International Mycological Institute

The '''International Mycological Institute''' was a non-profit organisation, based in [[England]], that undertook research and disseminated information on [[fungi]], particularly [[plant pathology|plant pathogenic]] species causing crop diseases. It was established as the Imperial Bureau of Mycology at [[Kew]] in 1920 and amalgamated with [[CAB International]] in 1998.

==History== The '''Imperial Bureau of Mycology''' was established in 1920 as a centre for accumulating and disseminating information on [[plant pathology|plant pathogenic]] [[fungi]] in the [[British Empire]] and for undertaking [[systematics|systematic research]] into such fungi. It was initially based in two houses at [[Kew]], but in 1930 moved into a purpose-built building in the grounds of the [[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew|Royal Botanic Gardens]]. In the same year, it became part of the [[Imperial Agricultural Bureaux]] and was renamed the '''Imperial Mycological Institute''' (IMI).<ref name="IMI1993"/>

IMI provided an identification service for pathogenic fungi from 1921 onwards and in 1922 started publishing abstracts of research literature in the ''Review of Applied Mycology''. An [[herbarium]] of fungal specimens was also established. The journal ''Index of Fungi'', covering all new fungal names, began in 1940 and the ''Bibliography of Systematic Mycology'' in 1947. In 1943, the first edition of the standard reference work, the ''Dictionary of the Fungi'' was published. A culture collection of living fungi was initiated in 1947.<ref name="IMI1993"/>

In 1948, IMI changed its name to the '''Commonwealth Mycological Institute''' and in 1986 to the International Mycological Institute. In 1993, it was moved from Kew to [[Egham]], Surrey,<ref name="IMI1993"/> and in 1998 it merged with the International Institute of Entomology, the International Institute of Biocontrol, and the International Institute of Parasitology to form [[CAB International]].<ref name="CABI"/> In 2010, the former IMI herbarium was merged with that of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.<ref name="Kew"/>

===Directors=== ===Director of the Imperial Bureau of Mycology=== *Sir [[Edwin John Butler]] (1920–1930)

===Director of the Imperial Bureau of Mycology=== *Sir Edwin John Butler (1930–1935) *[[Sydney Francis Ashby]] (1935–1939) *[[Samuel Paul Wiltshire]] (1940–1948)

===Director of the Commonwealth Mycological Institute === *Samuel Paul Wiltshire (1948–1956) *[[John Collier Frederick Hopkins]] (1956–1964) *[[Geoffrey Clough Ainsworth]] (1964–1968) *[[Anthony Johnston (mycologist)|Anthony Johnston]] (1968–1983) *[[David Leslie Hawksworth]] (1983–1986)

===Director of the International Mycological Institute=== *David Leslie Hawksworth (1986–1997)

== References == {{reflist|2|refs=

<ref name="IMI1993">{{cite book |author=Aitchison EM, Hawksworth DL. |title=IMI: retrospect and prospect |publisher=CAB International |location=Wallingford |year=1993 |isbn=0-85198-886-5 }}</ref>

<ref name="CABI">{{cite web |url=https://www.cabi.org/about-cabi/our-history/ |title=Our History |author= |website=CABI.org |publisher=Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International |access-date=February 24, 2023 }}</ref>

<ref name="Kew">Press Release http://www.kew.org/about-kew/press-media/press-releases-kew/fungi-collection-reaches-1-million/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629205823/http://www.kew.org/about-kew/press-media/press-releases-kew/fungi-collection-reaches-1-million/ |date=2011-06-29 }}</ref>

}}

[[Category:Biological research institutes in the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Mycology organizations]] [[Category:1920 establishments in the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Research institutes established in 1920]]