Catherine Aime's presentation The role of animals in dispersal of unique tropic Fungi is now available to MST members to watch on the meetings video page.
Dispersal is a life history trait that has profound consequences for the persistence of species. For sedentary organisms such as fungi, dispersal is usually accomplished through the spread of spores by either abiotic (e.g., wind, rain) or biotic (e.g., animals) factors. Biotic mechanisms typically involve providing a reward to encourage animal dispersal of spores, such as the edible fleshy fruiting bodies produced by many mushroom species that are eaten and dispersed by mammals. Some interesting neotropical fungi do not have obvious methods for dispersal, two of will be discussed in detail in this talk. The first, Brunneocorticium corynecarpon (=Rhizomorpha corynecarpos) is an unusual fungus, now known to be widespread in the neotropics, but one that is only known from vegetative mycelial cords; no sexual or asexual fruiting has ever been observed for this fungus, raising the question of how it maintains a broad distribution in Central and South America. The second, Guyanagaster necrorhizus is a sequestrate species, but one that produces none of the characteristics that are compatible with a mammal dispersal model. Data from both species were collected over multiple years from sampling in neotropical forests. We applied a combination of field observations, DNA sequence analysis and phylogenetic reconstructions, and microbiome, genomic, and proteomic analyses to infer their placement within the fungal tree of life as well as their specialized adaptations for non-mammal dispersal.
Cathie Aime is Professor of Mycology, Department of Botany & Plant Pathology and Director of the Arthur Fungarium and Kriebel Herbarium at Purdue University. She received her M.S. and Ph.D. in Biology at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University under the guidance of Orson K. Miller, Jr., and conducted post-doctoral research at the University of Oxford under Lorna Casselton. Cathie’s research combines expeditionary field work and traditional approaches with molecular genetics and multi-omics approaches to understand fungal diversity and evolution. Areas of specialization include tropical basidiomycetes, systematics of early diverging basidiomycete lineages (including smuts and yeasts), evolution of rust fungi, and epidemiology of tropical tree diseases. Cathie is a past Managing Editor of the journal Mycologia and is currently President of the Mycological Society of America and Vice President of the International Commission on the Taxonomy of Fungi. Cathie is a fellow of the Mycological Society of America, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Explorer’s Club, and the Linnean Society of London
Tony Wright died in Toronto on Sunday November 24, 2024. He was 84 years old. He is survived by his wife Marianna (former MST Treasurer), his two children (George and Nina), and his four grandchildren (Theo, Bryn, Emma and Kai).
I first met Tony Wright when I joined the Mycological Society of Toronto (MST). He was one of about half a dozen men and women who participated in an evening mushroom microscopy identification group that was initiated by long time MST member Richard Aaron, and led by Professor David Malloch (former MST Scientific Adviser) in a student laboratory at the University of Toronto. I was a recent graduate from UofT, working professionally in fungal identification and keen to better develop my identification skills. Tony, a retired accountant, was married to a woman who was interested in wild mushrooms. He was worried that Marianna might accidentally eat a poisonous mushroom, so he had set about to be able to effectively identify mushrooms to prevent such an outcome. As an aspiring hopeless romantic myself, I liked him right away!
When I attended my first MST meeting (the April AGM of 2002) at the Toronto Botanical Gardens (all meetings were in person only back then), the President of the day (Professor Vello Soots) announced that the position of Secretary was unfilled for the Board of Directors. I volunteered for the spot as I thought the MST a rare and compelling collection of folks that I’d likely enjoy getting to know better. The immediate past Secretary was, of course, Tony Wright. Tony was now taking on the position of Editor at the MST, and he was quite pleased to guide and advise me in my new role on the Board as he set about his own. Tony, gifted with a mind for fine details, policy and procedure, and all things mycological, would serve outstandingly as MST Editor for eight years. His production of the Mycelium was top notch, he drew in articles and content from contributors at other clubs across North America, and I was always keen to read it as soon as it was delivered.
