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Yuki Ogura-Tsujita, Japan
Yuki received her Ph.D. degree from the Department of Agriculture, Kyushu University, Japan in 2003. Now she is an Associate Professor at the Department of Agriculture, Saga University, Japan, and has been working on the mycorrhizal symbiosis of Asian orchids for more than 15 years. She has studied on orchid mycorrhizal associations, mycoheterotrophy, seed germination ecology, orchid conservation and in vitro culture. Yuki's main project is on mycorrhizal associations between mycoheterotrophic orchids and leaf litter- and wood-decaying fungi, and she has published a review paper, "Evolutionary histories and mycorrhizal associations of mycoheterotrophic plants dependent on saprotrophic fungi" in 2021.
Abstract: Mycoheterotrophic orchids are leafless, achlorophyllous, and completely dependent on mycorrhizal fungi for their carbon supply. Most orchids are associated with three basidiomycete families: Tulasnellaceae, Serendipitaceae and Ceratobasidiaceae, but some mycoheterotrophic orchids are associated with wood-decaying fungi, such as Armillaria and Psathyrella. Such mycoheterotrophic orchids have often become large plants, and the largest mycoheterotrophic orchid, Erythrorchis altissima, reaches a stem length of 10 m. This giant mycoheterotroph is associated with a variety of wood-decaying fungi within the Plolyporales, Trechisporales and other orders. In this talk, I will present the unique mycorrhizal association and the interesting ecology of this species as revealed by our field research.
Elle Bowd, Australia
Dr. Elle Bowd is an ecologist and early-career research fellow at the Australian National University, Australia. Her research focuses on understanding the responses of biodiversity, including fungi, to fire, and anthropogenic disturbances. She works predominantly in Australian, eucalypt fire-prone forests, including the tallest angiosperm forests in the world – the Mountain Ash forests of Victoria. Dr Bowd has broad research interests including plant-soil-microbial associations and forest management and restoration. In her research, she aims to achieve cross-cultural outcomes by partnering with First Nations Peoples to co-design and deliver research projects. These include those that aim to support the restoration of cultural burning in grassy woodlands.
Abstract: Fungi are among the most ubiquitous and mega-diverse eukaryote communities across terrestrial ecosystems. They form critical associations with large and old trees from root tip to canopy leaf that vary across space and time, and with tree species. Fungi can interact with large and old trees through many unique pathways. These include those that form mutualistic relationships with trees to exchange resources, decompose organic materials, recycling mineral nutrients, or cause disease by feeding on living plant cells or killing them resulting in impaired function. In old trees, wood-decay fungi colonise central heartwood causing heart-rot and hollowing that provides vital habitat for biodiversity. Fungi underpin the lifecycle of large and old trees, from life to death standing tall, through various stages of decay, to eventual collapse, decomposition, and return of nutrients to the soil. While it is difficult to disentangle who selects whom, it is clear that fungi and old trees form inherently intimate and critical associations which generate functionally important features in old trees and support a myriad of biodiversity. In this talk I will explore the importance of fungi for large and old trees and vice-versa over multiple temporal and spatial scales.
Cherdchai Phosri, Thailand
Cherdchai Phori (CP) received a Royal Thai Government Scholarship and pursued his postgraduate studies at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), where he worked under the supervision of Professor Anthony Whalley and collaborated externally with Professor Roy Watling from the Royal Botanic Gardens. He completed his Ph.D. in 2004, with a thesis titled "The Characterization and Development of Tropical Gasteromycete Fungi in Ectomycorrhizal Associations," which was recognized by the Research Council of Thailand in 2009 as an exemplary work. His research laid the foundation for ongoing studies in Thailand and Southeast Asia and led to the creation of a dynamic research group at Pibulsongkram Rajabhat University (PSRU) in Phitsanulok, Thailand. CP has built strong international collaborations with prominent researchers from countries such as Estonia, Japan, Spain, the UK, and the USA. His research has resulted in numerous publications, including one in the journal Science, which highlighted the global diversity of soil fungi. CP later moved to Nakhon Phanom University (NPU), located along the Mekong River in northeastern Thailand, where he continued his research and established related academic programs. With over 20 years of experience in microbiology, CP's main research interests focus on the interactions between plants and the rhizosphere microbiome, with the aim of developing inocula for practical use in agriculture and forestry. His international reputation led to his appointment as the Dean of Science at NPU, where he is tasked with advancing science education in Thailand's upper northeast region, particularly in the Lower Mekong Basin (LMB).
