Meeting February 1^st

Talk: Mushroom Biotechnology by Noel Fong

"In this talk, I will present a survey of molecular biology tools and how they are used to improve the cultivation and quality of Agaricus bisporus and other basidiomycetes. Topics include the Mushroom Genome Project, identification of gene targets for strain improvement, transgenics, and PCR to identify poisonous species. Time permitting, I will also cover microarrays for identifying which genes are expressed during fungal development and pathological interactions."

While this sounds pretty technical, Noel assures us that it will be suitable for a general audience.

One of Noel’s main interests is to understand the science behind cooking and growing food. She has her B.S. in Chemistry from UC Berkeley, an M.S. in Food Science and a Ph.D. in Microbiology from U.C. Davis, where she worked on understanding how sugars are taken up by wine yeasts. Most of her working career has been in the biotech industry, where she engineers various yeasts to make drugs, and custom oils for biofuels and nutriceuticals. To round out her experience, she recently spent a year in pastry school, pursuing one of yeast’s tastier applications.

The meeting will be at the usual location, Room 101 at the Casa Del Prado in Balboa Park at 6:30 pm. If you happen to find any mushrooms, bring them for discussion and identification.

Pre-meeting Dinner

We will observe our usual custom of treating the speaker to dinner.
Meet at 5:00 at the Blue Water Seafood Market and Grill, 3667 India St., San Diego, CA 92103

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Mushroom Fair

Fungus Fair Sunday February 21, 2010 Balboa Park, Casa Del Prado, Room 101 10:30 am to 3:30 pm San Diego Mycological Society

The Mushroom Fair is set for February 21. It is our largest annual event, with the focus on educating the public about fungi.

The fair features Wild Mushrooms in natural habitat displays, mushroom collecting forays, mushroom cultivation and cooking demonstrations, illustrated presentations and mushroom-themed vendors.

Schedule of talks, list of vendors, and other details etc. not yet available. Check the web site in a week or so.

The whole fair depends on member participation—without you, there is no fair! It is a great way to deepen your knowledge and be energized by the world of mushrooms; but there is a lot of work to do as well, creating the displays. Even part of a day’s helping will make a difference, so please volunteer!

The new display approach using various baskets to place the mushrooms on exhibit worked very well, so we will do it again this year. If you have any spare baskets knocking about that you’d like to part with, roughly 4 to 8 inches and with or without handles, please bring them to the February meeting or the fair setup on the evening of the 20th.

Collecting for the Fair

(Adapted from the FFSC Web Site, with thanks to the FFSC)

Everyone is encouraged to collect specimens for the fair. Please bring your collections to the Casa Del Prado on Saturday evening prior to the fair for identification and display setup. As a last resort, you may bring them in on Sunday morning, but that puts a lot of stress on the identification team.

Field Note Recording

Please take field notes when collecting specimens for the fair. Taking Field Notes When Collecting Fungi for Study Is Easier Than You Think.

When out on FFSC forays we’ve observed many different collecting methods. These range from simply loading all mushrooms into a bag or basket in a jumbled mass to careful segregation of collections and protection of small or delicate species. Some people take notes, others don’t.

When collecting for this year’s Fungus Fair we ask that you be among the latter. We also ask that you take notes in the form of a voucher slip. First you may ask, “What is a voucher slip?” A voucher slip is a small form that has areas to enter information about the fungus you are collecting. This information is focused on where and when the fungus is found and can be as simple as the foray location, date and fungus name. This is of limited use if you do not know the name of your fungus. Other useful information found on a voucher slip includes; habitat, growth habit, odor when fresh, staining reactions and any other information that will help in identifying an unknown fungus using a set of keys.

Voucher slips are included in this issue, and are also available on our web site. Print up several of the slips and try them this year, for the fair and other forays. Modify them as you wish to meet your collecting and identification needs. Additional notes may be written on the back of the slip.

Let’s face it, when we collect many species of fungi for study it can  sometimes be challenging to recall if a collection was growing with live oak or tanoak, pine or Douglas fir. The voucher slip is a memory aid, is quick to fill out and drop into the collecting baggie. This is especially helpful when collecting for the Fungus Fair since many of the fungi will be identified by someone other than the collector.

A note on collecting for identification, remember to always collect the entire fruit body, this may require digging down several inches (sometimes over a foot) in order to get the entire base of a fungus like Caulorhiza umbonata, the redwood rooter, which can have a rooting base that extends a foot or more into the ground. Also collect a range of ages, from young buttons to mature fruit bodies, you can leave the rotters. Keep your collections separate, in waxed or paper bags, never use plastic bags as they accelerate ageing and decomposition. If you are not sure about the vegetative habitat description, then, collecting a few pieces of ground leaf litter around the specimen to add to your sample bag will help later identification of the habitat of your collection.

For more information on field notes and macroscopic features to note see Arora, Mushrooms Demystified, 1986, pp. 13-19.

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Renewal Time

Remember, all memberships now expire each February. Bring your check for $20 to the meeting and save a stamp. If you joined recently, your membership is good until February 2011. If in doubt, talk to the treasurer.

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Liability Waiver Forms

Participation in SDMS Forays requires a signed liability waiver. To save time at the start of forays, you can download a form here, sign it, and turn it in with your membership renewal.

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LAMS Wild Mushroom Fair - February 13-14

26th Annual Los Angeles Wild Mushroom Fair
February 13-14, 2010 (Saturday-Sunday)
Ayres Hall at The Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden in Arcadia
(301 North Baldwin Ave., Arcadia)

Featuring Wild Mushrooms in natural habitat displays, mushroom collecting forays, mushroom cultivation and cooking demonstrations, illustrated presentations and mushroom-themed vendors.

Keynote Speaker: Paul Stamets, mycologist, author, Founder and President, Fungi Perfecti

Mycoremediation, How Mushrooms Can Save the Planet
Admission to the Paul Stamets lecture will be by advance ticket sale ONLY. Tickets are $21 per person. To reserve your tickets to attend this inspiring and informative presentation by a world famous mycologist and authority on mushroom cultivation, please send your check or money order payable to "LAMS" to Dick Smith, LAMS Membership Chairman, 4907 So. Maymont Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90043. Tickets will be held AT THE DOOR.

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Mushroom Views

FFSC Fair 2010 Slide Show

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What’s Cooking!

Fungi As Food

A compendium of mushroom recipes.

• The Food Network
• MushroomRecipes.US
• Carnegie Mellon School of Computer Science
• About.com
• The Mushroom Council
• Fungi Perfecti

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Two sources for a "Recipe of the Month".
BAMS, and MAMS

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Fungi of the Month

Now there are two "Fungus of the Month" sites:
Tom Volk's long-running series at : http://tomvolkfungi.net/.
And a new one at: http://www.bayareamushrooms.org/mushroommonth/index.html.

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SDMS Information