Abstract
A simple technique using “spore beads” for the inoculation of ectomycorrhizal fungi is described. Basidiospores of Rhizopogon roseolus were immobilized in calcium alginate gels and inoculated onto Pinus thunbergii seedlings. A thick spore suspension, prepared from sporocarps of R. roseolus collected in 2014, was diluted with sodium alginate solution and solidified in calcium chloride solution to produce spore-containing gel beads (spore beads). These spore beads were applied to 83 containers of 1-year-old P. thunbergii seedlings at a density of 6×104 per seedling in 2014. All inoculated seedlings successfully formed ectomycorrhizae after 5 months. In 2015, a similar but simplified inoculation technique was applied to pine seedlings. Three to four years after transplantation onto embankment material in a tsunami-affected maritime forest in Miyagi Prefecture, R. roseolus produced sporocarps around the transplanted seedlings.
