During the past week 15 FABIans, several ex-FABIans, and many collaborators of FABI participated in the 10th International Mycological Congress (IMC) in Bangkok, Thailand. The scientific programme covered all aspects of mycology, ranging from the taxonomy, genomics, symbiotic relationships and population studies of human, plant and animal pathogens, to topics such as growing your own mushrooms, teaching mycology and the development of antibiotics. The contributions of FABI are listed below: one invited speaker, 11 oral presentations, and 19 poster presentations! 

For many of the FABIans attending IMC10, it was their first visit to Bangkok, an exciting, interesting city of contrasts. Apart from all the fascinating things to see, perhaps the memory of the flavourful food, also at the congress, will linger for a long time! However, the most important longer term value of congresses like these are certainly in the collaborative friendships that are formed. The author lines in many of the presentations by FABIans are testament to such collaborations (and this is also evident in the photographs!). The contributions below are listed according to the session numbers, and abstracts are available here.  

INVITED SPEAKER

3.6 Brenda Wingfield - Using population genetics to understand the biology of an apparently asexual and important pine pathogen

ORAL PRESENTATIONS

(*Presentations by individuals from elsewhere, where FABIans were co-authors)

3.6 Jolanda Roux - Identity and diversity of the Cryphonectriaceae on Myrtales in Hawaii

4.2 Bernard Slippers - Co-evolution of Amylostereum fungi and Siricid woodwasps

4.5 Bernard Slippers - Biogeographic distribution of Botryosphaeriaceae as an illustration of the global movement of plant associated fungi

5.4 Wilhelm de Beer - Redefining Ceratocystis and allied genera in the Ceratocystidaceae (Microascales)

*6.3 Malte Ebinghaus (Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany) - Who seeks will find - Ravenelia on South African thorn trees

*8.1 Lorenzo Lombard (CBS, The Netherlands) - Lineages in Hypocreales: Generic concepts in Nectriaceae

*SS3 Draginja Pavlic-Zupanc (ARC-PPRI, Pretoria) - Cryptic diversity and distribution of phytopathogenic species in the Neofusicoccum parvum / N. ribis complex

SS3 Irene Barnes - New invasions of the needle blight pathogen Dothistroma septosporum in Colombia

*SS3 Yuho Ando - Phylogenetic relationships in the Grosmannia piceiperda complex

SS6 Stephen Taerum - Origin and diversity of the fungus Leptographium procerum associated with the red turpentine beetle in China

SS7 Riikka Linnakoski - Phylogenetic relationships between species in the Ophiostoma clavatum complex

POSTER PRESENTATIONS

(*Presentations by individuals from elsewhere, where FABIans were co-authors)

2.1 Brenda Wingfield - Structure and function of an accessory chromosome in Fusarium circinatum

2.1 Quentin C. Santana - Synteny in the genomes of the closely related pathogens, Fusarium circinatum and Fusarium verticillioides

3.2 Alex Osorio - Pseudocercospora sp. nov., the causal agent of fruit and leave disease of Barringtonia racemosa in South Africa

*3.2 Nelly N. Selochnik - Ophiostoma spp. and their roles in oak decline in the Tellermann forest

*3.5 Sascha Lotze-Engelhard - What is Urocystis? A phylogenetic and morphologically approach

3.6 Arista Fourie - Identification of Ceratocystis isolates in Vietnam and analysis of genetic diversity of C. manginecans

4.2 Runlei Chang - Ophiostomatoid fungi associated with two important conifer-infesting bark beetle species in northeastern China

4.5 Martin Kemler - Fungal communities in the phyllosphere of trees in South Africa

5.2 Deer Konkarn - Taxonomic revision of the Ophiostoma ips species complex based on multigene phylogenies

5.4 Tuan Duong - Multigene phylogeny reveals that isolates of the pine root-infecting fungus, Grosmannia huntii, represent two distinct species

5.4 Tuan Duong - Evolution of the mating system in Leptographium sensu lato

*5.4 Taru Koskinen - A new Ophiostoma species in the O. pluriannulatum complex from Ghana

5.4 Michael Mbenoun - Independent origins and cryptic speciation among host-associated populations of Ceratocystis ethacetica in Cameroon

5.4 Mingliang Yin - Phylogenetic analyses resolve species boundaries in the Leptographium procerum complex

5.4 Irene Barnes - A serious shoot blight disease of Pinus ponderosa in California caused by a single clone of Diplodia sapinea

5.4 Lucas Shuttleworth - Four species of Lasiodiplodia on Myrtales from southern Africa including two new species

5.6 Seonju Marincowitz - Cornuvesica: a little known genus in the Ceratocystidaceae including unexpected new species

*6.5 Draginja Pavlic-Zupanc - Five species of Botryosphaeriaceae identified from Eucalyptus grown in the urban habitats of Pretoria, South Africa

8.1 Arista Fourie - Exploring boundaries between cryptic species in the Ceratocystis fimbriata sensu lato complex