Abstract
Terfezia boudieri is one of several species of truffles found in Kuwait and other Arabian countries and is known as black kame. Ascospores from both fresh and dried ascocarps germinated in the laboratory. Germination was faster for spores from dried specimens than for those from fresh specimens. Germinated spores in both cases underwent several morphological changes that are considered good indication of the germination process of this species. Terfezia boudieri Chatin (locally known as black kame or kholasi) is one of several genera and species of truffles in the family Terfeziaceae found in Kuwait, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria, Arabian Gulf States, other Middle East countries and North Africa. It is a hypogeous fungus thought to form mycorrhiza with the annuals Helianthemum salicifolium (L.) Mill. and H. ledifolium (L.) Mill. This edible fungus has considerable economic value for culinary use. Methods for its cultivation would yield high returns. The presence of this truffle in North Africa and Syria has been recorded (Chatin, 1892; Bataille, 1921). Our experience so far has shown that the timing and the quantity of its fruiting depend mainly on climatological and ecological factors. Rainfall (quantity and commencement time) and associated vascular plants (density and distribution) proved to be the two important factors limiting production of the fungus (Awameh and Alsheikh, 1979). Soil type was also important. Work on truffle culture in Kuwait has been initiated at the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research. A plan was established to study the different aspects of T. boudieri in order to produce it under Kuwait's conditions. Most past work has been with taxonomical and anatomical aspects and not on cultivation. A few authors describe ascospore germination of edible mycorrhizal fungi. Guiochon (1959) claimed to be the first to germinate ascospores of Tuber melanosporum Vitt. Grente et al. (1972) succeeded with the same species by a different technique.
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