Only one paper in 6 years! He drew a "family tree" for the Boletaceae family...

Drawing a "family tree" for the Boletaceae family, conducting popular science lectures, exploring artificial cultivation... Wu Gang, an associate researcher at the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has been specializing in the classification of Boletus for many years. Although Wu Gang often faces difficulties in this unpopular field, he believes that the value of scientific research lies in finding various possibilities and being full of fun because of his passion.

Wu Gang's office is not difficult to find. You can get there by following the smell of mushrooms. When the reporter knocked on the door, he was observing the structure of boletus under a microscope and taking notes in his notebook. He moved the microscope away and sorted out the piled specimens and documents. Wu Gang had just made room for the reporter to interview.

Indoor work includes recording the appearance and morphology of wild mushrooms, organizing photos, making specimens and baking them. (Photo by Zhao Pufan, Xinhuanet)

It's hard to turn around in the office. Wu Gang was a little embarrassed: "This place is a bit like a warehouse, let's go to the lab first." The associate researcher of the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has been traveling between literature, laboratories, and forests. The "family tree" of Boletaceae drawn in 6 years has become the basis for international bolete systematic classification research. His fungal diversity and molecular evolution research group has published more than 400 new taxa of large fungi.

Six years of hard work to create a "family tree" for the Boletaceae family

In 2009, Wu Ganggang entered the Kunming Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences as a graduate student. The first project assigned to him by his supervisor Yang Zhuliang was to conduct DNA barcode research on "Jian Shou Qing", a food commonly eaten by local people in Yunnan. In layman's terms, it was about how to quickly identify 20 to 30 similar species and clarify their closeness.

"Jian Shou Qing" belongs to different genera, and it is not easy to distinguish them. Wu Gang analyzed that the best way is to put "Jian Shou Qing" in a "big pool". "In layman's terms, it is to draw a 'family tree' for the Boletaceae family. By determining the position of a certain species in the 'family tree', we can naturally know its relationship with other species."

The dried wild mushroom specimens will be assigned a collection number and stored in the specimen collection of the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences after the collection information is entered. (Photo by Zhao Pufan, Xinhuanet)

This also meant that Wu Gang had to challenge a world-wide problem recognized by the industry. At that time, there were more than 800 species of Boletaceae published worldwide, and choosing which representative species to complete this systematic work was the first problem facing Wu Gang.

After extensive literature reading and preliminary experiments, Wu Gang finally selected more than 800 specimens and nearly 300 species of Boletaceae for research. "In fact, the method is not complicated. It mainly involves sequencing the genes of Boletaceae species, selecting the right locations, and continuously experimenting to accumulate data." Wu Gang said that the classification of species of Boletaceae is difficult to implement.

After taking the photos, Wu Gang carefully placed the wild mushroom specimens he collected into a small transparent collection box and took them back to the laboratory for indoor records. (Photo by Zhao Pufan, Xinhuanet)

Wu Gang collected specimens through interlibrary loan and frequently went to the wild to collect. "When I encounter wild mushrooms, the first thing I do is to make good records." When the weather is bad, Wu Gang finds the angle himself, sets up a reflector, and uses a camera to take clear photos of the mushrooms. If the harvest is good, Wu Gang will be very busy when he returns to the laboratory, and sometimes he will stay up until the early morning before leaving the laboratory.

It took Wu Gang six years to write just one paper, and it was this paper that laid the framework for the classification of Boletus species and was called a "milestone" research result by international peers.

Species classification lays the foundation for subsequent research

Having specialized in the classification and research of boletus for more than 10 years, Wu Gang can basically judge the specific species and whether it is poisonous based on the appearance of common boletus with just one glance.

Despite this, Wu Gang said that there are still many unknowns in his research field, and as long as he is passionate about it, he can find fun.

