Three species of edible desert truffles, Terfezia arenaria, Terfezia claveryi, and Tirmania pinoyi associated with Helianthemum guttatum in Algeria were examined in this study. The mycorrhizal synthesis between the three species of desert truffles and Helianthemum guttatum was carried out with two different methods: (i) under axenic conditions on perlite permeated by a nutritive solution, by inoculating the seedlings with mycelial fragments; (ii) under gnotoxenic conditions on natural substrates, by inoculating plants with spore suspensions. The method of synthesis did not have any influence on the type of mycorrhizae. The desert truffles formed two types of mycorrhizae according to the fertility of the substrate: ectomycorrhizae without sheath, in the phosphorus rich substrates, or ectendomycorrhizae, also without sheath, in the phosphorus deficient substrates. Primordial ascomata were obtained in the syntheses involving polysporous inocula. Key words: ectomycorrhizae, ectendomycorrhizae, Helianthemum guttatum, Terfezia, Tirmania.
Bioecology of desert truffles in the province of Figuig in Eastern Morocco
