Influence of host plant and different nutritional supplies on morphology and gene expression in Tuber borchii

During the different phases of mycorrhizal fungi life cycle, several morphological, genetic and metabolic modifications are induced for both symbiotic partners. These changes are influenced by multiple environmental factors: light, gravity, oxygen, temperature, soil typology, nutrient availability, root exudates (that content sugars) and the presence of particular bacterial populations in the mycorrhizosphere. In the present study we focused on the influence of the host plant and of different nutritional substrates. An in vitro model has been set up, in which plant (Tilia americana) and fungus (Tuber borchii) were close one each other, but physically separated by a membrane, in order to perform a suppressive subtractive library able to find out genes differentially expressed in the pre-symbiotic phase (in the presence of the plant). The results obtained highlighted that in the presence of the plant the fungus shows a major expression of genes involved in hyphal growth, detoxification processes and general metabolism. Furthermore studies has been performed on T. borchii mycelia cultivated in different carbohydrates sources: morphological and molecular investigations highlighted that in the presence of glucose the fungus shows an implemented growth and a major expression of genes involved in hyphal growth, detoxification processes and general metabolism