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Celebrating INVAM: 35 years of the largest living culture collection of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi

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Abstract

The International Culture Collection of (Vesicular-) Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi—INVAM—the largest living culture collection of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) celebrated its 35th year in 2020. The authors record here the mission and goals of INVAM, its contribution as a living culture collection, some historical aspects of INVAM, and describe the advances in mycorrhizology and AMF systematics after INVAM moved to West Virginia University. This commentary emphasizes the importance of a living culture collection to preserve germplasm and to educate and assist researchers in mycorrhizal science.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are indebted to Yvonne Pérez for kindly providing the photo of Norman Schenck and for sharing memories of the early days of INVAM in Florida. We thank the Mycological Society of America for granting permission to use the dart board depicted in Fig. 2. SLS would like to thank the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnológico (CNPq) for a research assistantship (Process 307.995/2019-4) and Universidade Regional de Blumenau (FURB) for supporting a sabbatical leave at the University of Kansas. JDB acknowledges the support of NSF (DEB 1556664).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universidade Regional de Blumenau, Departamento de Ciências Naturais, Blumenau, SC, 89030-903, Brazil

    Sidney L. Stürmer

  2. University of Kansas, Kansas Biological Survey, Department of Ecology and Evolution, Lawrence, KS, 66047, USA

    James D. Bever & Peggy A. Schultz

  3. Rowan University, Department of Biological Sciences, Glassboro, NJ, 08028, USA

    Stephen P. Bentivenga

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  1. Sidney L. Stürmer
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  2. James D. Bever
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  3. Peggy A. Schultz
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  4. Stephen P. Bentivenga
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Correspondence to Sidney L. Stürmer.

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Stürmer, S.L., Bever, J.D., Schultz, P.A. et al. Celebrating INVAM: 35 years of the largest living culture collection of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Mycorrhiza 31, 117–126 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00572-020-01008-z

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