Ectomycorrhizal status of Norway spruce seedlings from bare-root forest nurseries

We examined the ectomycorrhizal communities associated with Norway spruce seedlings grown in 16 bare-root nurseries in northwest Poland. One through four-year-old seedlings were examined and compared. We found 11 morphotypes in total with an average of 2.7 morphotypes per nursery. Among these 11 morphotypes, RFLP-analysis detected 17 distinct RFLP-patterns. By comparison with the available reference material, 12 of these could be identified to genus or species. These were Amphinema byssoides, Hebeloma crustuliniforme, Hebeloma longicaudum, Paxillus involutus, Thelephora terrestris, Cenococcum geophilum, Phialophora finlandia, Tuber sp., Wilcoxina mikolae, Wilcoxina sp. 1, Wilcoxina sp. 2 and Tricharina ochroleuca. The five unidentified morphotypes were: basidiomycetes ITE.5 and four ascomycetes designated as IDPAN.1, IDPAN.2, IDPAN.3 and IDPAN.4 that in morphotyping were classified as an E-strain. The ascomycete W. mikolae was predominant, whereas the basidiomycetes were less common. ECM community of Norway spruce seedlings from bare-root nurseries were not structured in association with soil pH and nutrient status of the host plant. The consistent presence of inocula of ascomycete symbionts in the substrate from all nurseries is quite notable and may reflect their adaptation and/or resistance to highly transformed nursery soil substrates compared to symbionts from the Basidiomycota.