Completed 64 years and stepped into 65^th ... 

Shraddhavan labhate jnanam

(= sincere and hard work begets knowledge) 

-Lord Shri Krishna in Bhagavad Gita

 

As stepped into 65^th year on 06^th November 2013, I tried to look back and lace out my profile, in this brief write-up. You may like to read............

Early education

Born on Sunday 6^th Nov 1949 at 5:00 pm, as 5^th son to my parents, late Shri Darbhe Ishwara Bhatta and Smt. Devaki Amma, I grew up in our native village Irde in Puttur Taluka, Dakshina Kannada District, Karnataka State. We were 11 children (7 brothers and 4 sisters) to my parents. My father was a simple-lived vedic purohit. Though his earning was very meager and supported only hand-to-mouth, he encouraged all of us to take formal education. I spent my childhood at our home Darbhe, in the foothills of the Western Ghats. Home was our first school where we learnt many things from our parents and the serene village surroundings. Most of all, the basic values of living, taught when we were very young, i.e. honesty, humility, discipline and concern for others, all provided a strong base for later living. My brothers are very learned human beings.

My primary schooling was at Kunhimoole-Darbhe Aided School, in the close proximity of our ancestral home. The nearest upper-primary and high schools however were 7-8 km away at Arlapadavu and Bettampady in Puttur Taluka, I walked the distance up and down every day from home for 6^th to 10^th Std (1960-66) as there was no other mode of transport available those days. 

UG and PG

My pre-University and under-graduate studies were at St. Philomena College, Puttur, affiliated to Mysore University (1966-71). This college, a disciplined institute of higher learning, provided me a strong foundation and interest in biological sciences. My biology teachers were a dedicated lot to their profession. Besides regular teaching in classrooms, regularly they took us to nearby forests, fields, streams, mountains and plains to teach field biology. Each outing was an add-on learning experience. 

I did M.Sc. in Biosciences at P.G. Centre Mangalore under Mysore University (1971-73). Again, I had great teachers; every class of theirs was very educative and loaded with not only the subject matter but also curious thoughts. We were driven to form ideas and develop passion for creative thinking.  Under the guidance of Professor K.M. Kaveriappa, who later became the Registrar and Vice Chancellor of Mangalore University and with whom I maintained a lasting contact all through, my interest in microbiology and mycology grew beyond the boundaries.

 

Doctoral studies

I joined the Centre for Advanced Studies in Botany, University of Madras, in August 1973 for my post-M.Sc. Diploma in Mycology and Plant Pathology and Ph.D. in Botany. My doctoral work on biology of fungi (1974-79) was under the supervision of Prof. C.V. Subramanian, an internationally acclaimed mycologist and a wonderful human being. Invaluable guidance from Professor Subramanian and numerous mycological events and cultural interactions that took place those days in Chennai provided me not only a sound knowledge on fungal biology but also everything that I now know.  I had scholarship of one kind or other while at Madras, first a UGC–JRF, then UGC-SRF and later a CSIR–RA (Post-doctoral). 

The Mycological Society of India was established in 1973, the same year of my joining for Ph.D. in Chennai. I have been associated with the Society ever since, in various capacities (as Life Member, Treasurer, Secretary, President and Fellow), all of which I consider great honour. The Society is now 40 plus years and I am very happy that bright and enthusiastic students of mycology are now leading this learned Society.

Encounters with fungi

My doctoral studies on Hypocrealean fungi and subsequent work on Hyphomycetous fungi demanded extensive field work. In the last nearly four decades, in search of microfungi, I trekked around numerous forests and streams of Western Ghats, from Kanyakumari (Tamilnadu) to Mahabaleshwar (Maharashra) through the States of Kerala, Karnataka and Goa, and scanned varied kinds of substrates which included decaying plant litter, freshwater foam, submerged leaf litter, aerial plant parts, epiphytic debris, internals of fresh leaves and twigs, herbivore dung, dead/live insects, soil, etc.  This enduring search for microfungi in the forests and the results achieved provided me a great insight on the diversity and taxonomy of fungi in the tropics. These basic research studies have been excitements of invaluable nature and I cherish them always.

Fungi of the forests of Western Ghats

It was in the monsoon of 1976, in search of Hypocrealean fungi, I set out on my first field trip into the forests of Western Ghats in Dakshina Kannada and Madikeri districts of Karnataka State. Moist chamber incubated dead and decaying twigs of Coffea arabica, collected in Abby Falls near Madikeri, when examined under a stereoscope exhibited glistening, colourless, spherical fungal spores in masses on phialidic conidiophores.  This was nothing to do with Hypocrealean fungi; yet, I showed the preparation to my mentor, Professor Subramanian. The mycology laboratory of Centre for Advanced Studies in Botany at Madras University then had total command on biology and taxonomy of fungi, at global level. My teacher was instant in declaring that the fungus might be an unknown one and I should examine it further. Continued detailed studies in the next couple of months, resulted with description of a new species in a new genus, Bahusutrabeeja dwaya which we published in Canadian Journal of Botany in 1977. This was my first research publication. The fungus has subsequently been sequenced. Though Hypocrealean fungi were my focus for PhD work, in my inner-self, I developed an innate passion for conidial fungi.  It was my firm conviction then that ‘pursuit for knowledge will surpass everything else’. 

