The project “Climate changes and ectomycorrhizal fungi - how far can we go with an assisted migration of truffles?” aims to connect knowledge of forestry, agriculture, climate changes and fungi cultivation, for a better understanding of responses, interactions with environment, and distribution of ectomycorrhizal fungi (truffles) as a result of changes in climate on soils and below-ground parts of plants in symbiosis. Truffles are among the most prominent and frequently cultivated edible ectomycorrhizal fungi. The focus of this study is Tuber aestivum, a truffle species with a road areal in Europe fruiting from boreal to Mediterranean climate.
Former research failed to explain the field observed differences in ecology and distribution of Tuber aestivum. No specific studies focused on the adaptation to extreme conditions or limiting factors affecting cultivation in extreme condition (as consequence of climate changes) at the individual organism’s (genotype) functional level. There are no publications on the intra-specific genomic variability and its physiological consequences in truffles, or any other ectomycorrhizal fungi. No studies attempted to analyse functional traits expressed under different environmental conditions for understanding mechanism of distribution and survival not only for truffles but for any ectomycorrhizal fungi.
To better understand how a single ectomycorrhizal truffles genome under different climates changes its physiology and relations with the environment, we aim to focus on four specific topics: 1. survival of ectomycorrhiza and mycelium under changing environment, 2. changes in communication with environment, 3. differences in enzymatic functioning and gene expressions of crucial metabolic enzymes, 4. shifts in microbiome of mycelia and ectomycorrhizas in changing climates. The environmental variables to be analysed are soil moisture, changes in maximum soil temperature and differences in temperature amplitudes.
Four hypotheses were formulated to better understand the behaviour of identical genotypes in a common garden experiment situated in areas resembling predicted (extreme) climate change:
1. How mycorrhization levels changes and if ectomycorrhizal community exhibit increased mortality or a shift towards more resistant ectomycorrhizas substituting the initial (monospecific) community under changing climates.
2. The communication of the fungal partner in ectomycorrhiza with an environment is expected to change, although it is not clear how emission of volatile organic will differ among the contrasting environmental conditions.
3. We expect quantitative and qualitative differences in activity of phosphorus and nitrogen acquisition enzymes, collected from the contrasting conditions. Changes of enzymatic activities will be compared/explained with the genomic potential of a specific enzyme varieties previously detected in the genome of the same truffle genotypes.
4. Ectomycorrhizal microbiome of truffle inoculated seedlings will experience reshaping in time and under conditions of the local (extreme) environment. Microbiome community will diversify among initial (uniform) plants planted in under gradients of parameters resembling predicted climate changes.
The project is expected to contribute to better understanding of infraspecific diversity for survival in extreme conditions. Common garden experiment will broaden our knowledge on how ectomycorrhizal fungi may be limited for cultivation at global and regional level, and which mechanism of adaptability are expected to play a crucial role in this process. As truffles are gaining popularity at a global scale we propose a range of dissemination activities from high-ranking scientific papers to presentation of results in education, technology development, in the form of support to truffle growers and a contribution to principles of green (myco)tourism.