Bernhard Zeller

Carbon Transfer from the Host to Tuber melanosporum Mycorrhizas and Ascocarps Followed Using a 13C Pulse-Labeling Technique

Truffles ascocarps need carbon to grow, but it is not known whether this carbon comes directly from the tree (heterotrophy) or from soil organic matter (saprotrophy). The objective of this work was to investigate the heterotrophic side of the ascocarp nutrition by assessing the allocation of carbon by the host to Tuber melanosporum mycorrhizas and ascocarps. In 2010, a single hazel tree selected for its high truffle (Tuber melanosporum) production and situated in the west part of the Vosges, France, was labeled with 13CO2. The transfer of 13C from the leaves to the fine roots and T. melanosporum mycorrhizas was very slow compared with the results found in the literature for herbaceous plants or other tree species. The fine roots primarily acted as a carbon conduit; they accumulated little 13C and transferred it slowly to the mycorrhizas. The mycorrhizas first formed a carbon sink and accumulated 13C prior to ascocarp development. Then, the mycorrhizas transferred 13C to the ascocarps to provide constitutive carbon (1.7 mg of 13C per day). The ascocarps accumulated host carbon until reaching complete maturity, 200 days after the first labeling and 150 days after the second labeling event. This role of the Tuber ascocarps as a carbon sink occurred several months after the end of carbon assimilation by the host and at low temperature. This finding suggests that carbon allocated to the ascocarps during winter was provided by reserve compounds stored in the wood and hydrolyzed during a period of frost. Almost all of the constitutive carbon allocated to the truffles (1% of the total carbon assimilated by the tree during the growing season) came from the host.

Study of nitrogen and carbon transfer from soil organic matter to Tuber melanosporum mycorrhizas and ascocarps using 15N and 13C soil labelling and whole-genome oligoarrays

Background and aimsWe previously showed by 13CO2 host labelling that almost all of the constitutive carbon allocated to the truffles originated from the host. The objective of this present work was to determine the putative capacity of T. melanosporum ectomycorrhizas and ascocarps to use soil carbon and to uptake or assimilate soil nitrate.MethodsThe current investigation involved 13C and 15N soil labelling by incorporating labelled leaf litter and expression of genes involved in carbon and nitrogen metabolism in ascocarps and ectomycorrhizas.ResultsThe ascocarps harvested in the labelled plots were highly enriched in 15N but were almost never enriched in 13C. The main source of soil mineral nitrogen was nitrate. A nitrate transporter, one nitrate reductase and a nitrite reductase were well expressed in ectomycorrhizas. Several genes involved in aminoacid synthesis or in transamination processes were also well expressed in ectomycorrhizas. No nitrate transporter was expressed in ascocarps where the CAZyme genes upregulated were mainly Glycosyltransferases involved in saccharide transfer.ConclusionAscocarps did not exhibit saprotrophic capacity for C, supporting previous results from 13CO2 host labelling showing that C is provided by the host tree. The 15N present in the ascocarps after soil labelling is supplied as ammonium or aminoacids by the ectomycorrhizas, which are able to uptake, reduce and metabolize nitrate.

First evidences that the ectomycorrhizal fungus Paxillus involutus mobilizes nitrogen and carbon from saprotrophic fungus necromass: Do ectomycorrhizal fungi degrade brown rot fungi?

Fungal succession in rotting wood shows a surprising abundance of ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi during the late decomposition stages. To better understand the links between EM fungi and saprotrophic fungi, we investigated the potential capacities of the EM fungus Paxillus involutus to mobilize nutrients from necromass of Postia placenta, a wood rot fungus, and to transfer these elements to its host tree. In this aim, we used pure cultures of P. involutus in the presence of labelled Postia necromass (15 N/13 C) as nutrient source, and a monoxenic mycorrhized pine experiment composed of labelled Postia necromass and P. involutus culture in interaction with pine seedlings. The isotopic labelling was measured in both experiments. In pure culture, P. involutus was able to mobilize N, but C as well, from the Postia necromass. In the symbiotic interaction experiment, we measured high 15 N enrichments in all plant and fungal compartments. Interestingly, 13 C remains mainly in the mycelium and mycorrhizas, demonstrating that the EM fungus transferred essentially N from the necromass to the tree. These observations reveal that fungal organic matter could represent a significant N source for EM fungi and trees, but also a C source for mycorrhizal fungi, including in symbiotic lifestyle.