On April 22-23 (2014), a masterclass on Fungal Barcoding will be organized. A set of model strains of two species (complexes) has been sent out to potential speakers who will present their methods, with hypotheses, limitations, calibrations, pitfalls etc. using this same set of strains. With this innovative approach we plan to devote an entire day to state-of-the-art methodologies in mycology. The methods presented are highly diverse and include phylogeny, immunology, virulence factors, antifungal susceptibility, several types of animal models, and others. The second masterclass day will be available for free communications.

The masterclass takes place directly after Eastern, and in the middle of the tulip season in The Netherlands. It is therefore recommended not to wait too long with booking your flight and hotel. The masterclass is free of charge and you will get free dinners in the historical centre of Utrecht, but we will be unable to sponsor hotels and flight tickets. All relevant information and a registration form can be found on the website. Submit your abstract to the CBS according to this format.

Directly after this masterclass, the CBS Spring Symposium entitled ‘Fungal Genera and Genomes’ will start in Amsterdam, only 20 train minutes away from Utrecht; you even don’t need to change your hotel to participate in this event as well. For information and registration, click here.

The European Confederation of Medical Mycology has awarded Sybren de Hoog, senior researcher at the CBS-KNAW Fungal Biodiversity Centre in Utrecht, the two-yearly ECMM prize for his contributions to our knowledge on clinical fungi.

We are pleased to announce that as part of the Memorandum of Understanding between the CBS Fungal Biodiversity Centre, an institute of the Royal Dutch Academy of Arts and Sciences (CBS), and the Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IMCAS), both institutes have decided to co-appoint Principal Investigators (PI's) as Research Fellows (RF's).

Phytopathogenic Dothideomycetes
Editor(s): P.W. Crous, G.J.M. Verkley and J.Z. Groenewald
Details: 406 pp., fully illustrated with colour pictures (A4 format), paperback, 2013
Price: € 70,-

Cultivation and Diseases of Proteaceae: Leucadendron, Leucospermum and Protea
Authors: Pedro W. Crous, Sandra Denman, Joanne E. Taylor, Lizeth Swart, Carolien M. Bezuidenhout, Lynn Hoffman, Mary E. Palm and Johannes Z. Groenewald
Details: 360 pages, Full colour, Hardcover, bound, June 2013
Price: € 75,-

The 10th International Mycological Congress, Bangkok,Thailand

Website for IMC10 in Thailand (3-8 August 2014) announced!

On Wednesday the 30th of October 2014,  the yearly meeting of the Fusarium working group of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Planteziektenkundige Vereniging (Royal Dutch Phytopathological Society) will be held at the CBS-KNAW Fungal Biodiversity Centre in Utrecht, the Netherlands. For more information or registration contact Anne van Diepeningen (a.diepeningen@cbs.knaw.nl).

On 23-27 September 2013 a successful workshop entitled Food and airborne Fungi: Identification based on morphological and molecular methods was held at the Trakya University  (Edirne, Turkey).

The workshop was attended by more than 30 people and was held in the framework of the collaboration between CBS (project Sloan indoor moulds) and the Turkish mycologists (Tubitak project on Turkeys indoor moulds). The local organization was carried out by Prof. Dr Ahmet Asan and his research group. Neriman Yilmaz, Jos Houbraken and Rob Samson were the CBS instructors.

The course of Food and Airborne Fungi was held from 7-11 October 2013. The course was attended by 23 participants from Finland, Denmark, Brazil, Sweden, Belgium, Poland, Germany and the Netherlands.

In this course, the moulds that have a great impact on our food and the environment where we live are treated. These microorganisms can cause spoilage of our food or produce toxic compounds. In the indoor environments the exposure to moulds can influence our health, because species can be pathogenic, toxic or produce allergenic substances. The major portion of the course was devoted to recognition and identification of the most common filamentous fungal and yeast species found as food- and airborne contaminants or used in food processing. Special lectures on detection methods and new identification techniques (molecular, MALDI-TOF) were presented.