Putagraivam sundaram and Peethambara sundara, two more new fungi that we described from my native place Darbhe were an accidental discovery. Closely and curiously watching my fungus collecting sorties in the forests, my father who didn’t even had a formal education brought a head-load of decaying twigs of Macaranga indica from the nearby jungle and asked me to search fungi in them. Interestingly, the twigs had bright-coloured stromatic ascocarps on the surface. Single ascospores in culture produced a synnematous conidial phase. The study ended up in the description of a hitherto unknown teleomorph-anamorph connection of a new fungus. This was a great discovery. Putagraivam sundaram is now a synonym of Didymostilbe sundara.  These are of course yet to be sequenced.

While in Chennai, my two collecting visits to Silent Valley in Kerala (1979, 1980) were most memorable. Led by the Botanical Survey of India and Zoological Survey of India, I was part of a big team set out to study the extent of biodiversity of the region. Temporarily residing in a make-shift camp on the bank of river Kunthi Puzza in deep jungles for over 32 days, I collected samples of fungi from all over the forests and streams. Back in the lab, together with Professor Subramanian, we examined every bit of the samples and documented the fungi. This was a major fungal biodiversity study of the region. It is not an exaggeration that the then proposed plan of construction of a major hydro-electric dam across the river Kunthi Puzza in Silent Valley was permanently scrapped by former Prime Minister, late Smt. Indira Gandhi, because of the evidences provided with high biodiversity profile of the region, inluding the micro-fungi.

As a post-doctoral student in a ‘Fungus Flora of South India’ study programme (1979-81), I collected numerous samples of fungi from different forests of Tamilnadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Goa and studied them in detail. In one of the field trips, near Hassan, Karnataka State, our vehicle was hit by a huge eagle and the jeep fell into a 20 m deep ditch. Miraculous it was, I escaped with minor injuries. Nothing of the sort deterred me from studying fungi. I do remember my first visit to Dudhsagar Falls in Goa, in November 1980. I traveled in a locomotive engine to the waterfalls from Londa junction and had an hour-long swim in the pond adjacent to the railway track.  I had no idea those days that I would continue my quest for fungi in the forests of Goa, subsequently from Goa University (1990-2011). 

 

A brief in Ethiopia

In the 1980s, I worked at the Biology Department, Asmara University, Ethiopia (presently Eritrea), first as Assistant Professor (1981-83) and then as Associate Professor (1983-88) and taught UG botany courses at Asmara University and PG Mycology courses at Addis Ababa University.

Positioned at Asmara University, I got a distinct opportunity to survey the fungal flora of Ethiopia, in the lowland deserts of northern and eastern regions and highland forests of southern provinces. It was a military rule those days in Ethiopia; then, when I put up a research proposal to study the Ethiopian fungi, needful support for my mycological expeditions came readily from the authorities. In view of insurgency problems those days, I and my wife traveled most of Ethiopia in small Dakota planes which often landed in precarious, make-shift airstrips in some of the remote provinces. On those adventurous field trips, we lived in small native huts and temporarily pitched tents and interacted with people of varied African culture and learnt many things, besides fungi. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Ethiopia, a country with rich cultural heritage. Besides nearby Asmara and Gondar provinces, I surveyed the fungi of Blue Nile river basins, Danakil depressions, Rift Valley ranges, Gambella swamps and Massawa port of Red Sea in the former Ethiopia. From fungal diversity study point of view, Ethiopia is undoubtedly rich and in fact those were some of my most productive mycological studies.

In 1985, with support of a Non-Commonwealth Developing Country Fellowship of the Royal Society of London, I spent 6 months at the International Mycological Institute, Kew, UK, where besides Ethiopian fungi, I examined type materials of numerous Indian fungi. The IMI (presently CABI Science), a rich repository of world fungi, was like Mecca for fungal studies.

Return to India and the fungal forests

My interest on fungi grew much more, on return to India in 1988.  In the subsequent years, while working at Mangalore (1988-90) and Goa University (1990-2011), along with my students I surveyed many forests and streams of the Western Ghats and collected fungal samples from everywhere. I trekked long distances by foot; stayed overnights in deep jungles, nearby bus-stands and railway platforms. Collecting, culturing and describing fungi were sheer excitements. Our myco-floristic investigations were not confined to the forests of Western Ghats alone. I also surveyed the forests of Andaman Islands and north-east highlands of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Nagaland.

