Britt Bunyard, PhD (Founder, Publisher, and Editor-in-Chief of the mycology journal Fungi) will give a lecture for PPMS about Amanitas on Monday, August 20 @ 6:30pm at Penrose Library.
His lecture, titled From Lowly Saprobe to Mycorrhizal Masters: Amanitas (A Tale Told in the DNA), will give an overview of all aspects (biology, taxonomy, chemistry, physiology) of the beautiful Amanita mushrooms of North America. Everyone is familiar with the mushrooms but how much do we really know about what they are doing in the forest? How much do we know about their history and evolution? It turns out that a recent discovery–using modern molecular biology–led to an amazing discovery about their evolutionary past. Amanitas are mycorrhizal symbionts with forest trees but come from saprobic ancestors. The story is told in their DNA. Newbies and non mycologists will not be overwhelmed; advanced mycologists will not be bored, this discussion is for everyone with lots of beautiful images.
Not to be missed!