‘Very exciting’ new species of truffle discovered – thanks to dogs with ‘incredible noses’

Everything is solid.

Specially trained “truffle dogs” for Michigan State University and the University of Florida used their noses to help detect two types of truffles.

The two new varieties of the expensive and elusive mushroom described in a recent study published in the journal Mycologia were Tuber cumberlandense and Tuber canirevelatum, which are native to North America.

“Truffles are some of the most mysterious and fascinating mushrooms on the planet,” study co-author and University of Florida doctoral student Benjamin Lemmond said in a statement.

“They live their lives underground, out of sight, but people around the world are eager to find them and enjoy their unique culinary qualities. This study shows that there are still undiscovered truffles right under our noses, so to speak, and that without the help of dogs (and their incredible noses) we may never find them.

Tuber canirevelatum, meaning “dog-found” truffle, was named after the truffle dog Monza and her trainer, Lois Martin.

Martin mailed the mushroom samples to Gregory Bonito’s lab at MSU because they didn’t look or smell like anything familiar in North America.

Bonito, associate professor in the Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences in MSU’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and undergraduate research student Alassane Sow, lead author of the study, analyzed the DNA to identify the truffles and placed them in mushrooms. family tree

“Getting these samples was very exciting, especially because they looked very similar to the well-known European edible truffles Tuber macrosporum and Tuber aestivum,” said Sow. “We hope that describing both of these species will increase interest in North American truffle cultivation. Our analyzes show that each of them has aromatic compounds found in some of the most valuable truffle species.â€

Meanwhile, Tuber cumberlandense was named for the Cumberland Plateau in the Appalachian Mountains, where it was discovered by truffle dog Luca and trainer Margaret Townsend.

Tuber cumberlandense has previously been sold under different names and harvested in truffle orchards and forests, but the new analysis revealed that this is a “distinct and previously undescribed” species native to North America, Bonito explained.

“This particular species enjoys a symbiotic relationship with its host, the white oaks, growing from the roots and providing food to the trees,” Bonito said.

Maker’s Mark Distillery is now working to figure out how to grow native truffles for its whiskey, which the company ages in white oak barrels.

“They will reforest their land in Kentucky with white oaks for barrels and hope to one day harvest truffles; maybe they’ll even create truffle-infused whiskey,” added Bonito.

Historically, European truffle species are the ones that have been cultivated and sold, but there has been a growing interest in cultivating, wild harvesting and selling native truffles in North America – meaning more truffles will need come out to play and smell them.

“If you have $20,000 worth of truffles growing underground, you have to find them before they disappear, so the dogs are very important,” Bonito said.

“Our research reinforces the importance of using trained truffle dogs in searching for tubers and cultivating truffles,” added Bonito. “We suspect that many native tuber species remain to be discovered and described. This task will be improved through continued collaboration between mycologists – scientists who study fungi – the public and trained truffle dogs.