Wu Gang had a good harvest and found a lot of mushrooms. Among them, the velvet-capped golden boletus in the lower right corner is a new species of wild mushroom that he named and published. (Photo by Wang Qiwang, Xinhuanet)

Today, Wu Gang, who has built the classification framework of Boletaceae, still reads literature and looks at specimens when he has free time. "Currently, gene sequencing is one of the fastest ways to identify species, and it is also a method widely recognized by the industry. Before publishing a new species, researchers will compare the sequencing data of published species; but many new species in the past were mainly published by predecessors based on morphological characteristics, lacking gene sequencing data, and it is easy to have the phenomenon of 'late synonyms', that is, treating old species discovered by predecessors as their own new discoveries." Wu Gang said.

The picture shows Wu Gang finding a small wild mushroom in the grass. (Photo by Zhao Pufan, Xinhuanet)

Species classification is not popular, and the classification description of old species is even less popular. "Classification is the basis for downstream research on species. If the basic classification is not clear, how can we talk about species utilization?" Wu Gang introduced that there are currently about 240 species of Boletus in China that are supported by molecular evidence, and it is estimated that there are more than 100 new species that have not yet been discovered. Occasionally, when he has free time, Wu Gang will go to the specimen museum to find a few specimens of old species that have not yet been sequenced for research. "Although these cannot be used as scientific research results, they can lay the foundation for future research."

Apply what you learn, and “plant” scientific research on the land

"When doing scientific research, we cannot just focus on publishing papers." Wu Gang said that on the one hand, scientific research is the basis of popular science, and knowledge must be spread; on the other hand, scientific research is the basis of application, and the potential for practical application is also one of the criteria for judging the value of scientific research.

Wu Gang has a "poisonous mushroom identification group" on his phone. "Many mushroom classification experts, personnel from provincial CDCs, and emergency doctors from major hospitals are in the group." Wu Gang said that they are responsible for identifying the species of poisonous mushrooms and the symptoms of poisoning that may result from accidental ingestion. The CDC conducts epidemiological surveys and collects samples, transmits relevant information, and connects with hospitals to start treatment as soon as possible. In addition, Wu Gang and his colleagues at the institute often hold popular science lectures and produce posters to tell people about the dangers of eating poisonous mushrooms.

In the laboratory, researchers are conducting molecular biology experiments, including DNA extraction, amplification and sequencing. The data obtained are analyzed and combined with the results of morphological observation to complete species identification. (Photo by Zhao Pufan, Xinhuanet)

Boletus is an important edible wild mushroom in Yunnan, and collecting wild mushrooms is an important source of income for many people in mountainous areas. However, most boletus cannot be cultivated artificially due to their symbiotic relationship with certain tree species. In recent years, one of Wu Gang's research interests is to find out which boletus has the greatest potential for artificial cultivation.

"First, it is safe to eat. Second, it does not need to coexist with specific tree species as much as possible. These are ultimately reflected in genes. Our research found that different boletes have different abilities to degrade cellulose and utilize nutrients. If you want to cultivate and develop it, you should choose species with stronger degradation or absorption capabilities as much as possible." Wu Gang hopes that based on the classification of boletes, he can find bolete species that are easier to cultivate artificially at the molecular level, thereby providing a shortcut for the future cultivation of artificial strains.

The picture shows Wu Gang collecting wild mushroom specimens in the forest. (Photo by Zhao Pufan, Xinhuanet)

Morchella was once impossible to cultivate artificially, but through the joint efforts of Wu Gang's team, China has successfully mastered the technology of high and stable yield of Morchella. Not only is the technology world-leading, but it has also helped many people in mountainous areas such as Nujiang and Diqing in Yunnan to become rich. In Wu Gang's view, the artificial cultivation technology of porcini is much more difficult. "It will definitely take a long time from research to application, and it may not necessarily succeed, but the value of scientific research itself is to study various possibilities," Wu Gang said.

Editor-in-charge｜Zhang Suling Editor｜Zhao Wen

Source: People's Daily (April 8, 2022, Page 12) Reporter Yang Wenming, original title: "Focusing on the classification of Boletus, Wu Gang, associate researcher at the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences - Deeply cultivating unpopular fields with passion in mind (Science and Technology Self-reliance and Self-improvement·Young Scientists)"