We are currently working to add and include more species to our collection in order to preserve most of the fungi of our country. Maintaining the collection includes the daily preservation, cataloging and computerizing the data to make its vast information available on line and facilitate its access to the public.
The Mycotheca of Israel, a fungal gene bank, includes wild and cultivated fungi from Israel and other parts of the word
Fungi are one of the most important organisms in nature, both for our environment and for human use. Many countries around the world maintain fungal gene bank collections (mycothecas) that treasure the broad diversity of wild and cultivated fungi.
Climate changes are one of the largest threats to natural habitats and can affect fungal populations and their natural variability. Moreover, some species are threatened. Thus, it is important to conserve wild and cultivated fungal species.
During the Summer of 2019, the largest fungi collection in Israel, originally established Prof. S. Wasser from the Institute of Evolution, University of Haifa has reinstated in the Shamir Institute in The Golan Heights in Katzrin, becoming the Mycotheca of Israel.
This collection contains about 600 strains of wild and cultivated edible and medicinal species mainly from the Basidiomycetes class of fungi.
This unique collection has a big potential for wide and diverse research and collaboration between academic researchers and investors from the industry including pharmacology and agricultural development in the Golan Height and other areas of Israel. This national mycotheca is very unique since most of the species included were collected in the wild nature of Israel in diverse habitats ranging from Mediterranean to the deserts.