Truffle sex & what that means for orchard management & productivity by Shannon Berch
In this presentation, Dr. Sannon Berch reviews four scientific publications (see below) that are available for free download or on the NATGA web site under Resources, Papers. Although it is Shannon’s goal to make the science reasonably accessible for non-scientists, she is explaining biological and mycological phenomena and exploring hypothetical scenarios. The paper by Le Tacon et al. (2016) provides an explanation of what is known and still unknown about how truffle fungi reproduce. Since the end result of this reproduction is the truffle, it is important that truffle growers understand the basics. The paper by Garcia-Barreda et al. (2020) examines how soil and season affect truffle traits like weight and maturity, how the installation of ‘nests’ or ‘Spanish wells’ alters these responses, and how truffle traits and responses to nest installation differ in different soil types. Making sure there is genetic diversity in the truffle orchard through the application of spores (nests or Spanish wells) could be key to enhancing productivity but under what conditions? The paper by Iotti et al. (2016) explores how inoculation of seedlings in the nursery with mycelium rather than spores might permit the selection of truffle strains with superior characteristics. Only Tuber borchii at present lends itself to this kind of strain selection since it is much easier than most other Tuber species to grow in pure culture. We hope that by the end of this webinar, participants will have a better understanding of how truffles are produced and, using this understanding, be better able to evaluate possible future alterations to how truffles are cultivated.