Volume 14, Part 3, August 2000

Obituary - Professor David Wood

•

Professor David Wood (55) died on 22 February2000, following a short illness. David was one ofthe mushroom world's more colourful andpioneering researchers. He was born inAravarkadu, Southern India, during WorldWar II,on a military hill station which included anexplosives factory. A State Scholarship to readmicrobiology at University College London wasfollowed by a PhD in bacterial enzymology andcytochemistry. His thesis, "Properties andlocation of alkaline phosphatases in somebacteria", was supervised by Dr H. Tristram. Hemoved to Oxford in 1968, and worked for fouryears as a microbial biochemist in a prestigiousgroup, studying bacterial sporulation as a modelsystem of differentiation, under the leadership ofProfessor Joel Mandelstam FRS. It was duringthis period that David encountered many of theleading microbiologists of his generation, forminglasting friendships and collaborations whichsustained him throughout his career.

His commitment to mushrooms started whenhe joined Glasshouse Crops Research Institute (afore-runner of Horticultural ResearchInternational) at Littlehampton, West Sussex, in1972. Originally employed to develop the studiesof Fred Hayes on fruitbody initiation, Davidplayed a pivotal part in the revolution ofunderstanding in Basidiomycete biology from thedescriptive to the mechanistic and analytical. Hispassion was for biochemistry and physiology andhis studies of the enzymes involved in Agaricusnutrition are seminal.

He was successful in the technically difficulttask of purifying the enzyme laccase fromcompost and completed a detailed study of theenzyme both physiological and molecular. Muchof this work was given impetus by periods as avisiting worker in Madison, Wisconsin, in thelaboratory of Kent Kirk, a pioneer in research onmicrobial degradation of lignocellulosics. Later hestudied a second compost enzyme, cellulase, anddemonstrated that fluctuations in this enzymewere correlated to flushing. He collaboratedwidely at HRI on numerous projects and laterwith colleagues further afield. Collaborative workwith Chris Thurston and colleagues at King's

College London was particularly productive andled to the first Agaricus gene being cloned. Otherareas of mushroom science to which he madesignificant contributions are, the role of microbialbiomass as a fungal nutrient, fungal biomassmeasurement and the microbial ecology ofcomposting.

David was a prolific publisher and mentorednumerous PhD students. He was at various timesa Visiting Professor at King's College London andManchester University. He maintained career-long associations, in committee and editorialcapacities, with the Society for GeneralMicrobiology and the British Mycological Society.He was a BMS Vice President in 1997 under thePresidency of David Moore.

For all his scientific achievements he had anebullient and sometimes frivolous character. Hewas well able to 'let his hair down' and be the lifeand soul of the party. Outside of science he hadwide-ranginginterests; he enjoyedjazz, gardening(we shared an allotment with him), fine art anddesign. He revelled in political discourse,

intellectual debate and historical writing. He wasproud to be a member of the Labour Party. For usand many others, David was an endless source ofscientific and cultural knowledge. He was a warmman and showed personal support for many(including the authors) although sometimes hecould be volatile. David left HRI in 1996. Hecontinued his scientific interests, but never quitefound the fulfilment of his earlier career. In recenttimes, he travelled as a consultant to Russia,

Volume 14, Part 3, August 2000

China and Holland and worked for almost a yearin Japan at Chiba University. The death of Davidis a great loss to the worldwide mu shroomcommunity. We will all miss him. His wife Monica,and his two children Jonathan and Rachel fromhis first marriage to Jan are in our thoughts.

Terry Fermor and Kerry BurtonHorticultural Research International,

Wellesbourne, Warwickshire, UK

Homepage News

The URL for the homepage has been shortenedto : <www.ulst.ac.uk/bms>; but, no need to panic,the previous URL is still active. The following arerecent links that members may fmd useful.

The Society section: Calendar for year 2000;FEMs and other fellowships ; Field Mycology(under Journals); a Millennium challenge (underResources).

More UK Sites section:The Northern Ireland FC is the latest entry toFungus Groups list; it was created by DavidMitchel as part of a Natural Pioneers MillenniumAward project;MAFF's Multi-Element Survey of Wild EdibleFungi ;Mos tly Mushrooms, a mushroom cultivationwebsite created by Richard Clarke, a final yearbiology student, University of Manchester, thatbridges the gap between the mushroom industry

and current research and discoveries ; includesabstracts of the latest research in mushroomscience.

Mycological Registers section: other URLs,Systemat ics section - ICBN (International Codeof Botanical Nomenclature; Tokyo Code).

Omnium Gatherum section:Apex Photo-Technical Services, Links to Over 200Photo Industry SitesScience resources

- Periodic Table: WebElements online- Protocol Online (an exhaustive rundown on

the hottest methods in molecular and cellbiology, including Yeast)

- Research Randomiser: random numbers anda brief tutorial about research.

RTM

MYCOLOGY AND OTHER CRYPTOGAM BOOKSBOUGHT AND SOLD

New, out of print and antiquarian catalogue available.

Binders for the Mycologist £7.00 each inclusive P + P.

Pendleside Books, Fence, Nr. Burnley BB 12 9QA

Telephone 01282 615617