Supplement to Mycologia Vol. 57(4) August 2006 Newsletter of the Mycological Society of America — In This Issue — Systematic Botany & Mycology Laboratory: Home of the U.S. National Fungus Collections Systematic Botany & Mycology Laboratory: Home By Amy Rossman of the U.S. National Fungus At present the USDA Agricultural Research Service’ Systematic Collections . 1 Botany and Mycology Laboratory (SBML) in Beltsville, Maryland, serves Myxomycetes (True Slime as the research base for five systematic mycologists plus two plant-quar- Molds): Educational Sources antine mycologists. The SBML is also the organization that maintains the for Students and Teachers U.S. National Fungus Collections with databases about plant-associated Part II . 4 fungi. The direction of the research and extent of the fungal databases has changed over the past two decades in order to meet the needs of U.S. agri- MSA Business . 6 culture. This invited feature article will present an overview of the U.S. MSA Abstracts . 11 National Fungus Collections, the world’s largest fungus collection, and associated databases and interactive keys available at the Web site and re- Mycological News . 41 view the research conducted by mycologists currently at SBML. Mycologist’s Bookshelf . 44 Essential to the needs of scientists at SBML and available to scientists worldwide are the mycological resources maintained at SBML. Primary Mycological Classifieds . 49 among these are the one-million specimens in the U.S. National Fungus Calender of Events . 50 Collections. Collections Manager Erin McCray ensures that these speci- mens are well-maintained and can be obtained on loan for research proj- Mycology On-Line . 51 ects. Data associated with the specimens are available on the Internet so Sustaining Members . 53 that researchers can order exactly the specimens needed. Recent data ad- ditions include specimen data for the Agaricales as well as the type, rust, smut, ascomycete, and asexual fungal specimens from Pennsylvania State — Important Dates — University collections, which are now part of the U.S. National Fungus August 15 Deadline: Collections. Inoculum 57(5) Mycological Resources A number of database resources primarily on plant-associated fungi August 21-26, 2006: are available to mycologists through the SBML Web site 8th International (www.ars.usda.gov/ba/psi/sbml). One of these is the database of fungi re- Mycological Congress, ported on plants worldwide in the literature. Following the completion of Cairns, Australia Continued on following page Please send the editor notices about upcoming important events. Editor — Richard E. Baird Entomology and Plant Pathology Dept. Box 9655 Mississippi State University Mississippi State, MS 39762 Telephone: (662) 325-9661 Fax: (662) 325-8955 Email: [email protected] MSA Homepage: http://msafungi.org Lisa Castlebury First row: Tee Yerby, Misha Sogonov, Cindy Park, Jim Cohen, Erin McCray. Second row: Jose Hernandez, Mary Palm, David Farr, Carole Ritchie, Jelia Tarrent, Lisa Castlebury, Amy Rossman, Priscila Chaverri. Third row: Adnan Ismaiel, John Wiersema, Gary Samuels, Joe Kirkbride, Cathie Aime, Aimee Hyten, John McKemy. the project on Fungi on Plants and Plant Products in the the US in 2004. These keys are linked to the databases so U.S., the SBML was asked to create a similar project for the that, for example, as one identifies a species of Nectria in the world! When the laughter died down, we decided to at least key to the hypocrealean fungi of the southeastern United attempt to provide these data and have gleaned the literature States, one can click on the host-fungus databases to reveal both past and recent for reports of the fungi on plants. At the host range and geographic distribution of that species as present these reports exceed 600,000 and, as such, are ex- well as accurate nomenclature, specimens in the U.S. Na- tremely useful for finding the host range and distribution of tional Fungus Collections, and recent literature. plant-associated fungi. In addition, a continuously updated Gary Samuels’s specialty is the systematics of fungi database to the literature for the identification of plant path- used in biological control. Most recently he has tackled the ogenic fungi is available. All names of fungi are included in difficult genus Trichoderma and its sexual state Hypocrea. the list based on the Saccardo index combined with Index He has published several monographs of sections of Fungorum. Used in combination, these databases are very Hypocrea-Trichoderma and is continuously uncovering new useful for determining the host range and geographic distri- species. These studies have linked numerous Hypocrea states bution of plant-associated fungi. A tool called “Quick with their Trichoderma anamorphs. Gary’s research has been Search” allows all databases to be searched at once. As some embraced by those working with cacao because several can appreciate, the impediment to synthesizing these data is newly discovered species of Trichoderma