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.
Guerin-Laguette
Alexis
A
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
Shindo
Katsumi
K
Matsushita
Norihisa
N
Suzuki
Kazuo
K
Lapeyrie
Frédéric
F
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