Mycelium patterns of two edible ectomycorrhizal mushrooms in the soil of a chestnut grove

Poster

Chestnut groves in the Sierra de Aracena (Huelva, SW Spain) constitute one of the most attractive landscapes. The wood, but especially the fruit have been involved in the economic consolidation of this area. However the current situation is not favorable for production and some of these groves are being abandoned due to the low return. Despite all this, chestnut forests still constitute an important natural tourist resource and also host a great mycological wealth. Wild edible fungi have been collected and consumed by man from time immemorial and today some of them are considered authentic gastronomic delights. Certain fungi form symbiotic associations with the roots of the trees called ectomycorrhizas (ECM) through which the fungus provides minerals and water to the plant and the plant supplies carbohydrates to the fungus. That is why ECM are considered good indicators of forest health. Several ectomycorrhizal mushrooms highly appreciated as edible appear in this area associated with the roots of adult chestnut trees. Among them are Amanita caesarea and Boletus aereus, both thermophilic species fruiting in early autumn. The production of fruiting bodies depends on many factors, so that, depending on the year it may be little or even null which hinders their exploitation. To date the artificial reproduction of these fungi to the fruiting stage continues to elude the efforts of researchers. As a complementary approach, in this work we analyzed the mycelium status of these ectomycorrhizal fungi in a chestnut grove soil. Later, different cultural practices including irrigation and shallow plowing will be performed and the effect on soil mycelium development and subsequent fruiting will be studied. For this, soil samples were taken over time and analyzed by molecular techniques through the restriction analysis of amplified rDNA using as control the DNA extracted from the respective fruiting bodies.