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SEVENTH INTERNATIONAL MYCOLOGICAL CONGRESS OSLO, NORWAY, AUGUST 2002
The 7th International Mycological Congress was held at the University of Oslo, Norway. Oslo was a wonderful setting for this meeting of fungal biologists, being surrounded by forests and lakes, a great diversity of fungi, and legends like Elias Fries, and of course the Vikings, who operated in the area. For one week more than a 1000 mycologists, representing over 80 countries, converged in the land of the Vikings, to talk, sleep, learn and share passion about mycology.
The organisation surrounding so many mycologists, as well as 450 oral and 750 poster presentations, post congress tours, social events and all the other sides to an international congress, is not a task to be taken lightly. From the start, with the efficient handling of registration, abstracts, etc. it was evident that Leif Ryvarden and his organising committee had things under control. And looking back on the conference, the committee has to be commended for the excellent organisation throughout, with not one major problem during the whole time (or that we were aware of at least).
The five conference days were split into five parallel Congress Symposia and Poster Sessions each morning, and 10-12 parallel Contributed Symposia in the afternoons. With this many competing talks, one felt the inevitable frustration of having to decide which of several equally interesting talks to attend. Fortunately the auditoria were all within a 100m or so, making session hopping a little easier. Gareth found himself speaking about Crinipellis perniciosa, anaerobic fungi and Hygrocybe ecology in consecutive sessions (only himself to blame).
Fortunately those were early in the week and he could relax a little thereafter. Bernard had to wait until the last session on the Friday afternoon, which ran concurrent with eight other sessions, to share his work and ideas about the symbiosis between woodwasps and Basidiomycetes in the genus (Amylostereum).
A meeting of this magnitude and diversity, affords one the opportunity to both converse in your own field of interest, as well as to broaden your vision of the whole field (in this case mycology). The topics of the various sessions covered all of mycology: from asexual to sexual, aerobic to anaerobic, decomposers, pathogens, endophytes, obligate symbionts, Basidiomycetes to Oomycetes. And all environments, from the arctic-alpine regions, the rusts of the dry harsh Namibia and homobasidiomycetes of the dry, icy Greenland, truffles in Australia, aquatic HaploPhytophthora, xerophilic fungi that spoil food and a lot in between. What amazing organisms we study! It was evident in all of these fields that molecular techniques have become established as a major tool for testing biological hypotheses. Increasingly, information from molecular data is mapped successfully to phenotypic and ecological data, which is bringing great insight into the biology of fungi and life in general.
Among the plant pathology highlights for us were Rick Howard s talk on 4-D laser scanning microscopy, with the audience supplied with 3-D spectacles to appreciate the wonderful images and movies of Magnaporthe grisea hyphae in planta. Clive Brasier s session on Hybridisation as a force in fungal evolution and pathology was also fascinating, illustrating the range of dark tricks that pathogens as diverse as Phytophthora, Ophiostoma , Heterobasidion and Melampsora have up their sleeves. Other sessions reinforced the significant role man plays in phylogeography and moving pathogens across the world; which poses an ever increasing threat for plant diversity and plant production worldwide. From a below-ground perspective it was also apparent that the division between the various types of root-infecting fungi (mycorrhizas / pathogens / endophytes / etc. ) are blurring with PCR-based methodologies revealing the great diversity of ascomycete fungi present within healthy plant roots. Many of these are sterile in culture and have tended to be lumped together (and generally ignored) as dark septate endophytes. Some have been shown to be beneficial to their hosts, so given their widespread occurrence in a range of natural and agricultural systems they may be important determinants of plant health.
Article 59 of the ICBN, which governs the use of anamorph and teleomorph names of pleiomorphic fungi, was a central feature at IMC7. After some presentations covering the history, implications and case studies, a formal debate about the issue was held between a Pro Art. 59 team (Profs. W . Gams, R. Korf, J. I. Pitt) and the anti dual nomenclature team (Profs. D. Hawksworth, P. M. Kirk, M. L. Berbee). Molecular systematics is making it possible to determine the phylogeny of an organism, irrespective of its expressed morphology. This is increasing the pressure to abolish the dual nomenclature for different morphs. On the other hand, dual nomenclature is deeply rooted and serves a very useful purpose in communication on fungi and their unique live cycles. Abandoning or changing Article 59 might cause unacceptable disruption. Changes seem inevitable, but there is much work and debate still necessary to fully resolve the issue. Although this is a debate that has to be resolved in mycological circles, it is essential that plant pathologists contribute to the thinking. After all, our field will be one of the most severely affected by any change in the use of teleomorph and anamorph names. Not only for academic communication, but also, and perhaps more importantly, with outside, non-specialised users.
Amongst the social highlights was the opening reception at the spectacular Oslo Concert Hall. Here delegates were surprised by the appearance of Elias Fries, who gave a sober seventeenth century view of modern day mycology. The by now notorious (but highly enjoyable) Wines of the World evening stimulated great social interaction. In a country where beer costs £5 per 500ml, it is not difficult to guess why this event was a sell-out. Another highlight was the gala dinner, with traditional Norwegian folk music and food, including local wine, selections of wild mushrooms and berries, and deer.
We are most grateful to the BSPP for awarding us travel awards to attend this fantastic meeting. For those of you who missed it the conference programme (7Mb!) and the conference abstracts in their entirety are available in pdf format from http:// www. uio. no/conferences/imc7/. It is worth noting in your diaries that IMC8 will be held in Cairns, Australia in 2006.
