Supplement to Mycologia Vol. 57(6) December 2006 Newsletter of the Mycological Society of America — In This Issue — Center for Forest Mycology Research: Biosystematics and Ecology Center for Forest Mycology Research: Biosystematics of Wood-Inhabiting Fungi and Ecology of Wood- By Jessie Micales Glaeser Inhabiting Fungi . 1 The Center for Forest Mycology Research (CFMR) at the MSA Business . 4 Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, WI is one of the few re- maining mycological research labs left in the USDA-Forest Ser- Mycological News . 6 vice. Traditionally established to study the taxonomy of patho- genic root rot, sap-rot, and heart-rot fungi, the group has changed Mycologist’s Bookshelf . 8 its focus in recent years towards the biosystematics and ecology Mycological Classifieds . 14 of both pathogenic and saprophytic genera associated with wood. Current biosystematic studies include basic research on corti- Mycology On-Line . 17 cioid and polypore genera and tropical ectomycorhizal boletes. Ecological studies include biodiversity surveys for baseline in- Calender of Events . 17 formation on invasive species distribution and the role of wood- inhabiting fungi in forest health and fire prevention. Sustaining Members . 19 Mycological Resources: The CFMR culture collection and herbarium are important resources for anyone interested in inva- sive species and other aspects of wood decay research. The cul- — Important Dates — ture collection contains approximately 15,000 living cultures, primarily of brown- and white-rot wood decay fungi. The “work- December 10 Deadline: ing” set of cultures is maintained at 4o C in sterile, distilled water, Inoculum 58(1) as described by Burdsall and Dorworth, 19941. Liquid nitrogen is August 4-9, 2007: used for long-term storage. The herbarium contains approxi- MSA Meeting mately 80,000 dried specimens, including many type specimens. Louisiana State University Both collections are important resources for researchers interest- Baton Rouge, Louisiana ed in the identification, genetics, and distribution of wood-in- habiting fungi. Please send the editor CFMR researchers are also developing a DNA sequence notices about upcoming important events. database of wood-inhabiting species by sequencing known cul- tures and herbarium specimens. Large gaps still exist in the cur- rent databases for many wood-inhabiting fungi, but identification of cultures by DNA sequencing is becoming a more routine pro- Editor — Richard E. Baird cedure. New technologies for obtaining fungal DNA directly Entomology and Plant Pathology Dept. from wood without an intermediate culturing step are also being Box 9655 developed. Mississippi State University A searchable catalog of the culture collection is available on Mississippi State, MS 39762 the Internet at www.fpl.fs.fed.us/rwu4501/culture-collection. Telephone: (662) 325-9661 Fax: (662) 325-8955 html. A searchable database of the herbarium specimens and the Email: [email protected] DNA sequence library will be available on the Internet in 2007. CFMR Mycologists: Jessie Micales Glaeser became the Pro- MSA Homepage: ject Leader for CFMR in 1998. Jessie is a member of the Wood http://msafungi.org Continued on following page Import and Pest Risk tis. She continues to identify specimens collected Assessment and Miti- with Jean Lodge from Puerto Rico, the Virgin Is- gation Evaluation lands, Jamaica, and Belize. Her current projects in- Team, a group of U.S. clude a systematic study of Resinicium sensu lato and Forest Service patholo- the Phlebia queletii species complex. gists and entomologists Dan Lindner (formerly Czederpiltz) is interest- who develop Pest Risk ed in studying how changes in wood-inhabiting fun- Assessments (PRAs) gal communities can affect decay rates in wood, and for the USDA Animal how these changes can affect larger ecosystem and Plant Health In- processes. In order to investigate the wood-inhabiting spection Service. She fungal community directly, Dan has been working on has participated in molecular methods that can be used to detect and PRAs on the importa- identify fungi from decay samples. His current proj- tion of Eucalyptus and Jessie Glaeser on alert for ects include a study to determine the effects of mor- Pinus species from bears and brown rot in tality agent (beetle-kill vs. wind-throw) on the decay Australia to the United Alaska. rate of Lutz spruce on the Kenai Peninsula of Alaska. States, and spent three For this project, three different sampling methods are weeks with the team traveling throughout southeastern being compared: direct Australia, visiting forests, sawmills, and chip piles. extraction of fungal Jessie is also interested in wood decay fungi and their DNA from wood sam- efficiency of decay for reducing fire hazard in the ples, traditional cultur- western U.S. and Alaska. She initially started a small al techniques, and sur- project in 2003 with USFS State and Private Forestry veys of fruiting bodies. pathologist Lori Trummer to examine the distribution The fungal community of decay fungi in beetle-killed spruce on the Kenai is