WWW VL Mycology: Teaching Resources
These pages are no longer maintained, and were last updated in 2005. More info on the home page.
Sites for teaching and learning about fungi
A basic introduction to mycorrhizae, with tips on how to select and use inoculum in your garden or landscape. A Japanese version is also available.
The ATCC web page provides a searchable interface to their extensive holdings of filamentous fungi and yeasts, ordering instructions, and information about ATCC workshops and products.
A good introduction to mycorrhizae, their functions and evolution.
This site includes information on the flora and fauna of central Texas, USA. Jerry Evans has developed a nice guide to noncrustose lichens growing on trees at the Miller Springs Nature Center, and is developing a treatment of the mushrooms, too.
Fred M. Rhoades maintains this collection of 3-dimensional images of fungi, myxomycetes, bryophytes, and lichens from Washington, USA.
A web page on fungal infections of the skin is available through the Singapore National Skin Care Centre.
The systematic arrangement of fungal genera as suggested in Ainsworth and Bisby's Dictionary of the Fungi (8th edition) can be searched online.
Dr. Fungus provides a thorough introduction to fungi that impact human health. There is plentiful information on fungal pathogens of humans, diagnosis of the diseases they cause, and discussions of treatments and patient resources (this site was formerly called FungusWeb).
Sabine Huhndorf and her group at the Chicago Field Museum (USA) provide this user-friendly guide to digital imaging of fungi using a microscope, video camera, and computer.
These pages constitute an excellent on-line textbook of forest and shade tree pathology (including a good introduction to fungi) by Jim Worrall, a pathologist with the US Forest Service.
An online course in Forest Pathology and Control at Sir Sanford Fleming College, Canada.
A great guide to fungi for beginners and students, Fun Facts about Fungi reveals some of the amazing abilities of fungi, and suggests some experiments you might do to discover them.
The FGSC serves databases on the genetics of Aspergillus, Fusarium, Neurospora, Sordaria and other fungi, as well as catalogs of mutant and wild type strains; cloned genes and gene libraries; and useful recipes and methods. The Fungal Genetics Newsletter is online with full text and quality images. Some laboratory exercises demonstrating fungi can be found here. European users will achieve faster access through the U.K. mirror site.
A tutorial that deals with fungal infections of humans, their therapy, and the organisms responsible. It is provided by the Microbiology component of the University of Leeds Laboratory and Scientific Medicine Course.
Home page of the fungi at Manhattan College and the College of Mt. St. Vincent.
A metadirectory of the many images of fungi to be found on the internet.
A glossary and index of fungi important in indoor air quality from the University of Minnesota, with advice on remediation.
Fungi Perfecti (Olympia, Washington, USA) supplies a plethora of mushroom-growing equipment, spawn and kits, books, and dried edible and medicinal mushrooms. Their online catalog and information about Paul Stamets' mushroom cultivation seminars and consultation services can be found here. This elegant web site includes many impressive images of mushrooms and other products, including scanning electron micrographs of mushroom ultrastructure.
This website includes some lovely images of fungi, including Entomophthora, Spinellus, and some nematode parasites. It also includes information on Barron's book "Mushrooms of Northeast North America" (in Canada entitled "Mushrooms of Ontario and Eastern Canada").
This useful Glossary of technical terms in Plant Pathology was created by Phil Arneson of Cornell University. It includes definitions, illustrations, and sound files by Richard Korf to aid pronunciation.
A compilation of information on the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s, during which time over 3 million Irish died, and many others (including some of my own ancestors) emigrated to other parts of the world. The Famine resulted from an outbreak of late blight, caused by Phytophthora infestans.
Many, many scanned images of mushrooms and allies, from photographs taken by John C. Tacoma, 1968-1978. Maintained by the Library of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.
Lichenland provides a fine introduction to lichens for both professionals and amateurs. Synoptic keys to taxa and to terms lead to many fine images of lichens, a compilation of their characteristics, and pertinent literature.
Meredith Blackwell's lab at Louisiana State University provides information on current research on insect-fungus associations, history of mycology, the genealogy of American mycologists, teaching resources, the LSU herbarium, and other tidbits.
Color images of many microfungi taken under the microscope. Over 100 genera of molds are represented.
An online version of David Malloch's excellent guide to moulds (University of Toronto Press, 1981), complete with keys, media recipes, and illustrations of common genera. This book makes a great introduction to hyphomycetes for those with access to a microscope.
This discussion of mushroom toxins and the symptoms they produce forms a chapter of the "Bad Bug Book" by the US Food and Drug Administration. Other mycotoxins (aflatoxin and ilk) are discussed in a subsequent chapter.
The Mycotheology Home Page provides an interesting discussion of the role of fungi in magic, folklore, and religion.
Mycology students at Duke University (NC, USA) have prepared this site documenting the mushrooms of North Carolina. Their excellent photographs are available here.
Mycologue is a publishing company founded by W. Bryce Kendrick. It provides books, teaching materials, and computerized keys to fungi (Canada). The site also includes information and many illustrations of fungi that complement Dr. Kendrick's textbook, The Fifth Kingdom (q.v.).
Home page of the General Mycology class at Arizona State University, USA.
Home page of the mycology class at Oregon State University, USA.
The home page of the Mycology class at Towson University, in Maryland, USA.
Home page of Mycology classes at Humboldt University, California, USA.
