Mycology was a well-studied discipline in Australia and New Zealand, Europe, South Africa and the USA.
In Asia (with the exception of Japan) and South America, the fungi were generally poorly known and studied, except
for the result of forays from some American and European mycologists. However, in the last 20 years, the situation
has changed. With the development of Asian economies, the funding for science research and development has greatly
increased. Mycological research has also diversified in many fields. Many studies have focused on applied aspects and
new journals and websites have been established as a platform for Asian mycologists to publish their research. This
paper will briefly review the history of the study of fungi in Asia and then discuss how it advanced during the last two
decades. It will examine the current situation using case studies in plant pathogens, terrestrial saprobes, aquatic fungi,
evolution studies, genomics and applied mycology and biotechnology. Finally, it will suggest research that is needed in
the future.
Keywords
Asian mycology, fungal diversity and evolution, genomics and applied mycology, mycological websites and journals