Subject: Ectomycorrhizae data Date: Wed, 25 Aug 1999 02:35:01 GMT
From: truffler1635@my-deja.com
Reply-To: dwheeler@teleport.com
Newsgroups: bionet.agroforestry


A recent search for ectomycorrhizae produced some dramatic (IMHO) sites
with cutting-edge technology appropriate to tree farmers.

I comment the following sites to you:

Mycorrhizae & Plant Health - Menu
http://www.ars-grin.gov/ars/PacWest/Corvallis/hcrl/lind21.htm

Trail 3:
http://www.english.ubc.ca/projects/trail3/fungi/index.htm

Kamloops Forest Region Wet Belt Forest Research - Regeneration
http://www.hre.for.gov.bc.ca/groups/kamloops/wetbelt/regpaper.html

Meeting Report: ICOM-2 - Second International Conference on Mycorrhiza
http://www.mycoinfo.com/icom2-report.html

Forestry
http://helios.bto.ed.ac.uk/ierm/about/forestry.htm

Among other things I have learned about mycorrhizae from the web is
that:

1. 90-95% of all plant life on earth forms mycorrhizal association of
some kind. One site notes a mycorrhizal association is as natural for a
tree as having leaves.

2. The more varieties of mycorrhizae, the better plants tend to grow.
Seedlings having association with 14 mycorrhizal partners did much
better than those with only 3-4.

3. A Caribbean island was unable to grow pine seedlings for over one
year, even with applications of phosphate fertilizer. Mixing soil from
existing established U.S. pine plantations allowed sudden, pronounced
growth increases: to 1.5m the first year.

4. Many mycorrhizae produce edible sporocarps. Some of these are very
valuable. Others, like Suillus mushrooms, contain such compounds as
suillin, which has been shown effective against leukemia in mice and two
human carcinomas.

5. The July 29, 1999 100% tariff imposed by President Clinton against
fresh truffle imports will increase the demand for native truffles. This
may boost what has been a $100/lb. fungus to a multi-hundred dollar/lb.
fungus. Native truffles are all presumed ectomycorrhizal, and as such as
beneficial to tree growth. Several people who have had fresh Italian
White truffle have reported to me that the Oregon White truffle, while
not as pungent as the Italian White truffle, is quite comparable. This
is significant since the Italian White truffle was selling for US $4500/
kg _prior_ to the July 29 tariff.

Daniel B. Wheeler
www.oregonwhitetruffles.com


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