Gareth W. Griffith and B. Slippers
I had been very much looking forward to this congress and my expectations have not been disappointed! After arriving late in Oslo on Sunday evening – missing the opening ceremony for me the congress started immediately after registration on Monday morning with hanging up my first poster and visiting the first session. Choosing the sessions was not an easy task and had taken considerable planning since there were 70 sessions divided across five main themes (“Biodiversity and Conservation”, “Systematics, phylogeny and evolution”, “Pathogens and nuisances, food and medicine”, “Popu- lation dynamics and ecology”, “Cell biology and physiology”). The first I attended was on “Plant- pathogen interactions in woody plants” and was organized by two well-known researchers in this field: H Solheim and S Woodward. The defence systems of woody plants (especially conifers) to fungal pathogens and the fungal elicitors of the host response like Sphaeropsis sapinea and Heterobasidion annosum as well as Ceratocystis polonica were discussed. The talk about C. polonica was especially interesting for me since we also work with this bluestain fungus at our institute. An informative talk by C Mohammed described the defence system of the economically important Eucalyptus species. In the afternoon, I attended the session with maybe the most catchy title: Sex and murder: the extraordinary fungal life cycle. Here, GW Beake s talk about the fascinating nematode pathogen Haptoglossa shone out because it was given in the form of a classical detective story, without loosing the scientific perspective.
Tuesday for me started with an impressive session on the current findings in evolutionary trends in fungi. From more basic analysis of methods for managing phylogenetic uncertainty (M Pagel) to Molecular phylogenetics and breeding system in the ascomycete fungi (ML Berbee). ML Berbee discussed the very interesting question of asexual and sexual fungi, the former according to her findings obviously have lost this trait during their evolution. At the end of this session the ambitious AFTOL project (Assembling the Fungal Tree of Life) was briefly discussed, which will provide data on morphological and genetic traits of approx. 1500 fungal species from all orders. In the afternoon the fascinating new findings concerning mating and compatibility genes in fungi was discussed. Both ascomycetes and basidiomycetes were covered. Most interesting for me was the mating mechanisms in homothallic Ceratocystis species well presented by TC Harrington. Apart from the importance of understanding mating mechanisms in these fungi, sequence data of these idiomorphs can be compared between the different species and provide additional data for phylogenetic reconstruction.
Wednesday morning held the most important session for me in the program, since it was connected to my own work: Hybridisation as a force in fungal evolution and pathology . This included talks about Epichloº species, Tilletia species, Heterobasidion, Phytophthora and Melampsora hybrids (G Newcombe). The most impressive talk however was given by CM Brasier on hybridisation between the two Dutch elm disease pathogens Ophiostoma ulmi and O. novo-ulmi. In their important work Brasier and co-workers were able to show that O. novo-ulmi (which has replaced O. ulmi as the most important Dutch elm disease pathogen) has acquired most of its diversity, in vegetative compatibility alleles and one mating type idiomorph, from O. ulmi through interspecific hybridisation. This talk pointed out what tremendous impact this little explored evolutionary factor can have on fungal pathogens.
The next significant session for me took place on Thursday afternoon in the Taxo- nomic Aspects of Ophiostoma and Ceratocystis and their relationships with hosts, vectors and effects on international trade . An impressive array of presentations showed the current intensity of research with these fascinating fungi. For example, T Kirisits reported on exciting new species of ophiostomatoid fungi found in a survey associated with bark beetles in Bhutan. K Jacobs reported on the current situation of Tetropium fuscum and its associate O. tetropii, which have both been introduced to Canada. Apparently there was some confusion about O. tetropii because no type material of the species was available. And more than 20 years of research on the Dutch elm disease pathogens was summed up by CM Brasier, who discussed the pros and cons of sex and clonality for O. ulmi and O. novo-ulmi.
Friday was started off with a hot topic: “Anamorph and teleomorph classification in concert?” The pros and cons of the dual nomenclature were elaborated by several prominent speakers. D Hawksworth led the team against dual nomenclature and the amendment of Article 59 of the taxonomic codebook, while the opposing team was led by W Gams. Each team presented their point of view and were also given opportunity to comment on those of the opposition. Although a single name for one specific fungal species would be very practical, missing sexual stages or predominance of one fruiting structure make researchers reluctant to use a single genus name for anamorphic and holomorphic species – although molecular genetic data clearly put them together. This session was topped by a vote of the attendants whether Article 59 should or should not be changed in favour of the single name nomenclature. This difficult question will have to be resolved in future meetings. Opinions on this matter are quite divergent, as evident from discussion between the two teams.
Several social events during the week gave the opportunity to get to know new and old acquaintances better. These started on Monday at the welcoming reception by the mayor of Oslo in the impressive setting of the City Hall. On Wednesday evening the next social event took place in the form of the Wines of The World Evening . This was a very nice opportunity get into contact with congress delegates one hadn t yet met in the sessions and to taste wine from diverse and exotic locations. The Congress Dinner was held on Thursday evening, where attendants were spoiled with an excellent meal containing only Norwegian ingredients. Entertainment was provided by a local choir and dance music. Saturday, scheduled for the Closing Ceremony, arrived far too quickly!
I am very grateful to the BSPP for financial support to my travel expenses.
Heino Konrad, Institute of Forest Entomology, Forest Pathology and Forest Protection Vienna, Austria