Abstract: Fungi represent an incredibly diverse group of organisms with significant ecological, cultural, economic, medicinal, and biotechnological value. Found in almost every environment, fungi play essential roles in maintaining functional ecosystems. Their importance aligns closely with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030. This presentation will explore the current understanding of fungal diversity in northeastern Thailand. Where are these fungi found, and how are they distributed? Which species hold the most economic importance? How do fungi foster connections between people and nature? Moreover, how do they contribute to addressing global environmental and economic challenges, particularly in the context of the ongoing recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic? Drawing on decades of scientific research, I will share insights from our work to provide a comprehensive overview of these topics.
Yu-Cheng Dai, China
Dr Yu-Cheng Dai studied for Bachelor and Masters degrees in Agriculture at the Beijing Forestry University, and gained his PhD from the University of Helsinki, Finland in 1997. He continued there as a post doc until 2002, and was the then a professor at the Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences until 2013, followed by the School of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, China. His main research is in resources, diversity of wood-decaying fungi, fungal genetics, edible and medicinal fungi, forest pathology, fungal application in medicinal and industry. He has published extensively in scientific journals.
Abstract: The dynamically changing fungal species of world and China are summarized, new taxa published in the world and China are analyzed. Especially how many new fungal species have been reported each year from China are listed, Yunnan Province is the most rich area for Chinese fungi. Edible and medicinal mushrooms in China are discussed, plenty of photos on the cultivation of Chinese mushrooms are presented.
Ahmed M. Abdel-Azeem, Egypt
Ahmed is a professor of mycology in the Botany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, Suez Canal University in Egypt. He is the founder and president of Arab Society for Fungal Conservation, and executive Committee member of the International Mycological Association. He is a Founder member of International Society for Fungal Conservation, Member in European Mycological Association, and Member of the Mycological Society of America. Abdel-Azeem is the president of African Mycological Association (AfriMA) and he founded Egypt's National Fungus day, African Annual Fungus Day and many mycologists' networks like Egyptian, Iraqi, Algerian, Libyan and Pakistani networks. He is the founder of Pan Arab Mycologists. Abdel-Azeem has particular interest in the ecology, taxonomy, biology, secondary metabolites, endophytes and conservation of fungi and his specialist interest is members of the phylum Ascomycota. Abdel-Azeem has led more than 15 complex and ambitious local and international projects. He was awarded the President FungalL Conservation Award in 2013. He is a member of the IUCN Species Survival Commission Specialist Group for Cup Fungi, Truffles & their Allies. Also, he is a member of Fungal Conservation Committee (FunCC) of IUCN, He has published more than 110 research paper in international journals, 60 book chapters, and 12 books.
Abstract: The ancient Roman, Pliny the Elder wrote, “ex Africa semper aliquid novi” (“always something new from Africa”). His words are undoubtably true for this continent’s incredibly rich biodiversity. Human civilization began in Africa, and archaeology suggests that ancient civilization originated in Egypt. Through the rational improvement of new and existing fungal cell factories, fungal biotechnology has the potential to contribute significantly to climate change mitigation and the attainment of the United Nations' sustainable development objectives. The presentation will highlight the documented knowledge, uses, rituals and ethnomycological practices of fungi through the history and culture of African civilizations, from pre-colonial kingdoms and empires to modern political, economic, and social structures. The presentation emphasises the significant obstacles that might impede the economic progress and advancement of Africa, as well as the role and significance of African fungi in tackling these issues and establishing a sustainable green economy in Africa. The work will examine the fundamental concepts of general management and the many factors involved in sustaining this precious natural resource.
Deborah Louisa Narh Mensah, USA
Dr. Deborah L. Narh Mensah is a dedicated research scientist with over 15 years of experience in mycology. She has led and collaborated on numerous projects, contributing significantly to the advancement of applied and fundamental mycology and mushroom science, and published in top-tier, peer-reviewed journals. She obtained a PhD in Biotechnology from the University of Pretoria, where her work focused on genetics and genomics of secondary metabolism of Armillaria species. She has then worked as Senior Research Scientist at CSIR-Food Research Institute in Ghana. She is now beginning a prestigious postdoctoral research fellowship at Stanford University, focusing on climate change and genomics of ectomycorrhizal fungi. Dr. Narh Mensah is also actively involved in mentoring young researchers and remains dedicated to facilitating and participating in collaborative, interdisciplinary approaches to solving complex scientific challenges.
