Book of Abstracts (PDF) - International Mycological Association

IMC7 Monday August 12th Lectures
our definition of what is a marine fungus and to look
forward as to future studies in marine mycology.
58 - A curmudgeon's view of priorities and economics
R.P. Korf
Cornell University, Dept. Plant Pathology, Plant Science
Bldg., Ithaca, NY 14853, U.S.A. - E-mail:
RPK1@cornell.edu
The noun curmudgeon is defined and used here in two, not
necessarily exclusive, ways: n. 1. archaic: a crusty, illtempered,
churlish old man. 2. modern: (i) anyone who
hates hypocrisy and pretense and has the temerity to say so;
(ii) anyone with the habit of pointing out unpleasant facts
in an engaging and humorous manner. The presenter's
theses are that we have nearly all of our priorities
backwards, that monetary and not scientific ends drive
many of our research efforts, and that misjudgment
frequently drives the rest. Topics to be addressed are (1)
Where We Stand in Inoperculate Discomycete Systematics;
(2) Asking the Wrong Questions; (3) Money, and the
Failure of Universities: Grant Writing; (4) Milking the
Grant Agencies; (5) Alpha Taxonomy Remains our
Primary Necessity; (6) Training Students: How Did We Go
So Wrong? (7) Journals, Proliferation and Blatant Errors in
Judgement: Choosing Between Tree-Destruction and the
www; (8) A View of the Future: the Presenter Exposed as a
Crypto-Optimist.
59 - Anamorphs - teleomorphs and the disparity of
sampling
D.H. Pfister
Harvard University Herbaria, 22 Divinity Ave.,
Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A. - E-mail:
dpfister@oeb.harvard.edu
Nannfeldt published his magnificent treatment of the
Leotiales, one of the largest orders of Ascomycota, 70
years ago and today it still provides the clearest and most
comprehensive view that we have of the classification of
the inopcerculate discomycetes. Prior to his study the
literature on these fungi was scattered and family
delimitations were unclear. Nannfeldt 1932 system has
been nearly universally followed with minor modifications,
most notably the recognition of a few, generally, small
segregate families such as the Hemiphacidiaceae,
Vibrisseaceae, Loramycetaceae, Sclerotiniaceae and
Rutstroemiaceae. These families were segregated based on
ascomatal morphology, anamorph differences and, in the
case of the Rutstroemiaceae, by a combination of
morphological features and molecular phylogenetic data.
The intent of this paper is to review current knowledge of
helotialean anamorphs and the life history data. The
notable situation of the families Dermateaceae and
Leotiaceae/Helotiaceae, which remain problematic and
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Book of Abstracts
largely unsampled in molecular phylogenetic data sets, will
be discussed. The need for detailed biological studies of
these fungi is of paramount importance in developing a
reliable and predictive classification for this large and
important group.
60 - Neotropical discomycetes: Where do we stand and
where do we want to go in systematics and biodiversity
research?
T. Iturriaga
Universidad Simón Bolívar, Dpto. Biología Organismos,
Aptdo. 89000, Sartenejas, Baruta, Edo. Miranda,
Venezuela. - E-mail: titurri@usb.ve
This talk will present an overview regarding the last 70
years of knowledge about neotropical Discomycetes. Areas
to be discussed include the principal Discomycete
collectors in the neotropics in this period, as well as
numbers of publications dealing with neotropical
Discomycetes in major journals and congress presentations.
Knowledge of the total numbers of Discomycetes for some
neotropical areas will be compared with other groups of
fungi from the same geographical regions. A major
contributor towards neotropical Discomycetes knowledge
since 1949, date of his first expedition to Venezuela, is R.
W. G. Dennis. In his famous and widely used 'Fungus Flora
of Venezuela and Adjacent Countries' (Dennis, 1970), he
treated 161 species of Discomycetes. Other mentors of this
group of fungi, as well as their dedication and relevance to
the area, will be presented. Advantages and disadvantages
of conducting research on neotropical Discomycetes will
be discussed in the sense of research funding possibilities
and the consequences that these fund restrictions have had
on Discomycetes knowledge. A correlation between the
number of Discomycete collections and areas where these
have been made, in comparison with publications resulting
from these studies, will be analyzed. Based on
achievements over the last 70 years, a general overview
and recommendations of the paths to be followed in the
future will be discussed.
61 - Molecular diversity and phylogenetic affinities of
mycorrhizal and root-endophytic fungi of the Helotiales
T. Vrålstad * , E. Myhre & T. Schumacher
Div. of Botany and Plant Physiology, Dept. of Biology,
University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1045 Blindern, 0316 Oslo,
Norway. - E-mail: trudevr@ulrik.uio.no
Teleomorphic species of the ascomycete order Helotiales
are abundant in nature, and range from hardly visible to
some more prominent representatives. However, a number
of asexual or sterile root symbiotic (endophyic, ericoid
mycorrhizal and ectomycorrhizal) fungi have proven to
belong to the Helotiales, yet their taxonomy, phylogeny
and ecological roles are largely unresolved. We have