Phenology and cultivation of Suillus bovinus, an edible mycorrhizal fungus, in a Pinus massoniana plantation

Edible mycorrhizal fungi (EMF) are a valuable forest resource, both in terms of their ecological functions as a symbiont of host trees and because of their edible sporocarps. In this study, we characterized the morphological features of Suillus bovinus, a dominant EMF associated with Pinus massoniana Lamb., and conducted a 3-year field survey to clarify the phenology of S. bovinus sporocarps. The morphological features of S. bovinus were generally in accordance with those reported by previous studies, and S. bovinus sporocarp production was largely influenced by meteorological conditions and the intra-annual growth rhythm of P. massoniana. The monthly fruiting pattern of sporocarps correlated with monthly variations in temperature (P < 0.01) and precipitation (P < 0.05). Sporocarp productivity increased as the temperature or precipitation increased and it decreased as the temperature or precipitation decreased. The correlation between P. massoniana growth stages and the production of mature sporocarps was also significant (P < 0.01); sporocarps were mainly formed during the shoot elongation stage, shoot growth ceased stage, and vegetative growth period. The sporocarp productivity data plus the economic evaluation indicate that a considerable amount of S. bovinus sporocarps could be produced in P. massoniana plantations, which merits further commercial use. To facilitate commercial use, both the morphological features of the association formed by S. bovinus and P. massoniana and the influences that determine S. bovinus fruiting should be taken into consideration.

Enzymatic activity of myccorrhizal fungi

The investigations included assays of enzymatic activity of ectomycorrhizal fungi from the genera: <i>Amanita, Cenococcum, Coltricia, Hebeloma, Lactarius, Rhizopogon, Russula, Suillus, Tricholoma</i> and the pine ectendomycorrhizal strain MrgX. Among the 22 investigated strains of fungi 18 could decompose starch, 14 urea, 11 asparagine, 7 protein, 6 pectin and 3 ce1lulose. The most varied enzyme activities were found in <i>Amanita muscaria, A. verna, Hebeloma, mesophaeum</i>, ectendomycorrhizal isolate MrgX, <i>Rhizopogon luteolus</i> and <i>Suillus bovinus</i>, the highest cellolotytic activity was shown by the ectendomycorrhizal strain.

Effects of vitamins, temperature and pH on the biomass production by ectomycorrhizal fungi

Studies were carried out to determine the effect of vitamins, temperature and pH on the biomass production by ectomycorrhizal fungi: <i>Laccuria bicolor, Hebeloma crustuliniforme, Suillus bovinus</i> and <i>Pisolithus arhizus</i>. Responses of particular organisms were different Three-factor ANOVA which enables the comparison of the effect of experimental factors on biomass yield has shown that the pH of the medium had a stronger effect on <i>L. bicolor, H. crustuliniforme</i> and <i>S. bovinus</i> than vitamins. Temperature was the factor exerting the strongest effect on the growth of <i>P. tinctorius</i>.

Effect of P and Ca on the mycorrhiza of P. sylvestris formation in aseptic condition

Ihe effect of some phosphorus and calcium compounds on mycorrhiza formation in pure cultures was investigated. In this experiment — <i>Cenococcum groniforme, Suillus bovinus</i> and <i>Tricholoma albobrunneum</i> were used. The ability to synthese acid phosphatase was tested in 11 strains. The presence of P has a stimulating effect on mycorrhiza formation by <i>S. bovinus</i> und <i>T. albobrunneum</i>. On control medium and medium containing CaO mycorrhiza was absent or only single. Ali strains synthetised phosphatase. The lowest enzymatic activity was found in two <i>C. graniforme</i> strains.

Preliminary studies on genetic diversity of ectomycorrhizal fungus Suillus bovinus in Lithuania

Motiejūnaitė J., Kačergius A., Kasparavičius J., 2013: Preliminary studies on genetic diversity of ectomycorrhizal fungus Suillus bovinus in Lithuania [Pradiniai ektomikorizinio grybo Suillus bovinus genetinio kintamumo Lietuvoje tyrimai]. - Bot. Lith., 19(2): 91-98. Genetic diversity of some Lithuanian populations of Suillus bovinus was assessed basing on nucleotide sequence of ITS1 and 2 regions, and the 5.8S RNA gene obtained from 42 samples. Four haplotypes were defined, each representing isolate groups of varying abundance and distribution. The most abundant and widely distributed was haplotype 2. All Lithuanian haplotypes nested in one, the largest clade of European isolates of S. bovinus.