Objectives

Truffles are fungi that establish symbiosis with the roots of common oaks, holly oaks and hazels. Truffle harvesting and cultivation generate revenues of 7.5 million € in Europe. Over the past years, the production through harvesting in forests and woodland has been reduced in favour of cultivation in tree plantations (mainly holly oaks) inoculated with the fungus. In spite of the shift to production under more controlled conditions, truffle yield per hectare varies a lot between regions. Studying the fungus life cycle can help to understand this variability and promote management practices that yield a higher and stable production.

The project Tubersystem is conducting several field tests in different regions of Spain to gain more knowledge on the truffles` life cycle. The tests aim to understand the interactions between the fungus, the trees they host, the plants that grow below these trees and soil microorganisms.