Identifying, Characterizing, and Quantifying Ectomycorrhizal Competitors in Potential Truffle Orchards
Abstract
The production of Tuber melanosporum truffles is dependent upon many factors. One of these being the composition of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) competitors in the soil. The objective of this project is to identify, characterize, and quantify ECM competitors in three potential orchard locations, RC, Fry Tmel, and IxM Con. Furthermore, it is hypothesized that Fry Tmel and IxM Con will have similar ECM competitor diversity due to their geographical proximity. Taxonomic and functional assignment will be performed on the processed ITS sequences of these orchards. Next each location will be measure for alpha diversity, relative abundance, and ITS sequence dissimilarity and subject to analysis. The results show that IxM Con has the highest relative abundance of ECM fungi out of the sampled locations. All locations have a considerable amount of ECM competitive genera, Hebeloma, Russula, and Tuber. Lastly, the alpha diversity t-test reveals that Fry Tmel and IxM Con do not have similar ECM competitor diversity.
Identifying, Characterizing, and Quantifying Ectomycorrhizal Competitors in Potential Truffle Orchards
The production of Tuber melanosporum truffles is dependent upon many factors. One of these being the composition of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) competitors in the soil. The objective of this project is to identify, characterize, and quantify ECM competitors in three potential orchard locations, RC, Fry Tmel, and IxM Con. Furthermore, it is hypothesized that Fry Tmel and IxM Con will have similar ECM competitor diversity due to their geographical proximity. Taxonomic and functional assignment will be performed on the processed ITS sequences of these orchards. Next each location will be measure for alpha diversity, relative abundance, and ITS sequence dissimilarity and subject to analysis. The results show that IxM Con has the highest relative abundance of ECM fungi out of the sampled locations. All locations have a considerable amount of ECM competitive genera, Hebeloma, Russula, and Tuber. Lastly, the alpha diversity t-test reveals that Fry Tmel and IxM Con do not have similar ECM competitor diversity.