Ectomycorrhiza of Tricholoma matsutake

Since one thousand years ago, mushroom harvest of matsutake in Japan has been continued in the specifically managed Pinus densiflora forests. Scientific study of matstake mushroom has been started from the beginning of the twentieth century.Morphological description of T. matsutake mycorrhizas was first conducted in 1926. Although many field studies and experiments have been conducted thereafter, no body has succeeded in the artificial mushroom cultivation. However, techniques of in vitro mycorrhization between T. matsutake and pine seedlings have recently been established. Acclimatization of the in vitro mycorrhizas to the field conditions and subsequent fruiting are presently the targets.