Abstract: Iron is an essential nutrient required for numerous functions in eukaryotes and most prokaryotes. However, it is often not readily bioavailable for these organisms, and an excess of iron can be toxic. To manage this, organisms have adopted various mechanisms to maintain iron balance. Investigating these mechanisms in specific organisms involves employing a range of techniques, which can provide valuable insights into how organisms adapt and thrive under different biotic and abiotic conditions. These insights can be applied in developing effective control strategies against pathogenic fungi and harnessing these mechanisms for use in agriculture, forestry, bioremediation, and medicine, contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. This talk will focus on how methods such as genetics, comparative genomics, and proteomics have been utilized to understand some of the molecular mechanisms for iron homeostasis in the ubiquitous plant-pathogenic Basidiomycete, Armillaria. Additionally, future research perspectives in this field will be outlined.
Jacob Heilmann-Clausen, Denmark
Jacob Heilmann-Clausen did his PhD at the University of Copenhagen, focusing on the biodiversity and conservation of wood-inhabiting fungi in temperate forests based on. Since then he has worked on various projects in the interface between nature management, mycology and citizen science, both as a consultant and as a researcher. In his current position, he works with the restoration of forest biodiversity and more overall on how we can set goals for and monitor progress in restoration projects that allow nature to develop dynamic. Besides, he has been leading the Danish fungal Atlas since 2014, and is currently the project coordinator of the Biodiversa+ project FunDive (https://fun-dive.eu/), which aim to combine barcoding, metabarcoding and citizen science to provide updated tools for mapping and monitoring of fungal biodiversity in Europe.
Abstract: Even before the concept “Citizen science” was formalised, the collaboration between professional and amateur mycologists was crucial in improving our understanding of fungal biodiversity. Denmark is no exception, and since 2005 citizen scientists have been able to add their fungal records to an online database, known as the Danish Fungal Atlas, and currently boosting more than 1 million fungal records (https://svampe.databasen.org). In this talk, I will show how the knowledge collected via the project has been used in research and nature management, and how we have added AI based picture recognition and barcoding as tools to boost our efforts in mapping fungal biodiversity in Denmark. In addition, I will, based on ongoing collaborations in the Biodiversa+ project FunDive, provide a perspective on how fungal citizen science can be further expanded to answer pressing questions on fungal biodiversity with a global scope.
Elaine Bignell, UK
Elaine Bignell is Professor of Medical Mycology and Co-Director for the MRC Centre for Medical Mycology (MRC CMM) at the University of Exeter. She studied Biochemistry at the University of East Anglia and completed a PhD in Fungal Genetics at Imperial College London in 2000. She later relocated to Manchester as a Co-Founder of the Manchester Fungal Infection Group (2013-2020) before moving to Exeter in 2020. Her work addresses the mechanistic basis of lung diseases caused by the major mould pathogen of humans, Aspergillus fumigatus. Major interests are the role of Aspergillus pH sensing in pathogenicity, transcriptional regulation of host adaptation, and the mechanistic basis of tissue invasion during invasive fungal lung disease. Elaine is also the current President of the British Mycological Society.
Abstract: A handful of fungi are capable of causing lethal disease in man, but we do not have many antifungal drugs, and those we currently rely upon are increasingly threatened by the problem of antifungal drug resistance.
How have some fungi become capable of killing humans? And how can a better understanding of their incredible biology help us to navigate the complex challenge of finding life-saving new drugs and protecting the ones we already have?
Matthew Kasson, USA
Dr. Matt Kasson is an Associate Professor Mycology and Forest Pathology at West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia, USA. His lab’s research focuses on fungal diseases of trees and woody plants, fungus-arthropod interactions, and fungal biological control of invasive plants, pests, and pathogens while teaching courses in general plant pathology, general microbiology, and forest pest management.
Abstract: Entomopathogenic fungi overwhelm and consume various arthropods. From Arthrophaga to Zoopthora, there are diverse generalist and specialist fungi that feed on spiders, millipedes, and insects among others. More than 90% of all fungi remain undescribed, including a vast majority of entomopathogenic fungi. Beyond arthropods, these fungi thrive unexpectedly in plants as endophytes, as free-living soil saprotrophs, and domesticated as obligate insect mutualists. Obligate parasitic fungi that infect and modify the behavior of their hosts in novel ways are among the most understudied groups of fungi. Our inability to cultivate them in the lab coupled with their unexpected genomic quirks has stymied their investigation and delayed some of the most remarkable discoveries across the entire fungal kingdom.