In the years that followed I got to work with Tony quite often in pursuit of mycological mysteries. We spent a great many hours huddled around microscopes, keys there to guide us as we examined germ pores, spore lengths, surface ornamentation, and all the other delightful things that might be seen in that cryptic world of fungi that can only be found through lens and by light. If you’ve never asked a friend or family member to pass the Meltzer’s Solution, or spent twenty minutes debating whether or not the structure that was just revealed by pulling back the peridium of a yet to be identified Physarum specimen is decidedly a calcareous node, then you haven’t been living your life to the fullest! (In fairness, some readers may not share this sentiment). Perhaps our most compelling undertaking, bolstered by our work with former MST President Pat Burchell (Chief Editor), and Royal Ontario Museum Mycology Curator Professor Jean-Marc Moncalvo, was the production of the Mushrooms of Toronto, published in 2015 as part of the City of Toronto’s Biodiversity series. Tony worked to produce content, edit final copy, and host our writer team meetings (often at the dining room table of his home). Tony travelled far and wide to share and expand his knowledge of fungi (as well as slime moulds and other natural curiosities) across Canada and the USA. His silver Volvo station wagon packed with books and baskets, microscopes and maps, were an often-seen feature at forays run by the MST, NEMF, NAMA, the Newfoundland Foray, as well as many smaller regional gatherings. Tony was someone who quietly listened, knew a great deal, but spoke infrequently and then with certainty. I sometimes car pooled with him on long drives that took us across the border (provincial, state, and national) to hotels and diners where we shared meals and lodgings, merriment and laughter. The many miles travelled heard tell of our fathers before us, our children ahead of us, and the world around us. Having learned that Tony sang in his Church choir, I sometimes pressed him to sing in the car as we travelled. There is beauty in song, but Tony, shy and subdued, always declined.
When I eventually became Vice President and then President of the MST, I came to appreciate on many occasions how Tony was contributing to the operations from the sidelines and behind the scenes. Arranging shared transport for our forays, leading forays, spending countless hours identifying fungi and keeping record of the identified fungi, providing accommodations for MST guests at his home, advising Board members (myself included) on issues affecting our organization, and so much more. If you have ever worked on a collective undertaking, then you would instantly recognize his rare and treasured nature. Someone who takes on much of the toil but little of the title. A great voice that is most comfortable being lent to the strength of a choir, yet shy of an individual spotlight. That was our Tony Wright.
The writer C.S. Lewis penned for a dying friend that, “There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind”. I’m of the opinion that Tony is now in a position to know, with greater certainty than I, if those truly and properly were calcareous nodes we spied upon with our microscope. I now must yield to him that he has the advantage of knowing with absolute certainty the identities of these many small wonders that those of us still in this earthly world endeavour to determine. Tony Wright was a great friend of the Mycological Society of Toronto. He was also a great friend of mine.
Please join us on Zoom on Wednesday, March 19th at 7:30pm for our online Speaker Series.
Mycology: The Board Game of Foraging for Fungi
Mycology: The Board Game of Foraging for Fungi is a strategy-based tabletop game designed by James Scott. This speaker series will provide an introduction to the game, followed by an open Q&A session with Dr. James Scott.
James Scott is a Professor at the University of Toronto specializing in mycology and microbiology. He is the Director of the UAMH Centre for Global Microfungal Biodiversity which operates a large biorepository of living fungi of medical and environmental importance. Much of Dr. Scott’s research focuses on interactions between people and microorganisms, especially fungi, but also algae, protozoa, bacteria, and viruses. His work addresses the detection, taxonomy, ecology and aerobiology of human-associated microbes responsible for infectious, allergic and toxin-mediated disease. Since 2002, he has served as a consultant to the Ontario Poison Centre on mushroom poisonings, and to Dynacare Medical Laboratories on human fungal diseases. In addition to his university work, Dr. Scott owns a biotech company called Sporometrics Inc. that develops and provides specialized environmental microbiology diagnostic services. Dr. Scott recently developed MYCOLOGY – The Board Game of Foraging for Fungi, launched on Kickstarter in 2023.
Please join us on Zoom on Wednesday, February 12th at 7:30pm for our online Speaker Series.
Plant response to arbuscular mycorrhizal networks differs indoors vs. outdoors
Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi associate with 70% of plant species and increase the availability of nutrients in exchange for plant sugars. Research determining whether plants benefit from AM fungi is derived predominantly from controlled environments that may not represent the undisturbed field environment. To determine whether plant responses are equivalent between controlled greenhouse and field environments, we quantified 9 plant species responses to severing access to the AM network in both environments using a mesh barrier (48μm) preventing root entry but enabling ingrowth of AM hyphae. We found that in the greenhouse severing access to AM networks reduced plant biomass, but in the field severing increased plant biomass. The lack of correlation in plant mycorrhizal responsiveness between environments suggests that controlled environments may need to account for the surrounding plant density, plant community, and the larger carbon cost from AM networks in the field to observe field relevant plant responses.
Olivier Herlin recently graduated with a Master of Science focusing on the symbiotic interactions with plants and mycorrhizal fungi at the University of Guelph. During the past years Olivier has been working for The Collective Forager, which maintains food forest landscapes and creates managed forest plans within the city of Toronto and Ontario. He has also enjoyed learning and teaching outdoors at various places including Parks Canada, the P.I.N.E. project, and at Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society. Olivier is interested in how humans can be beneficial to their environment and how we can reverse the biodiversity crises occurring on a global scale.
