survey participants.

Watering, mulching and shadowing in Tuber melanosporum and Tuber aestivum orchards by Dr. Claude Murat

The objective of my presentation is to illustrate several researches on truffle life cycle and truffle cultivation developed in France. I will briefly present our knowledge on the sexual reproduction of the black truffle and then I will highlight the main results of the national research program CulturTruf. In this project we have experimented with watering truffle beds by monitoring the soil water potential (SWP) and have shown that this improves truffle production. I will show how we have developed an innovation (pF Tracer) allowing truffle growers to equip themselves with probes to follow the pF. Finally, I will present our latest remarkable results on the culture of the white truffle Tuber magnatum.

The development of affordable and reliable DNA-based analysis protocols and sampling procedures for the detection of commercial truffle species used in truffle cultivation

This project addresses a challenge in the truffle industry, specifically the detection and monitoring of truffle fungi during the many-year period of orchard establishment before truffles can be expected to start producing. The successful colonization of the host tree by a commercial truffle fungus and the retention and spread of that fungus on the roots are critical for successful orchard establishment, yet growers have limited tools to monitor and confirm this process. We adapted and developed reliable DNA extraction methods for orchard soil, DNA fingerprinting methods for the major commercial truffle species, and field sampling procedures for the detection and identification of truffle fungi in orchard soil.

Tuber brumale and other mycorrhizal fungi that may fruit in our truffle orchards by Dr. Christine Fischer

By establishing black truffle orchards, we are introducing a new fungus to our soils and inevitably there will be shifts in the community of soil organisms in the rhizosphere activities belowground, not just Tuber melanosporum. Sometimes our first awareness comes with the appearance of fruitbodies of other fungi such as Tuber brumale, a winter truffle that can be particularly problematic. In this webinar I would like to present some history and approaches to the questions regarding management of T. brumale and other fungi such as Scleroderma sp. and Pisolithus sp. and T. lyonii often co-existing in T. melanosporum habitat.

[Webinar] Christine Fischer: Tuber brumale and other mycorrhizal fungi that may fruit in our truffle orchards

View Recording By establishing black truffle orchards, we are introducing a new fungus to our soils and inevitably there will be shifts in the community of soil organisms in the rhizosphere activities belowground, not just Tuber melanosporum. Sometimes our first awareness comes with the appearance of fruitbodies of other fungi …

First production of Italian white truffle (Tuber magnatum Pico) ascocarps in an orchard outside its natural range distribution in France

These results demonstrate the feasibility of T. magnatum cultivation worldwide by planting mycorrhized plants. The cultivation of T. magnatum could therefore become a real opportunity for farmers and could respond to the high demand of this high-priced food.