Volume 1, Issue 4 Date‐released: March 20, 2016 News reports - A Tribute to Dr. Chang, by Mark Wach - The Third Sichuan (Jintang) Edible Mushroom Fair - In Memory of Professor Gastón Guzmán (1932‐2016), by Solomon P. Wasser Up‐coming events - The 19th ISMS Congress - First Circular of the 9th International Medicinal Mushrooms Conference Research progress Points and Reviews - Problems and Challenges Regarding Ganoderma Products and Why Ganoderma Products Contain Starch. Proceedings of the First Chinese Ganoderma Conference 2015. Keynote Speaker: Professor Shu‐Ting Chang - The Role of Culinary ‐ Medicinal Mushrooms on Human Welfare with a Pyramid Model for Human Health (Part IV), by Shu Ting Chang and Solomon P. Wasser Call for Papers Contact information Issue Editor‐ Mr. Ziqiang Liu [email protected] Department of Edible Mushrooms, CFNA, 4/ F, Talent International Building No. 80 Guangqumennei Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing 10062, China News Reports A Tribute to Dr. Chang by Mark Wach The mushroom industry meeting calendar seems to fill up quickly, with so many worthwhile opportunities to meet with fellow scientists and industry professionals. In August, there is the Symposium on Edible Mushroom in Brazil, in September the Annual Mushroom Short Course offered by Penn State University in the USA, in November the Chinese Mushroom Day will again be held in Zhangzhou and we are all looking forward to Mushroom Week 2016. But this September, there will be a special meeting honoring a member of our industry, which I will take time to attend and which I believe is worth mentioning. Professor S.T. Chang was a key member of the ISMS ExCom for many years, and is an Honorary Lifetime member of our Society. With the help of such industry visionaries as Australia’s Mr. Marsh Lawson, Chang opened up China’s mushroom industry to the world and helped us become acquainted with what we affectionately still refer to as the “exotic” mushroom, also known as Shiitake and Oyster and Straw Paddy. The book he co‐edited with Dr. Fred Hayes, “The Biology and Cultivation of Edible Mushrooms” remains a key reference in most mushroom libraries today. He promoted the concept, long held in Asian countries, which spoke of the medicinal value of mushroom, long before we had studied the complex molecules found in them, such as branched beta glucans, triterpenes and aromatase inhibitors. Perhaps most importantly, he recognized that mushrooms could be used as a means of feeding populations that might otherwise struggle to survive. He traveled the world teaching others that mushrooms were a means by which communities could convert agricultural wastes using simple technologies, into higher value products that could create jobs, generate income and feed families. Titled the “International Seminar of Dr. S. T. Chang’s Academic Thoughts”, and hosted by his many colleagues in Shanghai, the meeting has been organized on the occasion of Chang’s 85th birthday, and celebrates the achievements of a man who has spent a career integrating mushrooms into the fiber of our society. The seminar intends to gather some of his colleagues from around the world, to review, discuss and expand on the areas of mushroom biology that have been the foundation of his storied career. As an industry we are indebted to Dr. S. T. Chang, for all that he has done to promote the value of our industry throughout the world, and I hope you will join me in wishing him a Happy 85th Birthday. From Mushroom Business, September 2015 edition 72 The Third Sichuan (Jintang) Edible Mushroom Fair As we know, Sichuan, a province in southwest of China is a traditional but important province in mushroom cultivation. There has been an increasing huge demand of edible mushroom consumption in this region. To fulfill the aim to serve the development of the national edible mushroom industry, the department of edible mushrooms, CFNA organized the Third Sichuan (Jintang) Edible Mushroom Fair at Jintang Hengda Hotel, Chengdu, Sichuan in March 2016. The fair featured three event parts, including annual meeting of the department of edible mushrooms, CFNA, the conference, and an exhibition of new developed mechanical equipment and technologies for edible mushroom industry. This 3‐day event offered a more spacious and comprehensive communication platform for people from academic institutions, local government, business companies and industry organizations, and thus creating big business opportunities. 