Mycology
Recent Achievements
Collections (2001-2005)
The fungal collections are not only key to all other aspects of the Mycology programmes but are of major international importance, being used by researchers worldwide. They have continued to be developed during the past five years to ensure Kew’s collections remain among the largest and most comprehensive. Major achievements in this time include c. 25,000 new acquisitions to the fungal herbarium since 2001, all of which have been named, databased and incorporated (including donations of herbaria from Sheffield University and smaller private herbaria). In addition, c. 28,500 existing collections have been databased, making a total of around 115,000 fungal collections at Kew databased so far. Loan requests from institutes worldwide have remained high and formed a major part of the work load, with over 250 loan requests (from overseas institutes) for Kew fungal collections, involving a total of 1,655 specimens, received and dealt with.
Baseline Fungal Diversity Research (2001-2005)
This is a major focus of Kew’s mycology research, with some significant achievements since 2001. These include at least 115 publications on British and overseas fungi and other aspects of mycology. One of the most significant amongst these has been the publication of the Checklist of the British and Irish Basidiomycota, the outcome of a funded project which employed one project officer for 3.5 years (2001-2004). The printed version, a 517 page A4 book, was published in July 2005.
A Royal Society Grant was obtained to investigate the potential for DNA barcoding of herbarium collections of fungi with the further aim of improving our ability to identify fungi in nature. Initial DNA barcoding of 281 British specimens of truffles, puffballs, earthstars, waxcaps and tooth fungi was successful in yielding sequence data from 65% of the specimens studied (75% of those were under 20 years old), and thereby also matching 54 hitherto unclassified fungi lodged in the public GenBank database. Thus, the approach proves to be both efficient and immediately useful.
Notable field visits were to the British Virgin Islands (2001), with one paper published and another in press, and to Belize (2002), with one paper currently in press.
Comparative Fungal Biology (2001-2005)
The PhD Thesis entitled Molecular systematics of Cryptococcus and Filobasidiella was successfully completed and printed by S. Sivakumaran (Birkbeck College) in 2004, supervised and mainly undertaken at Kew. In addition, a joint paper directly related to this research was published in 2003.
Chemistry is heavily involved in the classification of lichen-forming fungi. As a means of linking biochemical information directly with DNA data, a library of lichen substances is being accumulated. This will concentrate especially on the data being gathered for the DNA barcoding of lichenised fungi project. The data can then be used to identify lichen extracts from unknown sources.
Sustainable Utilisation of Fungal Resources (2001-2005)
The living fungal collection at Kew (UK-origin only, 762 strains) has now been chemically screened for bioactive metabolites. Those found to produce prominently active substances were grown and their metabolites isolated and characterised. Various biological and physico-chemical properties of the substances have been studied internally and with external collaborators. This research was initially supported by grants from Syngenta until they closed their natural product screening research programme within the UK.
An additional project, involving CABI Bioscience and Iwokrama International Centre, screened 332 isolates and accessions of fungi from Guyanan forests during the period 2001-2002.
Research was also initiated on the role of fungi in insect-host selection behaviour and tests are being undertaken in the UK and Germany on the role of Donkioporia-derived compounds in modulating the host selection behaviour of the Deathwatch Beetle.
Conservation and Environmental Monitoring (2001-2005)
Kew hosted the twice-yearly meetings of the UK Fungus Conservation Forum and of the Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) Technical Committee, both of which involve English Nature and other national conservation agencies, Plant Life, the British Mycological Society, and others. Linked to these, data on British fungal species of conservation importance were supplied to conservation agencies, and databasing of UK collections of such species held in the Kew Mycology Herbarium was completed based on a further grant from English Nature. Additional data was also provided towards the creation of an official Red Data List for endangered UK fungal species. This has now been finalised for consideration by the Joint Nature Conservation Council (JNCC). Similarly, data was supplied on important British sites for fungi, helping to create the Plant Life/British Mycological Society guide Important Fungus Areas, published in the UK in 2002.
The project Population Diversity and Speciation in Hydnellum and Phellodon Species (tooth- fungi, BAP species of conservation concern), funded by English Nature, was completed and published (English Nature Research Report No. 557, 2004).
Mycorrhizal fungi have come to the forefront of plant ecology in recent years, and we are contributing to these developments by studying their biodiversity and distribution in Britain, especially on lowland heaths.