The Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute hosted a symposium named 'Fungal Evolution' on 17-18 April at the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. A wide range of topics were discussed within eight sessions, including inter- and infraspecies variation, taxonomy and nomenclature, fungal preservations, databasing, evolution, chemical diversity, genomics and its applications, and fungal pathogens. A special session was also dedicated to the MycoBiomics project funded by Marie Curie RISE in which FABI is a partner institute.

The meeting was well attended by mycologists from all over the world, including FABIans Prof Cobus Visagie and Dr Neriman Yilmaz. Prof Visagie presented his seminar 'The modern taxonomy of Aspergillus and Penicillium' where he gave past, present and future perspectives on the taxonomy of these important genera. Dr Yilmaz presented an overview on fungi and their mycotoxins that affect maize in South Africa in her talk 'Fusarium species and their mycotoxins in South African maize'. The meeting was an excellent opportunity to discuss fungi with old and new friends.