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Paola Bonfante
Truffles, a delicacy for genetists.
The biology
of truffle is still rather mysterious: if it’s true that
gourmands often think a little mystery is a good thing, scientists are
working hard to shed light on one of the most precious cult foods since
the ancient times.A French-Italian team of researchers has recently published on Nature the genome of the highly prized Perigord black truffle.
Four years were needed to read the 125 million bases of nucleotides, but the picture now provides several answers about its complex flavour, mysterious life cycle, and its underground interactions with tree roots. The study of the truffle’s genome offers clues to preserve the areas where it grows and to improve cultivation, eventually helping the truffle market, which is currently affected by a decreasing production and by the plague of fraud.
Thousands of genetic markers identified by this study can now be used to verify the geographic origin of the black truffle. Furthermore, we have discovered that the production of truffle fruit bodies requires the mating of two fungal strains carrying diverse sets of genetic information. Several crucial aspects of the mycorrhizal symbiosis between plants and fungi – a process that has had a major impact on the evolution of land plants – can now be seen in a new light.
At present, only another mycorrhizal fungus has been sequenced, the forest mushroom Laccaria bicolor.
The comparison between these two genomes has revealed some common aspects, mostly related to their interactions with the host plants.
The fungus inability to degrade the plant cell wall, coupled with the absence of defence responses in the hosts of both Laccaria and truffle, surely represents the biological basis of the symbiosis.
This research has paved the way for constructing a genome encyclopaedia of fungi, with a particular interest in edible fungi and their impact on human society. On the other hand, the possibility to trace fungal strains in the soil and design more refined inoculation protocols is likely to make truffle cultivation easier.
Nonetheless, we are sure that all these findings will add a further value to the pleasure of tasting a dish of pasta covered by a scented truffle.
Paola
Bonfante
Department of Plant Biology
University of Torino and IPP-CNR
Viale Mattioli 25 - 10125 Torino
E-mail: paola.bonfante@unito.it
E-mail: p.bonfante@ipp.cnr.it
Website: http://www.unito.it
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