Robert Blanchette, USA
Robert (Bob) Blanchette is a professor in the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of Minnesota where he teaches classes and carries out research on the biology and ecology of fungi that grow on and attack trees and wood. He has studied fungi from Minnesota’s temperate forests to the rainforests of the Amazon and tropical forests of Asia as well as many investigations on fungi in the Arctic and Antarctic. A few current research projects include the use of fungi to control invasive insect and plant species such as the emerald ash borer using entomopathogens and buckthorn using canker, wilt and root rot fungi. He also has been involved with many ethnomycological investigations to understand better how Indigenous People from different parts of the world used forest fungi in the past.
Abstract: The presentation will provide an overview of historical uses of forest fungi with a focus on fungi used by Indigenous People of North America and other regions of the world. It will include Agarikon (Laricifomes officinalis), the sacred mushroom of the Plains Indians (Haploporus), fungi producing pigments (Echinodontium and Chlorociboria) and others. The use of the laccate Ganoderma Lingzhi/Reishi in Asia will also be discussed and how this majestic fungus attracted the attention and admiration of emperors and shamans over hundreds of years. To get this information, natural history museum collections and other museums were searched for fungi and collection notes that accompanied them. Museum curators and conservators were instrumental in helping to find many of the examples that will be discussed. This includes fungal objects from the Peabody Museum at Harvard, American Museum of Natural History in New York, the Smithsonian Museums in Washington DC, Canadian Museum of History in Ottawa, the Palace Museum in Beijing, China and many others.
Patricia Velez, USA
Dr. Velez earned her B.S. (2008), M.S. (2010), and Ph.D. (2014) degrees in Biological Sciences from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) for her work on marine fungi. Next, she performed two postdoctoral stays at the UNAM and the CICESE studying molecular ecology of freshwater and deep-sea fungi respectively. Now, she is a faculty member (Research Professor) at the Institute of Biology, UNAM where her work aims to explore the diversity, ecology and potential utilization of fungal communities, particularly in marine ecosystems. She teaches courses on Molecular Ecology of Microbial Communities and Taxonomy and Conservation in the Graduate School of Biological Sciences at the UNAM, and has mentored more than 20 graduate and undergraduate students in diverse topics of mycology. Presently, she serves as a member of the IUCN Specialist Group on Aquatic Fungi.
Abstract: Since the first fungus documented from an oceanic sample in Mexico in 1984, the formal investigation of deep-sea biomes developed until the early XXI. These exploration efforts have reached deep-sea plains, hydrothermal vents, and oxygen minimum zones, revealing an extraordinary taxonomic and functional diversity characterized by the occurrence of abundant, widely distributed, uncultured phylotypes that remain to be described. In addition, fungal isolates obtained from deep-sea samples have been proposed as valuable elements for the bioremediation of marine oil spills, as they have demonstrated the ability to metabolize aliphatic hydrocarbons and extra-heavy crude oil. Despite incipient advances, a lot of work remains to be done to conclude on fungal diversity figures and ecological roles in the deep-sea.
Michael van Nuland
Dr. Michael Van Nuland is the lead data scientist at SPUN (Society for the Protection of Underground Networks, www.spun.earth). He is an ecologist and evolutionary biologist broadly interested in the connections between microbes, plants, and ecosystems. He combines data science approaches with large-scale observations, controlled experiments, and molecular sequencing to explore how plant-fungal interactions shape species distributions and broad ecological patterns. Recently, his research explores underground biodiversity threats to help identify specific areas for the conservation and restoration of mycorrhizal fungi.
Abstract: Symbiotic mycorrhizal fungi help regulate the Earth’s soil biogeochemical cycles and aboveground vegetation patterns. These fungi form nutritional symbioses with most plant species, building extensive underground hyphal networks that can comprise over 30% of the living biomass of soils. However, the global distribution of mycorrhizal fungal biodiversity is largely unknown. Unlike plants and animals, we do not know where the most diverse or rare mycorrhizal fungal communities are located. This limits our ability to monitor and protect key underground ecosystems as they face increasing pressures from climate change and habitat loss. Here, I outline the research approaches SPUN is developing to visualize this previously unidentified and hidden element of Earth’s biodiversity, including initial findings of the most diverse, rare, and threatened mycorrhizal fungal hotspots.