Amazonian Fungi.

The Antibacterial Activity of Lentinula raphanica Collected in the Central Amazon.

This research investigates the anti-bacterial resistance of fungi collected from different locations in order to determine which are more resistant to elevated temperatures and the effects of contaminants. This should help with the future selection of more resistant L. raphanica by determining if there is genetic variation and reduce problems with future commercial production of this edible fungus.

The research concluded that antibacterial activity was observed at all temperatures and that there is possible genetic variability amongst the samples, which indicates the protential for selecting the more contamination resistant isolates for future commercial production.

This is the first record of antibacterial activity in Lentinula raphanica.

Training in the use of the macrofungus identification booklet "Instructions for the collection of the macrofungi Agaricales and Gasteroides".

The Amazon rainforest is one of the most diverse locations for species of fungi in the world. Fungi are fundamental for their role in the decomposition of organic material and for their micorrhizal endophytic and parasitic interactions in ecosystem maintenance and equilibrium. Thus, it is necessary to strengthen knowledge of this within the local communities as much as within the scientific community.

Amazonian macrofungi training courses sponsored and organised by INCT/CENBAM, for teachers and students in public schools, were started in 2010 in order to break the cycle of; "We don't teach about macrofungi because we don't know about macrofungi because we haven't been taught about macrofungi...", 

One of CENBAM's purposes is to train human resources at various levels.

Updates to the phylogeny of the order Phallales (Phallomycetidae, Bastidiomycota).

The phalloid fungi (order Phallales) are characterized by their mucilaginous tract, where the spores are formed and which exudes a foul odor that attracts dispersing agents, mostly insects (Leite et al., 2007).  The most up-to-date phylogeny proposed for the order dates from 2014 and includes tropical and sub-tropical genera and species, subdividing the order into six families with high phylogenetic support: Clathraceae, Claustulaceae Gastrosporiaceae, Lysuraceae, Phallaceae and (Trierveiler-Pereira et al.  2014). 

However, the relationships between the genera within each family, or the taxonomic delimitation between the taxa is conflicting, which results in a large number of synonyms for the order.  This is partly due to the difficulty in morphologically characterizing the taxa, due to the scarcity and plasticity of the diagnostic characters.  In addition, the ephemeral nature of basidiomas makes it difficult to preserve macroscopic characters after dehydration. 

The present work aims to update the group systematics through a phylogeny based on molecular data with emphasis on the positioning of recently collected specimens in the Amazon. 

Edible Fungus Production in the Manaus region. (Lentinula raphanica in Bertolletia excelsa).

The project to cultivate naturally occuring Brazilian fungi began in 2012 with the species Lentinula raphanica. Brazilnut tree logs from reforested areas were used as the growing medium. The techiques were based on the cultivation of shiitake mushrooms which uses Quercus spp. in Japan and Eucalyptus spp. in Brazil.

The first crops were cultivated in nurseries under the shade of palmtree leaves. However the return was small due to interference from insect attacks, high levels of contamination and losses in the post-collection process which led the team to study new alternatives for the cultivation location.

How fungi are used in the Itacoatiara-Mirim community of São Gabriel da Cachoeira, Amazonas, Brazil.

The multi-ethnic indigenous Racoatiara-Mirim community - mostly Baniwa - is located approximately 10 km from the city of São Gabriel da Cachoeira (Amazonas). For some time now, this community has been recording, restoring, and disseminating their traditional knowledge.

The book "Ana Amopo: Yanomami Mushrooms," was written by indigenous researchers from the Yanomami Indigenous Land, and relates various stories passed down from generation to generation concerning the use of mushrooms in the Itacoatiara Mirim community.

The community leaders were interested in recording this information, with the intent to publicize it in the community and beyond the borders of São Gabriel da Cachoeira and contacted researchers from the National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA) inviting them to carry out a workshop on mushroom picking with the participation of 18 people from the community. 

Mushrooms were collected during a guided visit to the forest and community gardens which showed where to find them and demonstrated how the mushrooms were used.  The material was sent to INPA and the specimens were identified at species level by macroscopic character analysis.  The specimens were also represented by manual drawings by the community.  Nine species of known edible mushrooms used by the community for food have been identified, including the species Auricularia cf fuscosuccinea (Mont.) Henn., Auricularia delicato (Mont. Ex Fr). Henn and Lentinus concavus (Berk.) Corner. 

The species of the genus Auricularia are consumed in several countries, mainly in China and Japan and by indigenous peoples of Colombia, Peru and Venezuela and in Brazil, the genus Auricularia has been recorded for the peoples Taicão (lkpeng) and Taucarramãe (Caiapós-mecranotis). 

The species L. concavus is also consumed by the Yanomami.  The mushroom species Pycnoporus cf.  sanguineus (L) Murrill is used by the community as tea to treat belly aches which is also reported by indigenous Africans.

Childrens books about macrofungi: Dissemination and popularization of Amazonian environmental mycology.

Fungi carry out vital ecological functions essential for the maintenance of forests due to their role in the recycling of nutrients and the decomposition of organic material and in their mycorrhizal, parasitic and endophytic associations.

However, during their academic development, students learn very little about the ecological funtions of fungi with a lot more emphasis being placed on their economical inportance for humans.

"Embaúba: uma árvore e muitas vidas." - This first book tries to address this imbalance by showing the mycorrhizal relationship between the tree Embaúba (Cecropia spp.) and fungi. Published in 2016 in the Portugese, English, Japonese languages.

"Brilhos na floresta". - This book focuses on the poorly recognised bioluminescant fungi that can only be seen in the dark. It has been translated into 4 languages: Portugese, English, Japonese as above, and also the indiginous Nheengatu.

Inpa Research Group finds 17 new mushroom species in the Amazon.

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Researchers discover new species and genera of mushrooms collected in the Amazon rainforest, as well as study potential edible and antimicrobial species. The study was sponsored by the Amazonas State Research Support Foundation (Fapeam).

Mushrooms are an economically viable alternative for their potential use in the food industry and for being a promising source of active compounds for the development of pharmaceutical bioproducts. In addition, they can be used in the production of handicrafts such as the Përɨsɨ species, a fiber-like fungus structure used by the Yanomami indigenous community in the Maturacá region of Amazonas, which serves to make basketry.

The project “Macrofungos da Amazonia: Taxonomy and Screening of Edible Species and / or Producers of Antimicrobial Compounds” was coordinated by researcher Noemia Kazue Ishikawa, and was mainly developed at the Food Microbiology Laboratory and the Herbarium of the National Amazon Research Institute (Inpa), with several partners in Brazil and other countries, and supported by the Research Support Program (Universal Amazonas), edict No. 030/2013.

Species

The study began with the collection of over 2,000 mushroom samples from various regions of the Amazon. This work of mushroom morphological analysis was carried out by the fungal taxonomists of the Inpa Amazonian Mushroom Research Group, Jadson José Souza Oliveira and Tiara Sousa Cabral, among others.

Of these 2,000 collections, the research group was able to identify two new genres: Pusillumyces gen.nov. and Sclerocarpum gen.nov. and another 15 new macrofungus species. In addition to describing unknown species, the group studied 27 edible mushroom species and 23 species with antimicrobial activity.