Project description:Illumina HiSeq technology was used to generate mRNA profiles from Tuber magnatum truffles, free-living mycelium and oak mycorrhizal root tips. Paired-end reads of 100 bp were generated and aligned to Tuber magnatum reference transcripts using CLC Genomics Workbench 9.
Project description:Truffles are among the most expensive foods available in the market, usually used as flavoring additives for their distinctive aroma. The most valuable species is Tuber magnatum Pico, better known as 'Alba white truffle', in which bis(methylthio)methane is the key aroma compound. Given the high economical value of genuine white truffles, analytical approaches are required to be able to discriminate between natural or synthetic truffle aroma. With the proteomic approach based on 2-DE followed by mass spectrometry, we were able to identify proteins specifically linked to sample origin. We further associated the proteomic results to an RNA-seq profiling, which confirmed the possibility to differentiate samples according to their source and provided a basis for the detailed analysis of genes involved in a specific metabolism, that of sulfur compounds. Finally, geographical specificities could be associated to the set of volatile compounds produced by the fruiting bodies, as quantitatively and qualitatively determined through PTR-MS and GC-MS. In particular, a PLS-DA model built from the latter data was able to return high confidence predictions of sample source.
Project description:We investigated the ascomycete truffle Tuber melanosporum exploits DNA methylation and transcription to cope with the more than 45,000 repeated elements that are present in its genome. Whole-genome bisulfite sequencing and RNA-sequencing, were performed on different developmental stages of this symbiotic hypogeous fungus -fruitbody (FB), free-living mycelium (FLM), and ectomycorrhiza.
