Zhuang Wenying, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and researcher of the Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences—

  Make a lifelong effort to understand fungi

  Our reporter She Huimin

  Photo by our reporter She Huimin

  Fungi appear in all corners of the earth, and they have a wide variety of different shapes.

Zhuang Wenying, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a researcher at the Institute of Microbiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has been interested in fungi for almost half a century. She has crawled across the barren mountains and ridges of 26 provinces; her shoulders carry countless fungal specimens; her eyes , To identify more than 360 new species.

In the vast field of mycology, Zhuang Wenying has made unswerving and life-long research, and has made world-renowned contributions.

  Now, Zhuang Wenying, who is over seventy years old, has inconvenient legs and feet, and no longer participates in fieldwork.

But when she talked about fungi, she was still excited: "We still have to work hard to explore the 94% of the unknown fungal species."

  Focus on one thing in your life

  Zhuang Wenying, born in Beijing in 1948, is now over 70.

In her life, she has only focused on one career: mycology research.

  Fungi are eukaryotic microorganisms with cell walls and no chlorophyll. Most of them reproduce by spores.

Yeasts used in winemaking are small fungi, and mushrooms that can be eaten by humans are large fungi.

my country is one of the earliest countries to use fungi. Li Shizhen recorded 34 fungal drugs in Compendium of Materia Medica.

  "Life is an essential leap from prokaryotes to eukaryotes. Fungi are primitive eukaryotes. Scientists use fungi as materials to explore the laws of evolution of life." Zhuang Wenying is a rigorous scholar who always speaks Words are not annoying, with the demeanor of "actions speak louder than words", but when it comes to fungus, I will talk endlessly.

  Fungi are a treasure trove of scientific research.

Yeast was the first eukaryote to achieve genome sequencing, which accelerated the development of genomics.

Fungi can also be used for biological control, to achieve "curing insects with bacteria" and "curing bacteria with bacteria", contributing to the creation of a good human living environment.

The world's first antibiotic, penicillin, is produced by a fungus. Its discovery and application have increased the average life span of humans from 40 to 60 years old...

  Zhuang Wenying has been interested in fungi for more than 40 years.

  In 1968, Zhuang Wenying responded to the call of the state to jump in the queue in the rural areas of Shanxi.

In 1973, she entered Shanxi Agricultural College (now Shanxi Agricultural University).

When graduating and staying in school, there are two majors to choose from-entomology or plant pathology.

She chose plant pathology.

"70% of plant diseases are caused by fungi. At that time, there were more contacts, and I gradually became interested in fungi and laid some foundation." Zhuang Wenying said.

  In 1978, she was admitted as a graduate student at the Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, under the tutelage of Professor Yu Yongnian, a famous mycologist.

At that time, the best scientific research unit in the country to study fungi was the Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Professor Yu Yongnian was a student of Academician Dai Fanglan, one of the founders of Chinese mycology.

The passion for mycology and the spirit of exploration are in the same line, and the young Zhuang Wenying has established his scientific aspirations.

  "In the vast world of life, in the long river of biological evolution, fungi have played a very important role and will definitely affect the future of mankind. However, humans' knowledge of fungi is far from enough. I am willing to spend my life on knowing fungi. Hard work." Zhuang Wenying said.

  According to conservative estimates, there are 2.2 million to 3.8 million species of fungi in the world, and only about 150,000 species have been discovered and described.

Humans only know 6% of fungal species, and 94% remain to be discovered.

  In other words, there are at least more than 2 million species of fungi to be studied, and this is an endless task for generations.

Faced with such a difficult task, some people retreat when they know the difficulties, while others rise to the difficulties.

Zhuang Wenying is the latter.

  “If a person takes scientific research as a life’s business, he must be very dedicated and pay attention to the latest developments in the subject on the basis of what he has.” Zhuang Wenying has focused on fungal research for 46 years with the spirit of Yu Gong Yishan, and published 1 new family of fungi, 13 new genera, There are more than 360 new species.

  On the basis of resource collection, Zhuang Wenying's team worked hard to evaluate the usability of fungi to provide a scientific basis for resource utilization.

"Although I am engaged in basic work, I publish our findings so that other scholars can carry out applied and theoretical research on the basis of our foreshadowing." Zhuang Wenying said.

  Climb the heights without fear of difficulties

  In 1983, Wenying Zhuang, an assistant researcher who had stayed at the institute, went to Cornell University for further study as a visiting scholar, and began to study for a doctorate in 1985.

There, she was thirsty for knowledge, raced against time, compressed her rest time to a very demanding level, quickly mastered the latest research methods of mycology, and published many papers.

  "The scientific research conditions there are good, the literature is rich, and the speed of scientific research output is increased. The high efficiency of the scholars there also affects me. I hope that China also has such a speed of output." Recalling that period of youth Throughout her struggle career, Zhuang Wenying is still full of pride in participating in the world's cutting-edge science competition.

  At the beginning of 1988, after Zhuang Wenying obtained a doctorate from Cornell University, she did not miss the relatively advanced scientific research conditions abroad, but returned to work at the Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

  At that time, domestic scholars rarely published SCI papers.

SCI is the English abbreviation of "Science Citation Index" in the United States. It contains a large number of international academic journals, and the papers published in these journals are collectively referred to as SCI papers.

"I published some SCI papers when I was abroad. After returning to China, I want to let my domestic colleagues know that SCI is not unattainable." Zhuang Wenying said.

