Quantification of extraradical soil mycelium and ectomycorrhizas of Boletus edulis in a Scots pine forest with variable sporocarp productivity

The availability of most edible ectomycorrhizal mushrooms depends on their natural fructification. Sporocarp formation of these fungi is linked to habitat characteristics and climate conditions, but these data alone do not explain all the trends of fungal fruiting and dynamics. It could be hypothesized that the amount of soil mycelia could also be related to the production of carpophores. Soil samples (five cylinders of 250 cm(3) per plot) were taken monthly, from September to November, in five fenced permanent plots (5x5 m) in Pinar Grande (Soria, Spain), a Pinus sylvestris stand situated in the north of the Sistema Iberico mountain range. Plots were chosen to establish a gradient of Boletus edulis productivity from 0 to 38.5 kg/ha year, according to the mean fresh weight of sporocarps collected during the last 10 years. B. edulis ectomycorrhizal root tips were identified in each soil sample according to its morphology and counted. DNA extractions were performed with the PowerSoil (TM) DNA Isolation Kit and quantification of extraradical soil mycelium by real-time polymerase chain reaction using specific primers and a TaqMan (R) probe. The concentration of soil mycelium of B. edulis (mg mycelium/g soil) did not differ significantly between plots (p=0.1397), and sampling time (p=0.7643) within the fructification period. The number of mycorrhizal short roots per soil volume showed significant differences between the plots (p=0.0050) and the three sampling times (p<0.0001). No significant correlation between the number of mycorrhizas and the productivity of the plot (kg of B. edulis/ha year) was detected (p=0.615). A statistically significant positive correlation (p=0.0481) was detected between the concentration of mycelia of B. edulis in the soil samples and the presence of short roots mycorrhizal with B. edulis in these samples. The productivity of the plots, in terms of sporocarps produced during the last 10 years, was not correlated either with the concentration of soil mycelium or with the presence or abundance of ectomycorrhizas.