Dr. Jean Michel Savoie INRA, Mycology and Food Safety,Bordeaux, FranceResearch on mushroom biology and mushroom cultivation started at the National Research Institute for Agronomy, INRA, in the southwest part of France, the Aquitaine, in 1974. Thirty-seven years of research with several generations of mushroom scientists, included only one International congress held in France. It was Mushroom Science X, the congress of ISMS, 32 years ago. Consequently, I was very enthusiastic when the World Society for Mushroom Biology and Mushroom Products proposed to organize its seventh International conference in France. The task was enormous, and with my colleagues we did our best for offering conditions for fruitful discussions and exchange of information about new findings in all the aspects of mushroom biology and mushroom products. The organization of such an event would not be possible without the generous support of the sponsors of the conference. I express my gratitude to them.
The conference was hosted at Arcachon, a beautiful seaside resort surrounded by golden sand lying at the mouth of the Bassin d'Arcachon - a rare inlet on the long, straight, west coast of France. The conference center was situated on the seafront boulevard promenade and with the sweet sun of the beginning of October, the delegates had to resist to the call for the beach. Fortunately some of them used their pre- and post- conference time for visiting Arcachon or the great wine capital of Bordeaux, a classical French city listed as one of UNESCO's World heritage sites since 2007.
Participants (217) from 41 countries representing each continent attended the conference. They were mainly scientists and students but also growers and staff of companies involved in the mushroom industry. During the conference they met with colleagues and friends in a relaxed atmosphere, with some convivial times around the excellent lunch buffets and during wine tastings. Collaborations were strengthened between mushroom scientists and with persons involved or interested in all aspects of the Mushroom Industry, including Edible and Medicinal Mushrooms, delegates, and representatives of the sponsors or at their exhibition stands.
The program contained 74 oral presentations including 9 invited lectures, 65 posters, 5 roundtable discussions and 5 companies were represented in exhibitions. Half of the contributions came from a group of seven countries: India, China, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, France, and The Netherlands. A book of abstracts of all oral presentations and posters was edited and it is available on the web page of the conference: https://colloque.inra.fr/icmbmp7. The Proceedings of the conference contain contributions submitted by the participants and selected by the scientific committee divided in two volumes: Volume 1 for the oral presentations and Volume 2 for the posters. They are published on the web site of the World Society for Mushroom Biology and Mushroom Products: http://www.wsmbmp.org/Previous_Conference_7.html. I gratefully acknowledge the work of the scientific committee members and some other colleagues for their contribution to editing these proceedings.
The conference commenced at 15:00 on Tuesday, 4th October for registration at the conference location in the Convention Centre of Arcachon. Meanwhile delegates were invited to taste wines produced by INRA: Château Couhins. In the evening, a welcome cocktail was offered by Amycel-Spawnmate Company, one of the partners of ICMBMP7. This afternoon and evening was a great opportunity to meet with colleagues and friends in a relaxed atmosphere.
On Wednesday morning Dr. José Sánchez, president of the WSMBMP, introduced the conference, and Didier Dupin, director of ANICC (the French Mushroom Growers Association) kicked off the talks with a presentation of the French and European organization and production of edible mushrooms.
