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MycoinfoBrief            Sunday, February 13, 1999           Volume 2: 1

Contents of this MycoinfoBrief:

   An Interesting Pleurotus
   Book Review
   Mycoinfo Seeks Assistant Editor
   From the Editor
   Letters to Mycoinfo
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_An Interesting Pleurotus_

Brian McNett <mailto:webmaster@mycoinfo.com>

Ed Foy has been trying to jump-start the Puget Sound Mycological Society
(PSMS) <http://www.psms.org/> cultivation group. There have been a number
of "underground" sessions, without the official support of PSMS. It's not
as if there's a lack of interest. The "underground" sessions have been well
attended. There's a high level of enthusiasm, and a broad knowledge base to
draw from.

Besides Ed Foy, who's a resource in and of himself, the group benefits from
the presence of Jon Singer. I could wax effusive about him, but Jon's
probably reading this. He'll freely admit to never actually having fruited
anything that he's put into culture. Ed calls Jon his "mycelium dweeb."

I suppose it's just Jon's nature to experiment. Rather than foray in the
wild for new strains, Jon more frequently finds interesting fungi at
Seattle's Asian markets.  There was a _Lentinus_ which it took Lorelei
Norvell and Scott Redhead to properly ID, and more recently, something
labeled "White Glossy Ling Zhi."

For the sake of clarity, Jon's comments are double-indented.  My own
comments have normal indentation, and references from internet searches are
offset by a row of dashes:

    Even worse -- I found the thing at QFC! (That's a local
    supermarket chain, a bit better than ordinary but not
    extremely fancy.) They were labelled "White Glossy Ling
    Zhi", and there was a little sheet claiming that it had
    medicinal qualities as well as being a very nice edible;
    fortunately, the sheet gave the Latin name, so I was able
    to look for the mushroom on the Web. I _think_ they put
    all 3 words in Italics, though, so it was a while before I
    figured out that Lanzi was the discoverer.

    When I went to the Web to check on this mushroom, I found
    a bunch of pages, mostly in Italian. They said it was a #1
    edible, but I don't recall any mention of Ling Zhi or of
    medicinal character.

Here's the results of an Altavista search for pages in Italian containing a
reference to _Pleurotus_ferulae_.

#----------------------------------------------------------#
    1. I Funghi piť comuni dell'Etna
         FUNGHI DELL'ETNA. a cura di Pietro Pavone e Pietro Signorello.
         Le diverse aree boscate presenti sull'Etna (pinete, faggete,
         castagneti, ecc.) ospitano una.
         http://www.provincia.ct.it/ctnatura/flora/FUNGHI.html
         Last modified 9-Dec-97 - page size 129K - in Italian (Win-1252)

  2. Tuscia - Pascoli, boschi di sughere e macchia mediterranea
         Pascoli, boschi di sughere e macchia mediterranea. Nella Maremma,
         accanto alle zone acquitrinose, oggi peraltro molto rare, ed ai
         laghi costieri, troviamo.
         http://www.isa.it/tuscia/ambiente/pascoli.htm
         Last modified 26-Mar-97 - page size 5K - in Italian

  3. Orto Botanico di Perugia - Immagini
         Orto Botanico di Perugia. Immagini. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
         Foto 1 - Veduta dell'Orto botanico con sullo sfondo il campanile
         della Chiesa di...
         http://astr17pi.difi.unipi.it/Horti/Perugia/obpg_thumbn.html
         Last modified 25-Oct-96 - page size 3K - in Italian

  4. Orto Botanico di Perugia - Foto
         Orto Botanico di Perugia. Piante di Ferula communis L. inoculate
         nelle radici con micelio di Pleurotus ferulae Lanzi. Pagina di
         ingresso dell'Orto...
         http://astr17pi.difi.unipi.it/Horti/Perugia/obpg_F6.html
         Last modified 25-Oct-96 - page size 531 bytes - in Italian
#----------------------------------------------------------#

Altavista's somewhat stilted translation of the second reference above
(with some modification and correction (to remove the most egregious goof),
by Jon Singer)

#----------------------------------------------------------#
"In the Fen, next to the marshy, today moreover much rare zones, and to
coastal lagos, we find areas occupied from the typical Mediterranean
vegetation: xerofile draft of associations vegetables, prospering in little
words in a relatively warm and dry climate.