  In 1994, Wenying Zhuang’s team received a special support project from the Department of Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. With the support of only 30,000 yuan, she organized her team members to investigate the fungal resources of Daba Mountain, and published 7 SCI articles together, which were made into Brochure "The Fungus of Daba Mountain".

This made a wonderful collective appearance for Chinese mycologists on the international stage.

Encouraged by this, many domestic mycologists published articles in international journals one after another.

  During the reporter's interview, although Zhuang Wenying no longer participated in fieldwork, she was still excited when she talked about the past through the mountains.

  In the 1980s and 1990s, the conditions for scientific expeditions were simple. The luggage and equipment were all carried on their own, and there was no special car. It was necessary to switch various means of transportation to reach the destination of specimen collection.

In Dalong Mountain, Guangxi, she drove through the reservoir in a simple tin boat to the primitive jungle and discovered many new species of discoid fungi that she had never seen before. In Xinjiang, she drove deep into the Gobi Desert, bumping all the way, rejoicing in the vast world. The magnificent scenery of "solitary smoke in the desert"...

  She traveled to 26 provinces and collected a large number of specimens; she studied a large number of fungal materials from 39 countries and regions, clarified a large number of classification and naming issues; she independently completed the world monograph study of 3 genera, and made part of our country The number of species in the group doubled; she discovered and screened out strains of Trichoderma fungi with great potential for application...

  Assaulting on the international frontier of mycology research has earned Zhuang Wenying the respect of colleagues at home and abroad.

  Scholars named two new genera after her: a new genus of fungi-Wenyingia, and a new genus of bacteria-Wenyingzhuangia.

  "Dictionary of the Fungi" ("Dictionary of the Fungi") is an authoritative reference book in the field of international mycology. The past editors are all outstanding contributors in this field. Zhuang Wenying was invited to participate in the compilation of the ninth edition and became the dictionary in 1943. It is the first Chinese scholar to participate in the compilation.

  She has been elected to the Executive Committee of the International Mycological Society three times, and is the first Chinese National Executive Committee since the organization was founded; she is also the first Chinese elected scholar of the Foreign Honorary Fellow of the American Mycological Society.

  She has presided over more than 20 major, key, general and special projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, such as "The Compilation and Research of Chinese Sporophyta"; published more than 280 papers, including 178 SCI source journals, and wrote 9 editor-in-chief works , Participated in the compilation of 9 parts.

  Recently, the Beijing Municipal Party Committee Propaganda Department, Beijing Association for Science and Technology and other departments jointly launched the learning and publicity activities for Beijing's most beautiful scientific and technological workers for the first time. Zhuang Wenying was selected as the "most beautiful scientific and technological worker" in Beijing in 2021.

  The sea of ​​study is endless

  In 2009, 61-year-old Zhuang Wenying was elected an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

At that time, her mentor, Mr. Yu Yongnian, was still alive.

Zhuang Wenying came to her mentor's home to announce the good news. The teacher and his mother who were over eighty years old took Zhuang Wenying's hand and jumped up happily.

  "My teacher has a long-term vision. In the 1980s, when he needed an assistant, he sent me abroad to study, very selfless. My teacher has a spirit of unstoppable learning, which has always influenced me." Zhuang Wenying said.

  Fungi are vast and life is boundless, and research in the field of fungi continues to advance in the cooperation of generations of scholars.

  The compilation and research of "Chinese Fungi" aims to find out the family background of Chinese fungal species resources. It is an important work that condenses the efforts of several generations of mycologists in my country, and is the crystallization of the collective work of more than 200 scholars.

  As early as 1973, my country established the Chinese Academy of Sciences Chinese Spore and Flora Editorial Committee to carry out preliminary organization work. As one of its five branches, the first volume was published in 1987.

“In the early years, my country’s fungal resource research funds were small and field surveys were insufficient. Now the state has strengthened funding for investigation work, and field working conditions are much better.” Zhuang Wenying is the current editor-in-chief of "Chinese Fungi Chronicles". She introduced that my country has already More than 21,000 species of fungi are known, which has tripled in 40 years.

In the published 62 volumes of "Chinese Fungi", there are 8873 species of fungi in 905 genera.

  In Zhuang Wenying's view, the compilation and research process of "Chinese Fungi" is not only a process of discovering new species from nature, but also a process of developing and utilizing biological resources and building a talent team.

"The next task is still arduous. At present, many fungal groups are still unattended and in-depth research is urgently needed." said Zhuang Wenying.

  Zhuang Wenying has high hopes for young people in the field of mycology, both strict requirements and full respect.

  She guides students in the experiment operation and cleans the experiment table by herself; she is careful and meticulous when she instructs students on the thesis; she encourages students to explore and innovative spirit, respects students' independent work ability, and supports students to adjust the research content of the thesis according to the actual situation. .

  "I hope that young people must love science first, and have enough love to give full play to their talents; secondly, they must seek truth from facts, be serious about learning, and be able to endure loneliness. They also need to be brave and dedicated, and master reasonable research methods. ; In addition, I support young people to go abroad and take a look, but in the end, they must be based in their own country and be self-reliant.” Zhuang Wenying said.

  What does Zhuang Wenying expect for the future development of mycology?

  "We have to work hard to explore the 94% of the unknown fungal species." Zhuang Wenying said, we must continue to explore the natural resources of fungi, continue to understand, develop and use fungi, so that fungi can better benefit mankind.