23 famous scholars and 15 businessmen, from more than 50 universities, companies or research institutions, were invited to deliver their outstanding and promising points upon the development of the local traditional mushroom industries. More than 80 exhibitors from the mushroom industrial cultivation and equipment also jointed the fair. This fair attracted more than 6000 audiences and visitors in total. Event highlights The opening ceremony was held on 12 March morning, with the honourable Professor Yu Li, Chair of the International Society for Medicinal Mushrooms, member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Professor Jixia Zhang, Chief scientist of the Chinese national 863 and 973 projects, Professor Qi Tan, Chair of the World society for mushroom biology and mushroom products, as the Guests of Honour. Several scientific seminars and industrial forums were organized for the conference section to provide the most up‐to‐date technology intelligence and market points of view. They covered a wide range of topics such as development and opportunities of traditional mushroom industry in west of China, industrialized cultivation of the precious rare edible fungi and development of relevant products for leisure and health cultivation, developed bag‐cultivation technologies and artificial cultivation technology for Morel mushrooms. At the meantime, the 4th international workshop of management and technology for Agricus bisporus cultivation was also organized by L. F. Lambert Spawn Company, Ltd. and the department of edible mushrooms, CFNA. This fair was successfully held after the closing ceremony on the 14, March. Looking Forward Scientist, businessmen, politicians from the whole country again gathered in Jintang to exchange in their views on advanced technology, industry management, politic support and products marketing. All the information delivered and agreements achieved were expected to be of positive promotion on closing much more business deals for industry in the emerging global mushroom market in the future. For additional information about the fair, please contact: Mr. Ziqiang Liu Tel: +86‐10‐8710‐9859, +86‐10‐8710‐9860 Fax: +86‐10‐8710‐9861 E‐mail: [email protected] Or join online communication through QQ or Wechat QQ chat Group number“155950788” Wechat group account“lzqynkm8” In Memory of Professor Gastón Guzmán (1932‐2016)* by Solomon P. Wasser Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Biology and Institute of Evolution, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Haifa, 199 Aba Khoushy Ave., Mount Carmel, Haifa, 3498838, Israel, [email protected] On January 12, 2016, Professor Gastón Guzmán has passed away… One can say without a doubt that Latin America has lost its greatest mycologist. I personally knew Professor Guzmán for many years. He was truly a great man admired by all who came to know him. I had just met with him last August at the 8th IMMC in Manizales, where I had a pleasure to congratulate him with his birthday. Professor Guzmán was an outstanding scientific specialist in various aspects of mycology, including taxonomy, biodiversity, ecology, geography, ethnomycology, medicinal value of mushrooms, and he was respected worldwide. Gastón Guzmán was born on August 26, 1932, in the city of Xalapa, Mexico. In 1951, he started his studies in biology at the National School of Biological Sciences, National Polytechnic Institute in Mexico City. His interest in mycology began in 1955, as a graduate student, he decided to update the poorly maintained collection of fungi of the National Polytechnic Institute. During his first field work in the forests near Mexico City he found a myriad of species about which little was known at the time. This inspired him to declare mushrooms as the topic of his thesis and vowed to someday write a book on Mexican mushrooms. *In 2006, a special issue dedicated to G. Guzmán 50 years of mycological studies was published (International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms, 2006, 6 (3):201‐213), it included his list of publications. In 2012, on his 80th jubilee an article devoted to G. Guzmán was published (International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms, 2012, 14 (5):529‐534), where the list of publications from 2006 to 2012 was presented. Thus, here we include only publications of G. Guzmán after 2012. In 1956, Guzmán met Dr. T. Herrera of the Institute of Biology of the National University of Mexico, the only mycologist at that time specializing in the macromycetes of Mexico. He formed a fruitful friendship with Dr. Herrera, which resulted in getting the field of mycology in Mexico up and running. In 1968, they founded the Mexican Society of Mycology, with Guzmán as Editor of the Society’s bulletin, and later, the Society’s journal for 20 years. In 1957, after reading R. Gordon Wasson's article "Seeking the Magic Mushroom", Gastón Guzmán was invited to go on an expedition to study neurotropic fungi in the Huautla de Jimenez region, as an assistant to the most famous agaricologist of the second half of the 20th century – Professor Rolf Singer (USA). As Guzmán has rightly said, Professor R. Singer was his first teacher of mycology, especially when it comes to Agaricales s.l. On the last day of the expedition he met R. Gordon Wasson (USA), a world leader in the study of ethnomycology. This chance meeting resulted in a close friendship between the two men which lasted for over 30 years. Also, years later in that time, Guzmán met Professor Roger Heim from Paris, who was in Mexico with Wasson and Herrera studying the neurotropic fungi.