The coastal dunes and the litoranei cords are covered from bushes of
lentisco (_Pistacia_lentiscus_), alaterno (_Rhamnus_alaternus_), cisto
(_Cistus_salviaefolius_, _C._incanus_ and _C._monspeliensis_); between
sabbiose dunes prosper the eringio marine (_Eryngium_maritimum_) and the
ferule (_Ferula_communis_), a high ombrellifera similar to the finocchio,
>from the numerous yellow flowers, whose emptied stalk was used in the
antiquity like container for manuscripts rolled up (_volumen_ from _volvo_,
to _volvere_, to "_arrotolare_" in Latin).

On the roots of this plant a fungus prospers, the _Pleurotus_ferulae_ or
_nebrodensis_, much gustoso."
#----------------------------------------------------------#

Much gustoso indeed!

    The mushroom grows on the roots of _Ferula_communis_,
    which is related to Hing (asafoetida), the most heavily
    adulterated spice on the planet. (Hing is easy to
    adulterate because it is so bloody strong that you can't
    easily tell.) I am totally unfamiliar with _F._communis_;
    from the photos, I'd say that it looks rather like a large
    rank fennel...

    It remains to be seen, of course, whether what we have is
    actually _P._ferulae_ (or, as Brian found in Saccardo,
    _P._eryngii_, var. _ferulae_); I've never seen a real
    taxonomic description of the thing, and we haven't fruited
    the culture yet. Ed Foy has fruited _P._eryngii_, though,
    so it's only a matter of time unless this mushroom is
    radically different. (Heaven help us if you actually have
    to have _Ferula_communis_ root in order to get it to
    initiate primordia!)

Here's a reference which I picked up from ARS-GRIN, in regards to
_P._ferulae_:

<http://NT.ars-grin.gov/fungaldatabases/all/FindRecOneDisplayHidden.cfm>

#----------------------------------------------------------#
  LITERATURE
   Tai, F.L. 1979.  Sylloge Fungorum Sinicorum. Sci. Press,
      Acad. Sin., Peking. 1527 p.. : 8097

  FUNGUS HOST DISTRIBUTIONS
  #006600
  Pleurotus ferulae

    Ferula sp.: China - 8097

   Listing from all datasets for Name = Pleurotus ferulae.
   There were 1 Fungus-Host records, 1 Literature records.
   Systematic Botany and Mycology Laboratory - Monday, February 01, 1999
#----------------------------------------------------------#

Searching the online index to Saccardo's "Sylloge Fungorum" produced one
relevant result:

#----------------------------------------------------------#
  Pleurotus eryngii var. ferulae
    v - 347; xii - 584; xx - 451

  865 records were found in the SACCARDO database using the criteria
  Genus = Pleurotus
  Systematic Botany and Mycology Laboratory - Monday, February 01, 1999
#----------------------------------------------------------#

    The mushrooms I saw at QFC were white, satiny, and large.
    I'm not the world's hottest identifier, but I certainly
    had no trouble with the claim that they are in _Pleurotus_
    -- I could hardly imagine them being in any other genus.
    Rather than being in "hands" of 20-50, however, the way
    _P._citrinopileatus_ and _P._ostreatus_ typically are,
    they were singletons to sets of perhaps 3 or 4.

    I thought they tasted just wonderful. They also went into
    culture very easily. Being a mycelium dweeb rather than a
    real grower, I passed the culture off to Ed Foy. You can
    ask him about his results with it, which are incomplete at
    this time. (I owe the term "mycelium dweeb" to Ed, btw --
    his idea.)

