CHINA Mr Mushroom turns 85
On 26 September, a symposium was organized in Shanghai to celebrate the 85th birthday of one of the most famous and significant mushroom
researchers of China (and beyond): Professor Shu-Ting Chang. By Anton Sonnenberg, Wageningen UR Plant Breeding
S Prof. S.T.
Chang looking back on his long life.
.T. Chang was born in a remote village in Shanxi Province in China. He had a troubled youth in a period of wars (with Japan; WWII, and the war of liberation) and was brought up mostly by his grandmother. Education was difficult since war disrupted most education systems. At the end of 1948 he fled with his grandma to Taiwan, where he continued his education at the Taiwan University, and received his Bachelor of Science in Agronomy in 1953. He married his wife miss Du in May 1955 and their first child was born in 1956. Chang was eager to further his education, and moved to Madison, Wisconsin in the USA, where he obtained his Master of Science in 1958 and his PhD in 1960. His main expertise was corn genetics and breeding. In 1960, he got a position at the Chinese University of Hong Kong where he was reunited with his family. He started as an assistant lecturer in the depart- ment of Chung Chi College, lecturing in genet- ics, plant anatomy and plant physiology. At the same time he wanted to continue his work on breeding corn that had started in Wisconsin. He leased a plot of land to grow his corn lines, but before he could collect the results, the whole crop was harvested by accidence and that changed his whole career.
A new start
In Hong Kong Chang encountered delicious mushrooms in many dishes in Chinese restau- rants. These appeared to be straw mushrooms (Volvariella volvaceae) that were grown in the mainland of China and Hong Kong. He also came across a book written by R. Singer titled ‘Mushrooms and truffles: botany, cultivation and utilization’. Chang decided then to change his work to the genetics and cultivation of the straw mushroom. Again by hiring a piece of land, he investigated cultivation methods, nutrient content, spawn preparation and later cytology and spore germination of the straw mushroom. He published his experiments in a number of journals and became a well know mushroom researcher, especially at the University of Hong Kong where he was known as ‘Mister Straw Mushroom’. Chang improved the cultivation system of this mushroom considerably, by using cotton waste as a substrate instead of rice straw. He became gradually well known as THE mush- room expert, and as a result was invited by the UNESCO in 1978 to conduct a regional training course in Hong Kong on the cultivation of edible fungi. This type of training has been one of the most important activities of Dr Chang. Since then, he has given numerous trainings in Africa and South America, especially.
In 1962 Chang lost his wife. A very sad and diffi- cult period followed, having the responsibility to raise three children without a mother. Later, he met Judy Li-Ju Lee, later to be his wife. Dr Chang continued his work in Hong Kong and in 1971 was appointed by the colonial Secretary as head of the Hong Kong delegation to attend the 12th Pacific Science Congress held in Canberra, Australia. This conference brought him in contact with Dr Jack Shepherd, who studies the infections of Eucalyptus trees by the fungus Phytophtora cinnamomi. He was offered a position for a year as a visiting research fellow to use his knowledge on fungal genetics to study the tree pathogen. He could receive at the same time a family immigra- tion visa for a permanent stay in Australia. From
46 MUSHROOM BUSINESS
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