Poster presented at the Ecological Society of America 2013 in Minnesota for the ESA History section on the emergence of mycology and its role in ecology.

1. Baldauf
et
al.,
Science
2003
Ge0ng
freaky
with
fungi:
A
historical
perspec?ve
on
the
emergence
of
mycology
Sydney
I.
Glassman1
and
Roo
VandegriG2
1
1University
of
California,
Berkeley
2
University
of
Oregon
Mycology
without
Apology
Mycology
without
Apology
Mycology
without
Apology
Mycology
without
Apology
Mycology
without
Apology
In
2010,
Japanese
scien?st
Toshiyuki
Nakagaki
of
Hokkaido
University
showed
the
slime
mold
Physarum
polycephalum
could
recreate
the
Tokyo
rail
system
by
efficiently
connec?ng
food
resources.
Pier
Antonio
Micheli
(1679-­‐1737),
an
Italian
botanist,
discovered
mushroom
spores
and
described
900
fungi
and
lichens.
Miles
Joseph
Berkeley
(1803-­‐1889)
was
a
founding
father
in
plant
pathology
and
mycology
who
studied
life
histories
of
pathogenic
fungi
and
described
~
6,000
species.
Heinrich
Anton
de
Bary
(1831-­‐1888),
a
founding
father
of
plant
pathology
and
modern
mycology,
coined
the
word
“symbiosis”
in
1879.
Founding
fathers
in
mycology
Modern
mycology
&
Fungal
Ecology
Fungi
are
important
drivers
of
ecosystem
func?ons
in
their
roles
as
primary
decomposers,
symbionts,
pathogens,
and
predators.
Discovery
that
apothecial
fungi
can
coopera?vely
generate
their
own
wind
(Roper
et
al
PNAS
2010).
Arthur
Henry
Reginald
Buller
(1874-­‐1944)
discovered
that
fungi
in
the
genus
Pilobolus
are
able
to
fling
spores
more
than
2m
towards
light
by
aiming
with
a
lens
within
the
sub-­‐sporangial
vesicle.
He
also
discovered
Buller’s
drop,
the
mechanism
of
spore
dispersal
in
Basidiomycetes.
From
research
on
the
rate
at
which
spores
dropped,
he
guessed
that
the
mechanism
involved
changes
in
surface
tension.
It
took
75
years
to
discover
the
exact
mechanism
of
the
surface
tension
catapult,
in
1989.
Robert
Harding
Whi<aker
(1920-­‐1980),
dis?nguished
American
plant
ecologist,
first
proposed
that
Fungi
were
dis?nct
from
plants
in
1959.
Sir
Alexander
Fleming
(1881-­‐1955)
discovered
the
an?bio?c
penicillin
from
the
mold
Penicillium
notatum
in
1928.
The
process
of
ballistospore
discharge.
Pringle,
A.
et
al.
"The
captured
launch
of
a
ballistospore."
Mycologia
2005.
Louis
René
Tulasne
(1815-­‐1985)
was
a
French
mycologist
responsible
for
much
of
the
early
work
linking
asexual
and
sexual
stages
of
fungi,
and
with
his
brother
Charles
provided
a
founda?on
for
research
into
the
life
cycles
of
many
groups
of
fungi.
The
monolithic,
three-­‐
volume
Selecta
fungorum
carpologia
(1861–65)
brings
much
of
their
work
together,
with
illustra?on
by
Charles
Tulasne.
Next
genera?on
sequencing
techniques
are
driving
advances
in
fungal
ecology.
Clemmensen
et
al
found
that
roots
and
mycorrhizal
fungi
sequester
~50-­‐70%
of
carbon
in
boreal
forests
(Science.
2013.
Roots
and
Associated
Fungi
Drive
Long-­‐Term
Carbon
Sequestra?on
in
Boreal
Forest.)
From
history
of
mycology
to
now:
Mycologists
have
used
fungi
to
understand
the
cell
cycle
and
gene?cs
and
to
produce
important
products
such
as
penicillin,
beer,
wine,
cheese,
and
bread.
With
only
100,000
species
described
and
an
es?mated
8
milllion
who
can
guess
what
future
mycologists
will
uncover?
Helvella
lacunosa
by
R.
VandegriG
Xylaria
apiculataby
R.
VandegriG
Epichloe
sylva;ca
by
R.
VandegriG
Schlicht
and
Janse
described
AMF
in
the
1890s.
AMF
drawing
by
R.
VandegriG.
hop://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
File:Tree_of_Living_Organisms_2.png
270
Albert
Berhard
Frank
(1839-­‐1900)
is
credited
with
coining
the
term
mycorrhizae.
Ectomycorrhizae
(above),
and
endo-­‐
(or
arbuscular)
mycorrhizae
(leG).
Among
land
plants,
80%
of
species
and
92%
of
families
associate
with
at
least
one
type
of
mycorrhiza
(Smith
and
Read
Mycorrhizal
Symbiosis
2010).