Effect of ectomycorrhizal fungi on chestnut ink disease

Seedlings of Castanea sativa were inoculated at transplanting time with four ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi, Laccaria laccata, Hebeloma crustuliniforme, H. sinapizans and Paxillus involutus. At the end of the first vegetative season, 7 months after sowing, half of the mycorrhizal and nonmycorrhizal seedlings were challenged with a zoospore suspension of Phytophthoracambivora and the other half with P. cinnamomi. Five months later, mycorrhizal plants infected with P. cambivora or P. cinnamomi showed no sign of pathogen infection. The ECM fungi increased plant biomass also in the presence of the pathogen. Mycorrhizal seedlings inoculated with the pathogens showed greater shoot and root development than nonmycorrhizal chestnut plants. All the fungi tested reduced the negative effect of the ink disease pathogens on the plant host in vivo. The mechanisms by which the ECM fungi protect chestnut seedlings are discussed.