are effective in the complex nomenclature of fungi. With funds partially controlling cacao diseases. These plant pathologists recog- contributed from APHIS, research associate Erica Cline up- nize the importance of using well-defined and characterized dates the nomenclature of fungi and has, for example, updat- species as biocontrol agents. ed the nomenclature for Phoma based on the recent mono- M. Catherine Aime joined the group at Beltsville to graph and has started to tackle Phytophthora. work on the systematics of rust fungi. Collaborating exten- Systematic Mycologists sively, she has collected and obtained rust fungi from Each of the five systematic mycologists at the SBML is throughout the world for an overview of phylogeny of rust an expert in a different group of fungi and conducts research fungi. This phylogeny has proven useful in responding to on peer-reviewed projects planned on a five-year cycle. outbreaks of new rust fungi in the United States, most re- David Farr conducts research on the Diaporthales and other cently on Rubus in Oregon where the rust fungus being con- agriculturally important fungi but also develops and main- sidered as a potential control agent for the invasive blackber- tains the databases of plant-associated fungi mentioned ry plant was found to exist there already. Postdoctoral above. The database framework for interactive keys was de- associate Daniel Henk works with Cathie to explore the mo- veloped by Dave, and in collaboration with Erin and SBML lecular biology of virulence in the bean rust fungus, scientists, keys to a number of fungal groups have been de- Uromyces appendiculatus. veloped. Interactive keys to Hypomyces, Trichoderma, Because of her background in tropical agarics one of hypocrealean fungi of the southeastern US, Tilletia, and the Cathie’s projects has been to study the biology and relation- rust genus Ravenelia complete with descriptions and illustra- ships of the two most serious pathogens of cacao (chocolate) tions are now available. An interactive key to the rust fungi in the western hemisphere. One causes witches’ broom of that occur on legumes in or near the United States was de- cacao in South America producing a mushroom fruiting veloped as a consequence of the discovery of soybean rust in Continued on following page 2 Inoculum 57(4), August 2006 body while the other causes frosty pod rot of cacao in South and Central America. Cathie has demonstrated that these pathogens are congeneric members of the Marasmiaceae. Knowing the close relationships of these pathogens is essen- tial for those seeking control strategies and resistant germplasm against these diseases. Cathie is now working to elucidate aspects of the biology of the frosty pod rot pathogen, as well as collaborating with other ARS and inter- national scientists to identify endophytes of cacao and cof- fee, in hopes that some of these may have potential as bio- control agents of disease for these tropical crops. Lisa Castlebury serves as the expert on smut fungi at SBML. She initially came to Beltsville in response to the cri- sis of Karnal bunt of wheat and has specialized in the sys- tematics of bunt fungi, Tilletia spp. Although the Karnal bunt crisis has passed, Lisa responded to an incident last year in which Algeria alleged that Tilletia indica, cause of Karnal bunt, occurred in a shipment of wheat from Minnesota and North Dakota. Lisa flew to Algeria and was met by officials from the US State Department and the USDA Agricultural Attache´. She consulted with their scientists and diplomati- cally explained the intricacies of differentiating teliospores of T. indica from other look-a-like fungi. Lisa continues to explore the relationships of species of Tilletia especially on cereal and turf grass crops. In addition to working with bunt fungi, Lisa collaborates with Amy and Dave on the systematics of the Diaporthales with emphasis on Diaporthe and its anamorph Phomopsis. Following receipt of a PEET grant with co-P.I. Jim White at Rutgers University, and Amy and Lisa supervise postdoc Mikhail (Misha) Sogonov tackling the very large genus Mary Palm Gnomonia and graduate student Luis Mejia working on the genus Cryptosporella. Other projects have involved various Amy Rossman serves as the Research Leader of the SBML hypocrealean fungi such as species of Neonectria causing and Director of the U.S. National Fungus Collections. Although beech bark canker and Stachybotrys and Myrothecium, drawn back to the Hypocreales on occasion, she has migrated to which form a new lineage in the Hypocreales, and lots of research on the Diaporthales obtaining and isolating any and all miscellaneous plant-associated fungi. specimens in that order. Working with Lisa these isolates have served as the basis for an evolving phyloge- netic overview with an increasing number of families to be recognized in the order. In addi- tion Amy provides the morphological aspects from projects on the Diaporthales, Hypocre- ales, and anamorphic fungi and is a co-P.I.