May 6 – 7, 2021
Sampling polymer-degrading microbes in Yancheng salt marshes
The new publications on fungal taxonomy, DNA Barcoding, and identification
Rigorosum of Feng Cai in the TU Wien
The public oral online examination (Rigorosum*) of
Feng Cai for the Ph. D. degree of the Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien)
is scheduled for
February 24, 11:00 a.m. (Vienna) or 06:00 p.m. (Nanjing).
Rigorosum Committee:
Prof. Dr. Robert L. Mach, TU Wien, Austria, the Head
Prof. Dr. Irina S. Druzhinina, TU Wien, Austria and NJAU, China, the Examiner, and Ph.D. Advisor
Prof. Dr. Oded Yarden, University of Jerusalem, Israel, the Examiner
Referees:
Prof. Dr. Oded Yarden, University of Jerusalem, Israel
Prof. Dr. Christian P. Kubicek, TU Wien, Austria
The examination will consist of the presentation (25 min) followed by questions (5 min) and the oral examination by the Committee members (30 min).
The electronic version of the cumulative Ph. D. Thesis “RESOLVING THE CONUNDRUM OF TRICHODERMA TAXONOMY: HOW ECOLOGICAL GENETICS COUPLED WITH EVOLUTIONARY ANALYSIS ENHANCES THE POLYPHASIC SPECIES CONCEPT IN FUNGI” can be viewed here
* Rigorosum (rigorous examination) is the final examination for obtaining a doctoral degree. In addition to the topic of the dissertation, other subjects are usually examined.
Welcoming the Year of the Ox
Visit of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University
December 25, 2020: The Christmas talk “Fungal surface-active proteins unveil secrets of the tubular lifestyle, fitness, and speciation” at the academic meeting of the State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism in School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University The meeting was organized by Prof. Jie Chen (see image above)
Irina S. Druzhinina and Feng Cai Visiting Shanghai Jiaotong University 
Prof. Chengshu Wang’s Lab
Prof. Chengshu Wang’s Lab in the Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Science, Shanghai is studying entomopathogenic fungi and fungal-insect interactions. Prof. Sibao Wang from te same Center gave us an introduction to the mosquito microbiome research.
Prof. Chengshu Wang, CAS
Eight meters long hypha
An interactive course on fungal biology:
Today we had a graphic test on ultrastructure of fungal cells. Each student had 1 m of hypha to draw and annotate. Fortunately, we have a long bench in the corridor.
And then looked at the beautiful fungal cells:
Merry XMass 2020
Dear Trichoderma Friends,
We wish you to be safe and have pleasant seasonal holidays. Let us hope that the new year will bring us luck that technology will win, we become stronger and more caring about each other and nature.
Merry Xmas and Happy New Year to you all!
Prof. Adams visited FungiG
Visit of Professor Jonathan Adams and Dr. Bin Song from the School of Geographic and Oceanographic Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing.
Winter mushrooms
The sudden temperature drop and several rainy days brought the most common “winter mushrooms”, Pleurotus ostreatus and Flammulina filiformis.
Image credit: Feng Cai, 2020
Pleurotus ostreatus 
Flammulina filiformis 
Flammulina filiformis 
Emerging fruiting body of Pleurotus ostreatus 
Pleurotus ostreatus 
Flammulina filiformis 
Weather in Nanjing on November 29, 2020
Flammulina velutipes sensu lato, or Enokitake or 金針菇, a widely known edible mushroom, has been recently divided into two phylogenetic species. The molecular evolutionary analysis of Wang et al. 2018 showed that the European isolates formed a monophyletic group of F. velutipes s.s., while all wild and cultivated Asian strains belonged to the cryptic sister species – F. filiformis.