The advances in cultivation of desert truffles and other highly prized mycorrhizal mushrooms has been hampered by inadequate basic knowledge concerning their biology. The formation and growth of fungal fruiting bodies (sporocarps) in ectomycorrhizal fungi requires large quantities of water as well as inorganic and organic nutrients which are obtained from the soil and from the plant host.

Recent research has demonstrated that fungal aquaporins regulate the transport of water, carbon dioxide and other small molecules during the sporocarp development. It has been also demonstrated that carbon dioxide-transporting fungal aquaporins participate in the carbon dioxide signalling process during which carbon dioxide generated by respiration in the roots of mycorrhizal plants are sensed by the fungus to initiate sporocarp development.

In the collaborative project to be carried out by Prof. J. Zwiazek of the University of Alberta with the host research group at the University of Murcia, strains of the model fungus Laccaria bicolor will be generated. These transgenic strains will over express a carbon dioxide transporting aquaporin TcAQP1 from desert truffle.

The fungal strains will be used by Prof. Zwiazek and Prof Morte in the future collaborative research to investigate the role of carbon dioxide as a signalling molecule responsible for the development of sporocarps. We hypothesize that the TcAQP1 overexpressing strains will be prolific sporocarp producers and the initiation of sporocarps can be achieved with lower respiratory activity of the roots and lower CO2 concentrations perceived by the fungus.

The results of this research will help control and maximize the production of desert truffles and other economically important mushrooms of the mycorrhizal fungi.