Ed foy doesn't have email, and I'm loath to publish a phone # in this
newsletter with its world-wide distribution. It's clear that this mushroom
is well known from both Europe and Asia, and highly regarded as an edible
in both places. If you have any additional information, I'd be glad to hear
from you <mailto:webmaster@mycoinfo.com>. If this proves to be unique, and
not just a variety of _P._eryngii_, we may pass some cultures on to Paul
Stamets. I think, that given what we already know, Ed should be able to
fruit it.
------------------------------

***************************************************************************
We traded some Brian Wizard morel sculptures for advertising space and we
have get rid of them to make it pay. They sell for more than $30 at several
websites (including Mycoinfo) but we will sell these two for $20.00 each
plus $3.95 S&H. They would make a great gift or just look good sitting in
the office. Get em both for 40.00 S&H included!
<mailto:sales@mycoinfo.com>
***************************************************************************

------------------------------
_Book Review: "Plant Clinic Handbook (IMI Technical Handbooks No. 3)"_

Daniel Lindner Czederpiltz <mailto:dlindner@students.wisc.edu>

Plant Clinic Handbook,  IMI Technical Handbooks No. 3, by J.M. Waller, B.J.
Ritchie and M. Holderness, 1998, CAB International, New York, NY and Oxon,
UK, 94 pages, ISBN 0-85198-918-7.

The Plant Clinic Handbook is a good general reference for plant disease
diagnosis even if they havelittle or no formal training in plant pathology.
Being a compact book (94 pages), it quickly covers the necessary topics
relating to setting yourself up to do plant disease identification, without
dwelling on any one subject for too long. As the foreword states, the book
covers "...all the aspects of the practical operations of a plant clinic,
plant disease diagnosis, microscopy, and culture methods..."

The first part of the manual describes how one could go about setting up a
clinic from the ground up. This includes descriptions of all the large
equipment needed, and even covers specific types of glassware, how to use
microscopes, incubators, and autoclaves, chemicals and media, and how to
keep a clean, hygienic laboratory. The authors then do a quick survey of
the mechanics involved in plant disease diagnosis. Needless to say, this is
a huge topic to try to cover quickly, but given that this book does not set
out to be exhaustive, the authors largely succeed. They first give an
overview of plant disease in general (touching on two topics close to any
plant pathologist's heart: the disease triangle and Koch's postulates), and
then present a diagnostic key designed to help determine whether a disease
is caused by fungi, bacteria, nematodes, insects, viruses, or abiotic
factors.  This key would probably be useful to help someone understand the
thought process and skills needed to do identifications, but most steps in
the key are probably too general to be useful in actual identifications
(e.g.,. "If a fungus is suspected, can the causal agent be identified
immediately through use of rapid diagnostic procedures or direct
observation under the microscope?"). Following this key is a section that
describes the data one must collect when making field observations. After
that, a list of symptoms and disease types is given. Sampling and
collection techniques are also covered.

The book then has a useful section on microscopy, covering how to prepare
slides, the chemical reagents used, and how to use such equipment as a
haemocytometer. Isolation and culture techniques are then covered, complete
with recipes for different media. The book ends with a number of
appendices, possibly one of the most useful aspects of the book for many
people. The first appendix is a list of chemicals needed, with notes for
their safe care and handling. The second appendix covers the preparation of
stains and other general reagents, and is a useful reference to have on
hand. Appendix three covers preparation of media, and appendix four is an
outline of the different types of plant pathogenic fungi (a pretty good
overview is given for such a broad and complex subject). The fifth appendix
lists a large number of other references and further reading that would be
necessary for confident diagnosis of causal organisms.

As anyone who has tried to diagnosis plant disease knows, learning how to
identify the causal agents of plant diseases can take years of training and
hard work. This book is a good starting point for anyone interested in
going down that road, and as the authors point out, probably will be most
useful to people setting up a clinic in a developing country.  On the other
hand, some parts of this book, such as the appendices, would be useful for
anyone in a clinic setting.

Although some treatment is given to preliminary plant disease diagnosis (is
the causal agent fungal, bacterial? Etc.), this manual shouldn't be
confused with a guide specifically designed to aid in identifying and
"naming" plant diseases. This is a book designed to give a good overview of
how to set up a clinic, collect specimens and give a preliminary diagnosis.
For people interested in identifying the organisms they isolate from
disease specimens, they will have to turn to the host of diagnostic
literature listed in the fifth appendix of this book.
-----------------------------

