The ectomycorrhizal community of Abies nebrodensis: preliminary results

Abies nebrodensis (Lojac.) Mattei is a Critically Endangered forest tree included in Appendix I of the Bern Convention and as a priority species in Annexes II and IV of the Habitats Directive [1]. In situ and ex situ conservation strategies [2] and, more recently, a LIFE Natura project [3] allowed a marked improvement of health conditions of trees and of seedlings renewal. A first attempt to characterize the ectomycorrhizas of A. nebrodensis was carried out by Venturella & Rambelli [4]. In the frame of the activities of the II National Workshop of Ectomycorrhyza (Palermo, 2015), this paper reports the preliminary investigation carried out on the ectomycorrhyzal community of A. nebrodensis in comparison with that of Fagus sylvatica L. Root samples were collected from 12 different trees of the native population of A. nebrodensis and from 12 plants of F. sylvatica growing close to the firs. For each root samples we selected 100-200 mycorrhizas, divided in morphotypes on the basis of their morpho-anatomic features. Each morphotype was also genetically characterized through amplification and direct sequencing of ITS region of rDNA. The preliminary results show a higher richness of ectomycorrhizal species in F. sylvatica compared to A. nebrodensis. Cenococcum geophilum Fr. is the dominant species on F. sylvatica and A. nebrodensis. The higher number of species in F. sylvatica and A. nebrodensis is from genus Cortinarius (Pers.) Gray while Tomentella Pers. ex Pat. and Sebacina Tul & C. Tul. are underepresented.