1,721,056 research outputs found
Laying the Foundations Edible Ectomycorrhizal Mushrooms
No full textThere are more than 1000 species of edible ectomycorrhizal mushrooms with some commanding very high prices on international markets. Despite this, only the most sought-after species have attracted the attention of scientists. These include species of truffles (Tuber spp.), boletes (Boletus edulis sensu lato), and chanterelles (Cantharellus spp.). While some of this research has explored their cultivation, the vast majority conducted in the 1990s and 2000s has been simply directed towards basic taxonomic studies, and the search for new knowledge and understanding regarding their ecology and growth. This chapter provides a background on edible ectomycorrhizal mushroom research, discusses early methods used for the cultivation of ectomycorrhizal truffles and mushrooms, outlines the relationship between edible mycorrhizal mushrooms and other soil microorganisms, and generally lays the foundation for the chapters to come
Myco-conversion of agro-waste into by-products
No full textRelevance and aim of the study
Agriculture is a productive activity producing a large volume of agro-waste, which, if mishandled, poses health,
food safety, and environmental risks. Adequate processing of agricultural waste has advantages in reducing
greenhouse gas emissions and reducing fossil fuels, as well as contributing significantly to the development of
new markets and job opportunities. In this context, fungi are an attractive resource for agro-waste
bioprocessing into value-added by-products. Fungal mycelium growth promotes the degradation of the most
recalcitrant macromolecules (e.g. lignin, hemicellulose and cellulose) and pollutants (e.g. pesticides, plastics),
allowing a significant reduction in the volume of residual waste. In addition, mycelium colonizing the substrate
reduces carbon losses and provides nutrients for a wide range of microorganisms that drive the diversity and
composition of microbial communities and, thereby, increase biodiversity on the reuse of transformed wastes
in soil.
This research aimed to exploit the potential of agro-wastes to create a new chain of products obtained through
technological innovation. Specifically, we sought to: i) evaluate the potential of waste for the production of
low-cost mushrooms; ii) bioconvert waste into new bio-based by-products (e.g. recovery of biopolymers,
nutrients, biofertilizers).
Materials and methodologies used
The experiment was performed on the solid fraction of corn digestate from a biogas plant located in
Malalbergo (Bologna, Italy). The high level of nitrogen and lignin in the solid digestate makes it a suitable
substrate for growing edible mushrooms. Cyclocybe aegerita, Pleurotus cornucopiae and Pleurotus ostreatus
were grown on both corn digestate and conventional substrates. The spent substrates after mushroom
production were analyzed in C and N content and structural composition using FT-IR spectroscopy. The mature
fruiting bodies were collected for 3 months; the fresh weight was recorded to evaluate biological efficiency.
The resulting fruiting bodies were processed to extract chitin, which was characterized by FT-IR and FT-Raman
spectroscopies.
Major results and findings
P. ostreatus showed the highest biological efficiency and fruiting body production on the corn digestate.
Pleurotus ostreatus and P. cornucopiae were both able to degrade lignin as detected by FT-IR analysis.
Conclusion of your research
These results confirmed the possibility of economic use of anaerobic digestate for mushroom production
Symbiotic interactions between orchids and Tuber borchii
Full text linkTuber borchii is a precious truffle, which forms ectomycorrhizal associations with several coniferous and broadleaf trees, arbutoid mycorrhizas with the strawberry tree and recently it was found also to form orchid mycorrhizas with Epipactis atrorubens. In this work, we investigated the formation of T. borchii mycorrhizas in other orchid species (Anacamptis morio, Cephalanthera longifolia, Limodorum abortivum, Ophrys sphegodes, Orchis purpurea). To this aim the orchids growing in three T. borchii production areas located in Emilia Romagna region (Italy) were collected and the presence of T. borchii mycorrhizas was investigated by morphological and molecular approaches. For T. borchii molecular identification, specific primers were used by a nested PCR approach. Tuber borchii was identified in 2 out of 6 samples of A. morio, 3 out of 4 samples of C. longifolia, and 2 out 6 samples of O. sphegodes. The ecological and biological roles of the orchid association in the truffle life cycle are discussed
Morels on the sand dunes of the Emilia-Romagna coast (Northwestern Adriatic Sea, Italy)
