The primary carbohydrate metabolism of an ectomycorrhizal fungus and its transcriptional regulation has never been characterized at the genome scale although it plays a fundamental role in the functioning of the symbiosis. In this study, the genome sequence of the ectomycorrhizal basidiomycete Laccaria bicolor S238N-H82 was explored to construct a comprehensive genome-wide inventory of pathways involved in primary carbohydrate metabolism. Several genes and gene families were annotated, including those of the glycolysis, pentose phosphate pathway, tricarboxylic acid cycle, and trehalose and mannitol metabolism. The transcriptional regulation of these pathways was studied using whole-genome expression oligoarrays and quantitative polymerase chain reaction in free-living mycelium, ectomycorrhizas and fruiting bodies. Pathways of carbohydrate biosynthesis and catabolism are identical in L. bicolor compared with other sequenced saprotrophic basidiomycetes. Ectomycorrhiza and fruiting body development induced the regulation of a restricted set of transcripts of the glycolytic, mannitol and trehalose metabolisms.