being sampled from Peninsula. This study has turned into a major research logs in various decay effort, led by Dan Lindner. Jessie is also involved in stages to determine developing EPA-approved fungicide treatments for how specific mortality mold prevention in buildings and on construction ma- agents affect the terials and is looking forward to starting some new amount of time a log biosystematic studies on polypores in 2007. will remain a fire haz- Karen Nakasone works on the systematics of ard. In addition to Dan Lindner in Belize. corticioid fungi employing morphological and DNA studying wood-inhab- sequencing methods. iting fungal communities, Dan is also interested in Her primary focus is in the systematics of wood-decay basidiomycetes, espe- Phlebia, Phane- cially clampless brown-rot fungi. A current project is rochaete and related to study the phylogeny of North American Laetiporus genera in the Polypo- species. Dan is also interested in general studies of rales but is branching fungal biodiversity, and he has been developing sta- out into Veluticeps, tistical models and software for the comparison of Resinicium (Hy- species accumulation curves and diversity data. In menochaetales), and addition to studying wood-decay fungi, Dan conducts Dendrothele. A recur- surveys of ectomycorrhizal fruiting bodies in Min- ring interest in corti- nesota to investigate the relationship between the coid species with spin- fungal community and forest habitat type on man- ose hymenophores has aged lands. He has also done survey work in northern led Karen to examine Wisconsin to characterize the ectomycorrhizal com- type specimens de- munity found on aspen root tips, and has done some scribed by Patoulliard, survey work with wood-inhabiting fungi in Belize. Bresadola, Schweinitz Karen Nakasone examin- ing corticioid fungi. and Berkeley and Cur- Continued on following page 2 Inoculum 57(6), December 2006 Beatriz Ortiz- Service in 2001, but continues to share his expertise Santana is in the final as a volunteer when not training and riding his mules phases of her Ph.D. on his farm in Black Earth, WI. He is also busy with dissertation with Dr. his consulting business, Fungal & Decay Diagnostics, D. Jean Lodge at the LLC, and continues to do research on the biosystem- Sabana Field Station in atics and biodiversity of boreal and subantarctic fungi. the Luquillo National Hal’s most recent project is identifying the specimens Forest of Puerto Rico made on a collecting trip to New Zealand in 2005. and Dr. Tim Baroni at CFMR Support Staff: Mark Banik is a Profes- SUNY. For the past sional Support Microbiologist who did much of the five years, Beatriz has preliminary work on the genus Laetiporus. Mark is studied the ectomycor- heavily involved with the Alaska spruce project and rhizal Boletales associ- the aspen root tip study. Rita Rentmeester is the Cu- Beatriz Ortiz-Santana look- ated with pines in the ing for boletes in Belize. rator of the CFMR Culture Collection and sends cul- Dominican Republic tures around the world upon request. Anyone wishing (Greater Antilles), and to obtain cultures from the CFMR collection should pines and oaks in Belize (Central America). The main contact Rita at rrent- goal of her study is to determine the diversity of bo- [email protected]. letes in the Caribbean basin region, which is poorly John Haight is a Bio- known since there have been no previous studies of logical Research Tech- these fungi in those countries. She will also deter- nician who routinely mine whether there are any phylogenetic and biogeo- works with Karen and graphic relationships between these tropical boletes Beatriz on their biosys- and the North American species. tematics studies. John From about 450 collections from Belize, Beatriz is currently studying has identified 51 species in 14 genera, including 14 the distribution of new species that have been identified and described. Alaskan decay fungi From about 200 collections from the Dominican Re- for a M.S. degree with public, she has found 16 species in 7 genera, including Drs. Lee Taylor and 6 new taxa. Most of the identified species represent Gary Larson at the new records for Belize and the Dominican Republic, University of Alaska – Rita Rentmeester in the although some have already been described from other Fairbanks. Kyah Nor- culture collection. countries, such as the eastern United States, Mexico ton is also a Biological and Costa Rica. Other Laboratory Technician and is our Master of DNA se- species, including Bo- quencing. Kyah primarily helps Dan with his ecolog- letus aureissimus, B. ical work. dupainii, B. inedulis In July, 2006, CFMR was administratively trans- and Pulveroboletus au- ferred from the Forest Products Laboratory to the riflammeus, are new Northern Research Station of the U.S. Forest Service records for the entire due to funding constraints at FPL. As the Northern region. The identifica- Station undergoes reorganization, we look forward to tion of boletes associat- new opportunities for using our mycological expert- ed with oaks in Belize ise to benefit the Nation’s forests.