Full text linkMorchella species are known as famous and prized edible fungi due to their culinary flavor and medicinal properties. The asomata are collected throughout the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. Morchella spp. taxonomy has long been debated as a result of the high phenotypic plasticity charaterizing the genus. Most morels are considered saprobic but some species has been reported to interact with roots of many plant species forming different types of associations. In Emilia-Romagna (Italy), morels became a part of the culinary tradition, especially for the populations of the coastal areas. This work aimed to describe and identify the ascomata collected on the white dune habitat as well as to verify the extent of the interaction with plant species growing in the same area. All ascomata collected since 2001 shared a similar morphology with a range of variability mainly due to the harvesting period. Ascomata collected in 2017 were grouped within the Mes-17 clade, in the Esculenta group, based on their ITS rDNA sequences. Nine different plant species were found to be connected with morel ascomata through characteristic sand-mycelial structures never described before. The amount of the ascomata collected on the sand dunes demonstrates that the study area is particularly suitable for morel fruiting. Therefore, the protection of the dune system is imperative for preserving Morchella genetic diversity within the local population
Map of suitability for the spontaneous growth of Tuber magnatum in Emilia-Romagna (Italy)
Full text linkIn this work we used an inductive and deductive approach to produce the map of Suitability for the Spontaneous Growth of Tuber magnatum (white truffle) (SSGT) in Emilia-Romagna region (northern Italy). This map was produced in order to identify the environments where appropriate actions should be applied to protect this threatened truffle species.The steps used to define the map were: 1) surveying and mapping the actual productive areas (APAs) in two provinces of Emilia-Romagna (Bologna and Modena); 2) identification of some morphological, climatic, vegetational and pedological properties related to T. magnatum development; 3) production of digital maps representing the value that each property assumes in discrete land portions; 4) overlapping the map of APAs with each of the thematic maps and selection of the properties showing the strongest relationships with the presence of T. magnatum; 5) creating the map of SSGT, covering the whole hilly area of Emilia Romagna region; 6) assessing the reliability of the SSGT map, by overlapping the APAs map and the areas of the provinces of Parma and Piacenza where the mycelium of T. magnatum was found using specific PCR.The relationships found by means of the inductive approach (comparison between selected properties and observed frequency of truffle) demonstrated its effectiveness in predicting deductively the areas with distinct suitability for truffle
The first record of Densocarpa crocea in Italy
Full text linkThe first record of Densocarpa crocea (Quél.) Healy & M.E. Sm in Italy is reported. The specimen was morphologically described and the ITS sequence was deposited in GenBank
Current status of truffle cultivation: recent results and future perspectives
Full text linkIn this review the current status of truffle cultivation in Europe and outside Europe is reported. While the cultivation of Tuber melanosporum (Périgord black truffle), Tuber aestivum (summer or Burgundy truffle) and Tuber borchii (bianchetto truffle) gave good results, only the Italian white truffle (Tuber magnatum), which is the most expensive, has yet to be successfully cultivated. In future a revolutionary approach to truffle cultivation would be the application of mycelial inoculation techniques for producing Tuber infected plants which will allow to select the fungal strains adapted to specific climatic, edaphic conditions and hosts. The new insights which will be gained by the extensive Tuber genome sequencing programme will also help to improve truffle cultivation techniques
Degradative ability of mushrooms cultivated on corn silage digestate
Full text linkThe current management practice of digestate from biogas plants involves its use for land application as a fertilizer. Nevertheless, the inadequate handling of digestate may cause environmental risks due to losses of ammonia, methane and nitrous oxide. Therefore, the key goals of digestate management are to maximize its value by developing new digestate products, reducing its dependency on soil application and the consequent air pollution. The high nitrogen and lignin content in solid digestate make it a suitable substrate for edible and medicinal mushroom cultivation. To this aim, the mycelial growth rate and degradation capacity of the lignocellulosic component from corn silage digestate, undigested wheat straw and their mixture were investigated on Cyclocybe aegerita, Coprinus comatus, Morchella importuna, Pleurotus cornucopiae and Pleurotus ostreatus. The structural modification of the substrates was performed by using attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. Preliminary in vitro results demonstrated the ability of P. ostreatus, P. cornucopiae and M. importuna to grow and decay hemicellulose and lignin of digestate. Cultivation trials were carried out on C. aegerita, P. cornucopiae and P. ostreatus. Pleurotus ostreatus showed the highest biological efficiency and fruiting body production in the presence of the digestate; moreover, P. ostreatus and P. cornucopiae were able to degrade the lignin. These results provide attractive perspectives both for more sustainable digestate management and for the improvement of mushroom cultivation efficiency
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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