This web site for Dr. Carol Shearer's Mycology class includes a syllabus, lab exercises, and many excellent lecture illustrations.
Mycology Online is a guide to fungal pathogens of humans, the diseases they cause, and selected case studies. This Australian site is searchable, nicely illustrated (not for the squeamish!), and replete with information.
The Mycorrhiza Information Exchange covers everything you need: literature databases, job ads, teaching tips, images, inoculum sources, links, etc. Participation is invited.
A website devoted to mycorrhizae and plant systematics, and the evolution of mycorrhizal symbiosis.
This guide to mycorrhizal associations (adapted and excerpted from a larger book) is provided by Mark Brundett at CSIRO (Australia). It details the structure and development of mycorrhizae, with handsome images and good textual explanation. It makes a wonderful teaching tool.
This site from the Biocenter at the University of Helsinki (Finland) includes scientific publications documenting the diversity, interactions and functions of forest tree mycorrhizae.
A unit of the US Dept. of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service that focuses on mycotoxin research. 3-dimensional molecular structures of a few mycotoxins produced by molds are available here.
This web site devoted to myxomycetes provides information on the plasmodial slime molds, including some impressively gooey images.
Natural Perspective's nicely illustrated introduction to the fungal kingdom.
The North American Lichen Project includes essays on lichen biology and the uses of lichens by people and animals, as well as excerpts and lovely photographs from the forthcoming book Lichens of North America, by I.M. Brodo, S.D. Sharnoff, and S. Sharnoff (Yale University Press).
NAMA is a great group for amateur mycologists. It provides a national mushroom poisoning registry, sponsors an annual foray, and publishes a fine annual journal, McIlvainea, and a bimonthly newsletter, The Mycophile. Also available through NAMA are suggestions for teaching K-12 students about fungi, and other tidbits.
Pennsylvania State University's strong program in mushroom cultivation presents fact sheets and other information about commercial mushroom production on these pages. PSU's mushroom growers' information pages are part of this site.
The University of Kentucky's course in plant pathogenic fungi has web pages that include the syllabus and other information.
The Plant Pathology courses at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (USA). Most materials are for registered students only; a distance learning course is offered.
The Plant Pathology Internet Guidebook is a comprehensive source for Plant Pathology resources online. It is available through the Institute of Plant Diseases and Plant Protection in Hannover, Germany.
Computer simulations for teaching aspects of plant pathology and epidemiology.
These are pages devoted to the Plasmodiophorales that include information about life histories, cytology, and biology of this interesting group of fungus-like protists. The site is no longer being updated.
Pythiosis is a disease of humans and animals that can be caused by the subject of this web page, Pythium insidiosum. The site includes graphic images and information on biology, epidemiology, diagnosis, and treatment.
Spongospora subterranea is a plasmodiophorid pathogen of potatoes (and other plants) and an emerging pathogen in some regions. This workshop site introduces the biology and control of S. subterranea and related species, and includes images and a discussion board.
W.B. Kendrick's delightful introductory mycology textbook, The Fifth Kingdom, is partly available online. This site includes over 800 lavish, colorful illustrations as a supplement to the text, which is available from Mycologue Publications (q.v.). The text of sample chapters is available, too. Dr. Kendrick's website also includes other publications for sale.
The Rhynie Chert is a fossilized Devonian lake shore in Scotland that includes some of the oldest fossils of plants and their associated fungi. This nice site introduces the botanical and mycological finds of the Rhynie Chert, and provides photos of the oldest known lichen and early arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.
Students at Texas A M University have prepared a guide to plant pathogenic (and other) fungi.
One stop shopping for mycology. These pages feature a "fungus of the month" column, with entertaining text and nice photos, in addition to a plethora of other information about fungi. Tom is a professor at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, USA.
This phylogenetic navigator provides a tree that shows the evolutionary relationships of living organisms, including fungi. It also supplies descriptive pages on selected terminal taxa. Like biological systematics itself, it's a work in progress.
The Museum of Paleontology at the University of California, Berkeley provides a well-prepared introduction to the kingdom Fungi, and also to two groups that have historically been studied by mycologists, the Oomycota and slime molds. Similar introductions are available for all other taxa. This link makes a valuable addition to any teaching program.
Drs. Ron Petersen and Karen Hughes maintain a nice set of web pages that include a primer on Botanical Nomenclature, a synopsis of molecular phylogenetic techniques. These pages also provide an important resources on color standards used by mycologists: a synopsis of Fries' color terminology, and a concordance of colors in the Ridgway and Methuen color handbooks. Lots of information is also provided on the projects of staff and students.
An illustrated history of news coverage of the Irish Potato Famine that occurred in the 1840s due to Phytophthora infestans, causal agent of late blight of potato.
A delightful introduction to selected members of the kingdom Fungi from the e-zine, Wayne's Word.
The Western Montana Mycological Association maintains this nice site. It includes photos of Montana mushrooms, recipes, an oyster mushroom cultivation project, a mushroom "trunk" for teachers, a morel information site, and information on the WMMA's current activities.
You're there now! This is a distributed library of resources maintained at many different sites all over the world. Unlike some of the big search engines, VL site maintainers personally select and evaluate the links they recommend, with the result that VL sites generally have a high signal to noise ratio. The WWW VL is a good place to start when looking for electronic information on all kinds of different topics.
