Recognizing symbiotic compatibility between Laccaria trichodermophora and Pinus teocote

Several species of Laccaria can be used in forest management as promoter of the growth and health for conifers and broadleaf trees by performing ectomycorrhizal symbiosis. In central Mexico, Laccaria trichodermophora occurs in forests dominated by Pinus, which include P. montezumae and P. teocote. It is an edible mushroom consumed traditionally, mostly at a home scale, and is studied as a forest bioinoculant for nursery pines. This work aims to detect the compatibility between L. trichodermophora and P. teocote and the effect of the inoculum application moment on the percentage of mycorrhization of their root systems. The symbiosis was confirmed by a) sequencing the fungal nrDNA ITS region, b) observing micro-anatomical structures of the symbiotic interface using confocal laser scanning microscopy, and c) quantifying the colonization and comparing with the known host P. montezumae. BLAST and phylogenetic analyses confirmed the identity of the ectomycorrhizae-forming fungi as L. trichodermophora. The symbiotic development was also confirmed by detecting the fungal structures on and between root plant cells. After comparing the levels of colonization in the roots of the two pine species, it is concluded that L. trichodermophora is capable of colonizing both assessed tree species to a comparable extent. The integration of these results allowed to confirm that L. trichodermophora can be used as inoculum to promote the production of the timber P. teocote, that mycorrhization is detectable from three months after inoculation and that it is not necessary to inoculate from the moment of germination.