species maintains hard to connect and therefore unavailable to a large group of people with interest in this species.
Starting a platform Having this problem for my own research model, Flammulina velutipes, I thought of the possibility of starting a central platform where all existing information on F. velutipes could be accumulated. This was not a new idea per se, but it was certainly new for edible mushroom species. F. velutipes has been studied for a long time, is supported by a large industry, contains bioactive compounds, is edible, can be cultivated in a laboratory and has become genetically acces- sible. Yet, the different interest groups never connected because of the problems described above; lack of communication and hard to obtain information. When enquired, the answers of other ‘Flammulina people’ that I knew illustrated this perfectly. Most persons were interested, yet convinced that a species specific community would be too small. Almost none of them knew more than two or three other ‘Flammulina people’ and a couple of relevant papers. How- ever, a screen of recent literature followed by invitations to join the International Flammulina Community, generated a list of fifteen interested persons. Backed by further enquiries through ISMS, CEFA and online fungal communities, we expanded this list to nearly forty.
Organizing a species specific meeting. This promising number motivated us to organize an international meeting to introduce these people to each other. With Flammulina as single topic, our meeting attracted over twenty-five participants from four different countries (forty including our students and group members). The involvement of diverse disciplines was also very inspiring. Geneticists and molecular biologists, breeders, factory managers, crop institutes,
and several local institutes were represented. The majority of these participants did not know one another, and their presentations discussed similar topics on Flammulina (e.g. mushroom development, substrate usage, colour, medic- inal compounds and crossings) but from very different viewpoints, which demonstrated the potential value of collaboration. Based on the meeting, it was unanimously decided to continue and expand the Community and there was a strong interest for a follow up meeting. Follow- ing a workshop on the second day, priorities for the starting platform were: a website with a good member list, collection / translation of small reports in addition to standard literature, good representation of Flammulina factories, breed- ers and traders, a research section, and the wish of a central strain library. With this information, we are now developing the web based platform which should start next year. To develop the mushroom field a better connec- tion seems crucial. I therefore urge any person that is interested in Flammulina to join our com- munity (for the moment, just email me). I also hope that this example for F. velutipes will show that development of communities for different mushroom species is very well possible. The interest is larger than you think!
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Discussion during the
workshop in the theehouse of FAFU, ISMS President Greg Seymour in the middle.
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