The mycorrhizal fungus Tricholoma matsutake stimulates Pinus densiflora seedling growth in vitro.
While it has been suggested that Matsutake mycorrhizae might not be functional and that Matsutake may behave as a saprobic fungus in soil or even have some pathogenic activity on seedlings, we investigated the consequences of Matsutake inoculation on Pinus densiflora growth. Seventy-five days after inoculation, hyphae were anchored on short roots and well-developed Hartig net palmettis were observed. Compared to both control treatments--seedlings treated with distilled water and seedlings treated with autoclaved mycelium--inoculation significantly stimulated seedling total dry weight by 70.9% and 98.0%, respectively. These findings attest that some type of symbiotic relationship must be functional and favour host growth, ruling out claims of pathogenicity under the sterile conditions used here.
Laboratory of Forest Botany, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, 113-8657 Tokyo , Japan. guerina@crop.cri.nz
Alexis
A
Guerin-Laguette
Katsumi
K
Shindo
Norihisa
N
Matsushita
Kazuo
K
Suzuki
Frédéric
F
Lapeyrie
D000363:Agaricales / Q000502:physiology*; D038821:Mycorrhizae / Q000502:physiology*; D028223:Pinus / Q000254:growth & development / Q000382:microbiology*; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000254:growth & development / Q000382:microbiology; D018520:Plant Shoots / Q000254:growth & development; D036226:Seedlings / Q000254:growth & development / Q000382:microbiology