Cultivation studies of edible ectomycorrhizal mushrooms: successful establishment of ectomycorrhizal associations in vitro and efficient production of fruiting bodies

Most edible ectomycorrhizal mushrooms are harvested in forests or controlled tree plantations; examples include truffles, chanterelles, porcinis, saffron milk caps, and matsutake. This study explored recent advances in in vitro ectomycorrhizal cultivation of chanterelles and matsutakes for successful ectomycorrhizal seedling establishment and the subsequent manipulation of these seedlings for efficient fruiting body production. Chanterelle cultivation studies have been limited due to the difficulty of establishing pure cultures. However, once pure cultures were established in the Japanese yellow chanterelle (Cantharellus anzutake), its ectomycorrhizal manipulation produced fruiting bodies under controlled laboratory conditions. As C. anzutake strains have fruited repeatedly under ectomycorrhizal symbiosis with pine and oak seedlings, mating tests for the cross breeding are ongoing issues. As one of the established strains C-23 has full-genome sequence, its application for various type of ectomycorrhizal studies is also expected. By contrast, Tricholoma matsutake fruiting bodies have not yet been produced under controlled conditions, despite successful establishment of ectomycorrhizal seedlings. At present, the shiro structure of ≈1L in volume can be provided in two y incubation with pine hosts under controlled environmental conditions. Therefore, further studies that provides larger shiro on the host root system are desired for the outplantation trial and fruiting.