For advanced studies on fungi, while in Goa University, I visited the University of Waterloo in Canada (1993) and University of Hong Kong (2004). In my mycological studies, besides Professor C.V. Subramanian, I had invaluable support from Prof. K.M. Kaveriappa (Mangalore University); late Prof. K. Natarajan and Prof. B.P.R. Vittal (University of Madras); Dr S. Raghukumar (NIO, Goa); Prof. Bryce Kendrick (University of Waterloo, Canada); Dr. B. Sutton (IMI, UK) and Prof. Kevin D. Hyde (University of Hong Kong and Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, Thailand). They not only accommodated me in their work places for a while but also provided needful help. Major fungal haul came from the wet-evergreen forests of Western Ghats in Silent Valley, Kerala State, Agumbe, Sampaje, Kodachadri hills and Sharavati valley in Karnataka State and Bondla, Molem, Cotigao and Mehdai wildlife sanctuaries in Goa State. Not only many new but also numerous rare and interesting microfungi were discovered by us. Twenty genera and 146 species of fungi were newly described and published by us. I wrote a book on fungi entitled ‘Fascinating Microfungi of the Western Ghats, India’ published by Broadway Book Centre, Panaji, Goa, in 2010 which has been well-received by mycologists around the world. I will always cherish the new fungus, Bhatia malabarica, named in honour of me by a group of American mycologists and published in Mycotaxon 2010 as recognition of our continued work on fungi.  My students are continuing work on fungal taxonomy and it is a deep sense of satisfaction that they have already surpassed me in their knowledge on modern mycology.

Service at Goa University

I joined Goa University as Reader in Microbiology (1990) and then continued as Professor of Botany (since 1994). In these 22 years, I taught courses related to biology and taxonomy of fungi, bacteria, viruses and plant pathology to Botany and Microbiology students. Along with my students, I worked continuously on fungi of the Western Ghats; together we published several research papers in reputed national and international journals.

We conducted an International Symposium on Ecology of Fungi in January 1998 under the auspices of International Mycological Association Committee for Asia (IMACA) and Mycological Society of India. Renowned mycologists from 17 Asian countries came to Goa and participated in the Symposium.  It was a grand programme. With support from the Planning Commission, Government of India, we worked on Plant and Fungal biodiversity study (2000-06). In association with Western Ghats Kokum Foundation, we made efforts to green the University campus (2006-11).

Two major research projects that I and my students worked were (i) ‘Drug discovery from microbial (fungal) extracts.....’ of the CSIR, and (ii) ‘All-India Coordinated Project on Taxonomy (AICOPTAX) of Fungi’ of the MoEF, Government of India (2000-11). We did numerous single-spore isolations of microfungi and taxonomically documented and maintained them in a sustainable fungus culture collection at the Department of Botany. Maintaining the fungal cultures in pure form in repositories is a potentially optimistic approach not only of slowing down the loss of fungal bioresources but also a meaningful way of conserving them in a gene-bank. Working with fungi, several students completed their doctoral degrees.

One more aspect that I will always remember of Goa University is the effort that we did to enrich the campus biodiversity. On our own and with assistance from outside, we made continued effort to green the campus which otherwise is a lateritic, rocky and weedy plateau. Though the campus turns green with many ephemerals during rain, accidental fire in summer months would clear them all. It was a recurring problem. The trees grown over the years and now giving shade and aesthetic look in front of the main building and elsewhere in the campus, are those planted since 1990s by the horticulture section of Goa University, Forest Department, Government of Goa and Western Ghats Kokum Foundation.  As the trees grow taller, the campus transforms into a green, vibrant centre of learning. This tree-planting and greening effort should continue. I feel very proud that I was part of this institute of higher learning.

Post retirement

I retired from the service of Goa University in November 2011. My good friend Prof. Kevin D. Hyde who knew my continued passion for fungi, arranged an invitation as Visiting Professor to Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, Thailand. Working with students of Dr Hyde and continuously looking at fungi, I spent 5-6 months each in the last two years at MFU. The mycology lab at Mae Fah Luang University is filled with enthusiastic doctoral students drawn from Sri Lanka, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos, Indonesia and India, besides Thailand. Every student is so focused and dedicated in approach to fungi.  It is a sound mycology there. Even after returning to India, I am busy perusing descriptions, illustrations and sequence data of fungi which the students of Dr Hyde send me for correction, almost every day. This is what I wrote earlier; quest for knowledge will surpass everything else. It is a standing invitation from Dr Hyde; I will continue to visit Mae Fah Luang University, as long as I can.

My small family

My wife Vasanthi supported my interest in academics and researches on fungi all these years, in a big way. Had she not been so supportive and caring, I don’t think that I could have achieved so much in a short span of time. Our both children are engineers. Our daughter Kripa, along with her husband Nagesh and daughter Megha, is living in Dubai. Posted in Goa, our son Krishna, is working for the IT giant TCS.

Epilogue 

It is a joy and satisfaction that I got continued support from my friends, students and dear and near ones in my work with fungi. Had we all not been so careful, supportive to each other and constructive in our approaches, I don’t think that we would have accomplished so much. With humility, I place on records my most sincere and grateful thanks to everyone........  

 

.....................D. Jayaram Bhat