Book of Abstracts (PDF) - International Mycological Association

IMC7 Thursday August 15th Lectures
http://www.glopp.net/) project does not aim at a simple
compilation of data, so critical appraisal of the data found
in taxonomic literature is necessary. As a rule, this entails
experimental re-examination of the published data.
Unfortunately, the morphological data so far used for
Oomycete taxonomy are often ambiguous. This is
especially important where only few morphological
characters are available, as it is the case in taxon
delimitation in most plant parasitic Oomycete groups. Even
the total number of species in Peronosporales and
Sclerosporales stated in the literature can vary very much
depending on the underlying species concept used by
different authors. To cope with these uncertainties, the
combination of morphological with modern molecular
methods is required. The content of the database will
depend to a high degree on the results from this approach.
275 - Discovering the crunches: the use of the GLOPP
databases in rust systematics, ecology and biogeography
R. Berndt
University of Tübingen, Systematic Botany and Mycology,
Botanical Institute, Auf der Morgenstelle 1, D-72076
Tübingen, Germany. - E-mail: reinhard.berndt@unituebingen.de
The knowledge about rust fungi (Uredinales) is still patchy:
there are some well-studied pests of economically
important plants, and there is the bulk of species growing
on hosts with no obvious economic importance. The latter
group of rusts has received much less attention
accordingly. Another striking disparity of knowledge exists
between tropical and subtropical areas and extratropical
regions. Whereas floras or monographs on rust fungi are
widely available in extratropical regions, the student of
tropical rusts most often has to confine to scattered original
work that may not be handy or accessible. In our project
we aim to compile a database on rust fungi with a focus on
tropical and subtropical species. The database is geared to
(1) facilitate the determination of rust fungi and to provide
up-to-date taxonomic information (2) to supply data on the
family affiliation of the host plants and on the known
geographic range of the fungi in question. Additional
information on relevant literature and personal
observations are also included. The present database allows
to retrieve data that are not readily available on the
internet: - host family-rust fungus search - geographical
search - synonymy of rust fungi - complex queries with
several parameters Such options enable the user to reduce
the number of possible determinations of a given rust
fungus and to find hidden coincidences and contradictions
in regard of host spectra, systematics, and geographical
distribution.
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Book of Abstracts
276 - Phytopathogenic fungi from South Africa
P.W. Crous
Department of Plant Pathology, University of Stellenbosch,
P. Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa. - E-mail:
pwc@sun.ac.za
The appointment of I.B. Pole-Evans as mycologist of the
former Transvaal Department of Agriculture in 1905
heralded the beginning of phytomycology in South Africa.
As diseases of wild and cultivated plants became more
well-known, several lists were published of these
pathogens. The early lists were prepared by Doidge (1924)
and Doidge and Bottomley (1931). The most significant
one, however, was published by Doidge et al. (1953),
which was primarily based on information contained in her
voluminous Index of South African Fungi and Lichens to
the end of 1945 (Doidge, 1950). In later years this list was
updated again, and several new records added in a series of
three science bulletins published by Gorter (1977, 1981,
1982). These data formed the basis for the book,
Phytopathogenic fungi from South Africa, which was later
published by Crous et al. (2000). An abbreviated version of
these data can be viewed on the USDA web site in
Beltsville. Members of the Southern African Society for
Plant Pathology required a more adaptable database,
however, that could easily be updated and changed to
fulfill the needs to the local plant pathological community.
For this reason a new database template was developed that
would support a CD-Rom and web-driven version of the
database, incorporating illustrations, notes, all local and
relevant publications, culture collection and DNA sequence
data.
277 - The polypores of the world - a useful database or
are we still in the alpha phase?
L. Ryvarden
Botany Department, Biological Institute, P. O. Box 1045,
Blindern, N-0316 Oslo, Norway. - E-mail:
leif.ryvarden@bio.uio.no
Over a period of 30 years mycotas of East Africa, North
America, Europe and North East Asia have been published,
while those of New Zealand and the neotropics are in
manuscript and will be published shortly. The generic keys
in these books will this autumn be available on the Internet
for free downloading. In 1987 360 poroid species were
registered in Europe, and since then, i.e. over 15 years,
about 5 species have been added, some of them probably
tropical imports. 12 species have been described as new,
almost all of them based on splitting of previously to
widely accepted species, such as Antrodiella semisupina.
This indicates clearly that the alpha phase is finished in
Europe. The situation is similar in North America and
North East Asia. In tropical Africa 320 species are
registered excluding critical genera like Ganoderma and
Phellinus while at least about 20 species are ready to be