April 2011
A F F I L I A T E S
L E T T E R
The official newsletter for FEMS Affiliates
NEW issue of the FEMS Focus, now available!
Biggest reference book on Yeasts published The ultimate reference book on yeasts was presented to the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences on Wednesday, April 20, 2011. “The Yeasts, a Taxonomic Study” was made possible through the hand of former FEMS Yeast Research Chief Editor Dr Teun Boekhout, American microbiologists Drs Cletus Kurtzman and Jack Fell and 76 other authors. Dr Boekhout calls it an international project. “22 countries, 76 authors from those countries, so this is like, you can say, maybe like a wiki project. A lot of volunteers worked on these chapters and in the end of course, made the book what it is,” he beams.
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: FEMS Sec. Gen. Prof. Tone T øn j u m o n Translational Research FEMS at the NVvM Centenary Partial list of 2011 FEMSsponsored meetings Deadlines for FEMS Grants FEMS 2011 update
This is the 5th edition of the book that was first published in 1952. It contains 60 years of Yeast history and the most extensive reference for yeasts by far. In fact, it is so thorough that it could not fit in one book so they made three books out of it.
covered by the day, the group will not wait another 10 years to publish the next one. “If we wait another 10 years, it will be out of control. It will be The 5th Edition of “The so huge that it Yeasts, a Taxonomic Study” can’t be done. So is the most extensive by far. now we’re thinking about something like a wiki, continuing this wiki approach by asking people to work on the different parts of the yeast domain and then update regularly,” says Dr Boekhout.
The book is also available as an ebook which will be updated every now and then. Dr Boekhout expects that the updated printed version will be published in the next 5 to 6 “The first book years. “People is an introduction with about Toasting to the biggest reference on yeasts. Dr Teun Boekhout is can buy either 10 chapters on joined by co-editors Drs Jack Fell (left) and Cletus Kurtzman (right). the whole e-book or individual various aspects chapters. Also, the e-book allows us to update of yeasts like ecology and cell biology and more regularly because print is very expensive whatever. The second part is on the ascomybut PDF is not so expensive. And that is the cetes yeasts like that saccharomyces and the way we go,” he explains. candidas. And the third volume is one the basidiomycetes yeasts, let’s say Cryptococcus , and things like that”, Dr Boekhout explains. The group is also working on a website to allow The book is a reference to about 1500 yeasts, double the number in the last edition published in 1998. With the amount of new species dis-
for easy communication among microbiologists interested to join in the project and quick updating of the species. But as to when this will be available is yet to be known.
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