Saturday, March 15, 2003

FUNGI: The Magic Kingdom, Revisited!

Gregory M. Mueller & Patrick R. Leacock

This joint workshop between the Illinois Mycological Association, IMA, and the State Microscopical Society of Illinois, SMSI will begin with a short presentation on the diversity, distribution, and importance of mushrooms and other macrofungi followed by a "hands on" examination of mushroom identification features focusing on spores, chemical reactions, and other micromorphological characters.

Bio Sketch
Gregory M. Mueller is Curator of Mycology and Chair of the Department of Botany at the Field Museum in Chicago and also teaches at the University of Chicago and University of Illinois at Chicago. He is the International Coordinator for Fungal Programs at the Costa Rican National Biodiversity Institute (INBio) and is active in numerous scientific societies. Currently, he serves as a member of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, Fungi Specialist Group Science Advisory Committee, Illinois Chapter of The Nature Conservancy.

Greg Mueller's research interests center on the systematics, biogeography, and ecology of macrofungi; neotropical mycology; fungal biodiversity; and fungal symbioses, especially mycorrhizas. His research is providing vital information for the management and conservation of temperate and tropical forests. Current fieldwork is being concentrated in the Chicago region, Costa Rica, and China. Greg also is active in training the next generation of mycologists, both in the U.S.A. and in Latin America. He has published over 75 papers and is on call for the Illinois Poison Center and regional hospitals to help identify poisonous mushrooms.

Bio Sketch
Patrick R. Leacock currently has a split position between The Field Museum's Botany and Education Departments serving as a research collaborator with Greg Mueller's local fungi research programs and as an Education Program Developer with the museum's "Field Expedition Company" which produces electronic field trips - environmental education videos for student audiences. Pat is an active member in the Illinois Mycological Association and is an advisor, trip leader, and presenter. He also has been coordinating the Voucher Specimen Program of the North American Mycological Association documenting fungi found on the annual forays.

Pat's research involves several projects to document the diversity and distribution of fungi in the greater Chicago region in relation to environmental and management concerns including woodland restoration and local air pollution. Major interests involve:

• 1) community ecology of fungi, notably ectomycorrhizal basidiomycetes, their diversity and abundance in relation to composition and structure of the plant community and abiotic factors;
• 2) systematics and biogeography of Lactarius (milk mushrooms) and related taxa;
• 3) public education on mycological topics, by participation in meetings, forays, and short courses. www.lactarius.com

SMSI Minutes 15 Mar. 03
Bill Mikuska mentioned several children's books before introducing Gregory Mueller: Stowaway to the Mushroom Planet and The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet by Eleanor Cameron. These books also mention all three types of polarized light.

Gregory Mueller described the morphology of macrofungi which are composed of masses of hyphae and noted his previous talk to SMSI in which he showed the closer relationship of DNA lineage to spore morphology than to gross characteristics. The oldest fungal specimens are from amber (90 million and 45 million years BP(coprinus)). Plants came on land with fungi and a symbiotic relationship exists in 80-95% of the plant world. Fungi's role in evolution includes decomposition (wood and lignin contain nitrogen and fungi are far more efficient than bacteria in decomposition of this waste), pathogens (rusts, smut, blight), symbiosis (plants, leaf cutter ants). Patrick Leacock conducted the workshop and covered many aspects of micro morphology. Leacock & Mueller identified the contents of two cans of supermarket mushrooms: canned puff balls by spore identification were sclaroderma (non-edible) and oyster mushrooms were mislabeled bear head mushrooms. Dorothy & Bill Mikuska brought very tasty home canned wild mushrooms for all to snack on.

How to Identify Mushrooms to Genus III: Microscopic Features by David L. Largent, et al (Paperback - September 1977)

Examination... photographs through the microscope, I make up Melzer's Solution without the iodine, which yields a very clear solution ...
http://www.botany.utoronto.ca/ResearchLabs/MallochLab/Fungi.html

Respectfully submitted, Stan Schmidt, Recording Secretary