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Abstract: Tuber melanosporum Vittad. (Black or Périgord truffle) is a truffle native to the Mediterranean Southern Europe, popular for its unique flavor, and has great economic importance. The present work focused on assessing the possibility of cultivating T. melanosporum associated with Quercus robur L. in the desert climate of Saudi Arabia. The plantation was initiated in November 2018 by planting 271 oak seedlings in the Al-Qassim desert area and checked for survival and ectomycorrhiza development after 1.5 years of plantation maintenance. Amongst the 271 seedlings planted, 243 plants survived two harsh seasons (2019 and 2020), and the randomly selected and tested seedlings were still mycorrhized with T. melanosporum. The mycorrhization level with T. melanosporum was between 5 and 35% of all fine roots, and the share of contaminant ectomycorrhiza was low. In comparison to other areas where T. melanosporum is successfully cultivated, the Al-Qassim desert area has 10%15 °C higher average summer temperatures and a low total annual precipitation, which necessitates regular irrigation of the plantation. This work opens the avenue for an adapted, yet sustainable cultivation of T. melanosporum-inoculated oak tree in a desert climatic condition and introduces new opportunities of the agro-forest business in Saudi Arabia and GCC region.
Keywords: Tuber melanosporum, Quercus robur, Desert climate, Truffle cultivation, Ectomycorrhiza
Published in DiRROS: 26.01.2021; Views: 1270; Downloads: 399
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Abstract: The relatively poor simulation of the below-ground processes is a severe drawback for many ecosystem models, especially when predicting responses to climate change and management. For a meaningful estimation of ecosystem production and the cycling of water, energy, nutrients and carbon, the integration of soil processes and the exchanges at the surface is crucial. It is increasingly recognized that soil biota play an important role in soil organic carbon and nutrient cycling, shaping soil structure and hydrological properties through their activity, and in water and nutrient uptake by plants through mycorrhizal processes. In this article, we review the main soil biological actors (microbiota, fauna and roots) and their effects on soil functioning. We review to what extent they have been included in soil models and propose which of them could be included in ecosystem models. We show that the model representation of the soil food web, the impact of soil ecosystem engineers on soil structure and the related effects on hydrology and soil organic matter (SOM) stabilization are key issues in improving ecosystem-scale soil representation in models. Finally, we describe a new core model concept (KEYLINK) that integrates insights from SOM models, structural models and food web models to simulate the living soil at an ecosystem scale.
Keywords: soil fauna, model, Soil Organic Matter, SOM, hydrology, pore size distribution, PSD, soil biota, ecosystem
Published in DiRROS: 23.09.2020; Views: 1648; Downloads: 1381
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Abstract: Since late 20th century DNA sequencing became the method of choice method in precision species identification. The ITS region is one of the official fungal barcoding DNA markers, although in some cases sequencing of the ITS re-gion may, due to misidentification, mislabeling or nomen-clature errors in public databases, lead to incorrect or insuf-ficient identification, as is currently a case in the genus Tu b e r. The aim of this study was to test, which ITS primer pairs are most appropriate and optimal for Tu b e r species DNA region amplification. Thereby we (1) compared ampli-fication success for different Tu b e r species using fungal spe-cific primer pair ITS1f and ITS4 and (2) compared amplifi-cation success using different ITS primer pair combinations in amplifying DNA region an example species Tuber aesti-vum. Based on results, Tuber aestivum was one of the most reluctant Tu b e r species in this study and in most cases failed to amplify with the above primer pair. After comparing dif-ferent ITS primer pairs, we conclude that the primer pair ITS5 and ITS7 is the most appropriate primer pair for ampli-fication DNA region of T. ae stiv um as it resulted in high am-plification success from ectomycorrhizal root tips. Based on sequences, gained from public databases, we found that ITS1f and ITS6 primers have a mismatch in one base pair compared to the target sequence of Tuber aestivum, thus re-sulting in poor or no amplification success. Although prim-er pair ITS5 and ITS7 in our study was proven to be the most appropriate primer pair in amplifying DNA region Tu b e r aestivum species, further analysis about appropriateness of it for a general barcoding and identification of ectomycorrhiza in complex community samples is needed.
