Buried Treasure

MSU researchers and dogs discover, classify new truffle species

March 16, 2025

MSU researchers along with colleagues at the University of Florida and citizen scientists, have discovered two new truffle species with the assistance of trained truffle dogs. The first species was named Tuber canirevelatum, meaning "dog-found" truffle. The other, Tuber cumberlandense, was named for the Cumberland Plateau where it was found.

Spartan researchers aided in identifying and classifying the new species. Gregory Bonito, associate professor in the Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences at the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and undergraduate research student Alassane Sow, lead author of the study, used DNA analyses to identify the two truffles and place them in the tree of life. 

 

“We hope that by describing both of these species there will be increased interest in cultivating North American truffles.” 

— Alassane Sow, MSU undergraduate research student 

 

 

READ MORE about research into these new species of truffle

Contributing Writer(s): Kim Ward