RCN: Fungal Environmental Sampling and Informatics Network

真菌是一种重要的生态生物，通过广泛的互惠和寄生相互作用，直接影响人类健康以及生态系统和农业的健康。然而，真菌在生态环境中难以识别和枚举，这一问题限制了我们研究其生态相互作用的能力。真菌环境采样和信息学网络（FESIN）的主要目标是通过改进鉴定工具和资源来促进真菌在环境设置中的研究，这些工具和资源可供未受过真菌分类学培训的科学家使用。FESIN将通过一系列会议来实现这一目标，这些会议的重点是协调真菌分子鉴定工具和数据库的发展。通过FESIN开发的工具和数据库资源将为真菌病原体和共生菌提供快速鉴定方法，并将帮助科学家剖析复杂生态系统的功能。FESIN的结构也是为了促进年轻科学家的培训，并在生态学和真菌生物学学科之间发展长期的相互作用。此外，FESIN将促进在多个层面的公众宣传，以提高公众对真菌的关键环境作用的理解。

The fungi are an ecologically important group of organisms that directly impact human health and the health of our ecosystems and agriculture, through a wide range of mutualistic and parasitic interactions. However, fungi are difficult to identify and enumerate in ecological settings, and this problem has limited our ability to study their ecological interactions. The primary objective of the Fungal Environmental Sampling and Informatics Network (FESIN) is to facilitate the study of fungi in environmental settings by improving identification tools and resources available to scientists who are not trained in fungal taxonomy. FESIN will achieve that objective through a series of meetings that focus on coordinating the development of molecular identification tools and databases for fungi. The tools and database resources that will be developed through FESIN will provide rapid identification methods for fungal pathogens and mutualists and will help scientists to dissect the functioning of complex ecosystems. FESIN is structured also to facilitate the training of young scientists and to develop long-term interactions between the disciplines of ecology and fungal biology. In addition, FESIN will facilitate public outreach at multiple levels in order to improve public understanding of critical environmental roles of fungi.