TY  - JOUR
A1  - Büntgen, Ulf
A1  - Bagi, István
A1  - Fekete, Oszkár
A1  - Molinier, Virginie
A1  - Peter, Martina
A1  - Splivallo, Richard
A1  - Vahdatzadeh, Maryam
A1  - Richard, Franck
A1  - Murat, Claude
A1  - Tegel, Willy
A1  - Stobbe, Ulrich
A1  - Martínez-Peña, Fernando
A1  - Sproll, Ludger
A1  - Hülsmann, Lisa
A1  - Nievergelt, Daniel
A1  - Meier, Barbara
A1  - Egli, Simon
T1  - New insights into the complex relationship between weight and maturity of Burgundy truffles (Tuber aestivum)
T2  - PLoS one
N2  - Despite an increasing demand for Burgundy truffles (Tuber aestivum), gaps remain in our understanding of the fungus’ overall lifecycle and ecology. Here, we compile evidence from three independent surveys in Hungary and Switzerland. First, we measured the weight and maturity of 2,656 T. aestivum fruit bodies from a three-day harvest in August 2014 in a highly productive orchard in Hungary. All specimens ranging between 2 and 755 g were almost evenly distributed through five maturation classes. Then, we measured the weight and maturity of another 4,795 T. aestivum fruit bodies harvested on four occasions between June and October 2015 in the same truffière. Again, different maturation stages occurred at varying fruit body size and during the entire fruiting season. Finally, the predominantly unrelated weight and maturity of 81 T. aestivum fruit bodies from four fruiting seasons between 2010 and 2013 in Switzerland confirmed the Hungarian results. The spatiotemporal coexistence of 7,532 small-ripe and large-unripe T. aestivum, which accumulate to ~182 kg, differs from species-specific associations between the size and ripeness that have been reported for other mushrooms. Although size-independent truffle maturation stages may possibly relate to the perpetual belowground environment, the role of mycelial connectivity, soil property, microclimatology, as well as other abiotic factors and a combination thereof, is still unclear. Despite its massive sample size and proof of concept, this study, together with existing literature, suggests consideration of a wider ecological and biogeographical range, as well as the complex symbiotic fungus-host interaction, to further illuminate the hidden development of belowground truffle fruit bodies.
Y1  - 2017
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/41990
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-419905
UR  - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5268403
SN  - 1932-6203
N1  - Copyright: © 2017 Büntgen et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
VL  - 12
IS  - (1): e0170375
SP  - 1
EP  - 15
PB  - PLoS
CY  - Lawrence, Kan.
ER  -