Mycorrhization of pecan trees (Carya illinoinensis) with commercial truffle species: Tuber aestivum Vittad. and Tuber borchii Vittad.

Pecan (Carya illinoinensis) is an economically important nut tree native to the Mississippi basin and cultivated worldwide. In North America, species of truffles are regularly found fruiting in productive pecan orchards and the truffle genus Tuber appears to be abundant in pecan ectomycorrhizal (EM) communities. As an initial step to determine the feasibility of co-cropping European truffle species with pecan, we evaluated whether mycorrhizae of highly esteemed European truffle species (Tuber aestivum Vittad. T. borchii and T. macrosporum) could be formed on pecan seedlings. Seedlings were inoculated with truffle spores and were grown in a greenhouse for 10 months. Levels of EM colonization were estimated visually and quantified by counting EM tips. Ectomycorrhizae were identified both morphologically and molecularly with species-specific amplification and by sequencing of the ITS region of the nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA). Both T. borchii and T. aestivum spores produced well-formed ectomycorrhizae on pecan seedlings with average root colonization levels of about 62% and 42%, respectively, whereas no ectomycorrhizae of T. macrosporum were formed. The anatomy and morphology of these truffle ectomycorrhizae on pecan was characterized. The co-cropping of T. aestivum and T. borchii may hold promise as an additional stream of revenue to pecan growers, although, further studies are needed to assess whether this symbiosis is maintained after planting in the field and whether truffle production can be supported by this host species.