Keywords: Tuber spp., ITS region, PCR amplification, ITS primers
Published in DiRROS: 30.07.2020; Views: 1868; Downloads: 1326
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Abstract: Basidiomata of Phallales have a diversified morphology with adhesive gleba that exudes an odor, usually unpleasant that attracts mainly insects, which disperse the basidiospores. The genus Blumenavia belongs to the family Clathraceae and, based on morphological features, only two species are currently recognized: B. rhacodes and B. angolensis. However, the morphological characters adopted in species delimitations within this genus are inconsistent, and molecular data are scarce. The present study aimed to review and identify informative characters that contribute to the delimitation of Blumenavia species. Exsiccates from America and Africa were analyzed morphologically, and molecularly, using ITS, LSU, ATP6, RPB2 and TEF-1% markers for Maximum Parsimony, Bayesian and Maximum likelihood analyses, and also for coalescent based species delimitations (BP&P), as well as for bPTP, PhyloMap, Topo-phylogenetic and Geophylogenetic reconstructions. According to our studies, seven species can be considered in the genus: B. rhacodes and B. angolensis are maintained, B. usambarensis and B. toribiotalpaensis are reassessed, and three new species are proposed, B. baturitensis Melanda, M.P. Martín & Baseia, sp. nov., B. crucis-hellenicae G. Coelho, Sulzbacher, Grebenc & Cortez, sp. nov., and B. heroica Melanda, Baseia & M.P. Martín, sp. nov. Blumenavia rhacodes is typified by selecting a lectotype and an epitype. Macromorphological characters considered informative to segregate and delimit the species through integrative taxonomy include length of the basidiomata, color, width and presence of grooves on each arm as well as the glebifer position and shape. These must be clearly observed while the basidiomata are still fresh. Since most materials are usually analyzed after dehydration and deposit in collections, field techniques and protocols to describe fugacious characters from fresh specimen are demanded, as well as the use of molecular analysis, in order to better assess recognition and delimitation of species in Blumenavia.
Published in DiRROS: 27.05.2020; Views: 1963; Downloads: 1873
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Abstract: Effects on roots due to ozone and/or soil water deficit often occur through diminished belowground allocation of carbon. Responses of root biomass, morphology, anatomy and ectomycorrhizal communities were investigated in seedlings of three oak species: Quercus ilex L., Q. pubescens Willd. and Q. robur L., exposed to combined effects of elevated ozone (ambient air and 1.4 x ambient air) and water deficit (100% and 10% irrigation relative to field capacity) for one growing season at a free-air ozone exposure facility. Effects on root biomass were observed as general reduction in coarse root biomass by -26.8 % and in fine root biomass by -13.1 % due to water deficit. Effect on coarse root biomass was the most prominent in Q. robur (-36.3 %). Root morphological changes manifested as changes in proportions of fine root (<2 mm) diameter classes due to ozone and water deficit in Q. pubescens and due to water deficit in Q. robur. In addition, reduced fine root diameter (-8.49 %) in Q. robur was observed under water deficit. Changes in root anatomy were observed as increased vessel density (+18.5 %) due to ozone in all three species, as reduced vessel tangential diameter (-46.7 %) in Q. ilex due to interaction of ozone and water, and as generally increased bark to secondary xylem ratio (+47.0 %) due to interaction of ozone and water. Water deficit influenced occurrence of distinct growth ring boundaries in roots of Q. ilex and Q. robur. It shifted the ectomycorrhizal community towards dominance of stress-resistant species, with reduced relative abundance of Tomentella sp. 2 and increased relative abundances of Sphaerosporella brunnea and Thelephora sp. Our results provide evidence that expression of stress effects varies between root traits; therefore the combined analysis of root traits is necessary to obtain a complete picture of belowground responses.
Keywords: ozone, drought, fine roots, ectomycorrhiza, anatomy, morphology, plants
Published in DiRROS: 20.02.2020; Views: 2264; Downloads: 1499
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