_Mycoinfo Seeks Assistant Editor_

Help! We can't keep up! Mycoinfo is looking for an Assistant Editor to take
responsibility for the Research Watch page
<http://www.mycoinfo.com/research.html>. Responsibilities include searching
the web for newly published works on all facets of fungal biology, and
writing an occasional brief summary of important recent publications. It
will be also helpful if you are able to recruit others to write brief
reviews of recent research papers. The Assistant Editor will work closely
with Editor. It's really not as hard as it sounds. Once per week after
searching the web (using appropriate methods) the Assistant Editor will
submit an email message to the webmaster comprising a list of journal
titles and the associated web links for indexing on the Research Watch
page. No knowledge of HTML required. Does it pay anything? Well yes
perhaps! It will only take 1-5 hours a week. Help us improve and develop
Mycoinfo. For more information please contact Phil McIntosh
<mailto:ndpmcintosh@mycoinfo.com>
-----------------------------

_From the Editor_

Phil McIntosh <mailto:ndpmcintosh@mycoinfo.com>

Greetings. This is our first issue of the new year. We hope your 1999 is
going well.

Our idea for sending a T-shirt to whoever found the most errors in a
particular web publication turned out to be a dud. No one was interested.
That won't stop us from trying new ideas when we think of them though.

We have some technical improvements in process at Mycoinfo. We ordered an
upgrade for our web authoring software, and added a POP3 mailbox to
somewhat automate the MycoinfoBrief newsletter. Similarly, in our support
of the Taxy Open Source DataBase Project, we added two POP3 accounts for
subscribers, and posters to the discussion list. Traffic has picked up on
the Taxy mailing list lately and there is some good discussion about what
is fundamentally important in building a data base of fungal characters. If
you are interested in that sort of thing, check it out at
<http://www.mycoinfo.com/taxy/>. Lets see what else, oh yes, we have
ordered a site search engine and it should be up and running by the end of
the month. This will really increase the value of Mycoinfo as an
information resource.

We have been receiving books for review. "Mycorrhiza Manual" and
"Chemical Fungal Taxonomy" have been sent to reviewers. We still have
"Yeast Physiology and Biotechnology" by Graeme M. Walker; softbound, 350
pages including index, available if anyone is interested.

A little research has shown that there are about 70 other websites that
have found Mycoinfo sufficiently interesting to be linked to it. Of course
that is nothing compared to the over 400 that link to Mykoweb. But we
started out with zero, and we are not quite a year old.

Speaking of which, Mycoinfo will have officially been on the web for one
whole year, this February 20. We really appreciate the people who have
chosen to subscribe to this newsletter, because we also assume you visit
the site every so often as well. Our traffic rate has grown faster of late
and we hope that trend continues (naturally...). On our first anniversary
day, we are going to give some stuff away free, in some random kind of
fashion. This is not a gimmick, but a way of trying to say thanks to at
least some of our friends. We can't give a T-shirt to all of our 300+
subscribers, but at least we can give some away.

-------------------------

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For information about sponsorship and marketing opportunities with Mycoinfo
please contact <mailto:marketing@mycoinfo.com>.
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_Letters to Mycoinfo_

Re: You Know You Are a Mycologist When...

John Richard of Romer Labs offered this.

You know you are a mycologist when... "throwing puffballs at one another you
call it a sporophyte."

*******
And on the same subject, Simone Gomes, writes from Brazil:

You know you are a mycologist when..."you can not be classified as an
animal because you do not expend sufficient time with similars and can not
be classified as a plant because you are unable to make photosynthesis."

I hope I've made my contribution to tease our colleague mycologists (me
included).

*******

Remember when we told you about the guy who thought he might have
aspergillosus, and was inspired by Mycoinfo to go get checked out (again)?
Well, we heard back from him and he does not have aspergillosus, but he did
gain some benefit by going back to a doctor after years of unsuccessful
treatments for his asthma.

******

"Just a quick hi, and to let you know that people continue to send me
e-mails from all over the USA and overseas about _Phythium insidiosum_.
They visited my website article on pythiosis at Mycoinfo."

Leonel Mendoza

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on the Kamchatka pennisula. Go along on the trip with Gary Lincoff,
Emmanuel Salzman, and Tom Stimson as they search for people who use the
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production, this video sold for more than $20.00 but we have been able to
get the price down. Special for MycoinfoBrief readers only! Get "Song of
Mukhomor" for 16.95 S&H included!<mailto:sales@mycoinfo.com>
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