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The Cerrado is home to a diversity of traditional communities, among which indigenous and quilombola peoples stand out. The Karajá are one of the ethnic groups in this biome, with a rich history and culture that goes back centuries. They mainly inhabit the regions of the Araguaia and Javaés rivers, occupying lands in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso, Pará and Tocantins. Considering the importance of studies on ethnomycological knowledge in indigenous communities for preserving culture and the environment, especially in relation to fungi, our objective was to investigate the ethnomycological relationships of the Karajá indigenous people who inhabit Bananal Island, located in Tocantins. Data were collected from applying a semi-structured questionnaire and interviews with 140 people who compose the Macaúba (39%), Fontoura (31%) and Santa Isabel do Morro (30%) communities; they had an average age of 33.9 years, and 62% are male. We observed that the Karajá people recognize the fungi of the environment in which they live, showing a clearer perception of typical morphological groups, such as mushrooms and bracket fungi (wood ears). Although fungi are not used as a component of their diet, the Karajá recognize that some species may have this potential. Furthermore, they use fungi as adornments and decorations in festivities in a playful way, and occasionally for medicinal purposes. Therefore, we can state that this ethnic group does not have a total aversion to fungi, being considered partially mycophilic. This study is a pioneer among Cerrado indigenous people, and reinforces the need to expand research to other communities in different regions in order to expand ethnomycological knowledge among different ethnicities. These investigations could contribute to both an appreciation and conservation of the traditions and knowledge of original Brazilian people, as well as the biodiversity in which they are inserted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of a broad project for the dissemination and popularization of Mycological Science at the State University of Goiás, supported by CNPq/MCTI on the occasion of the XIX National Week of Science and Technology, an immersion event in the universe of fungi was held in the tourist city of Pirenópolis, State of Goiás. The event was promoted by the FungiPop/UEG space team and brought together a series of activities, both in person and remote, involving different strategies of science popularization, such as exhibitions, lectures, workshops, theater, games, experiences, videos, artistic production competition, among others. Here we report in detail on these activities, their impact, and their multiplier effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background: Saccharomycetales are ascomycetic yeasts and, amongst them, the genus Blastobotrys has approximately 30 known species. Blastobotrys malaysiensis is a yeast species, described from cave samples, known until then only from Malaysia. In this study, we characterise a new strain and report the second occurrence record of this species. Here, Blastobotrys malaysiensis URM 8507/SXS 675, was collected from sediments samples from a cave in the Parque Estadual de Terra Ronca (PETER) in Goiás, Brazil. Phylogenetic analyses revealed strong support with the sequence of the species type, as well as with other species of the clade. This new record contributes by providing new molecular data for the species and expanding the knowledge of its distribution beyond the Asian continent. New information: First record of a yeast for the American continent and its second mention for the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnomycology is a branch of ethnoknowledge that describes the interaction between fungi and traditional communities over time. This study presents a scientometric analysis of global scientific production about Ethnomycology, based on a survey of articles indexed in Web of Science Core Collection database, between 1991 and 2019. The temporal distribution of the 173 articles obtained, showed a significant increase in over the years, indicating a growing interest in Ethnomycology by the scientific community. The most frequent journals were Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine (18%) and Economic Botany (12%), and the principal authors were Luczaj, L (1.7%), Garibay-Orijel, R (1.5%), Estrada-Torres, A and Pieroni, A (both with 1.3%). The most studied locations involve indigenous communities and are in Mexico (22%), followed by India (9%) and China (7%), and over half of the institutions where the research was conducted were also Mexican. The primary focus of the studies was the purpose of fungal use (37%), the most frequently reported being as food (50%) and medicine (32%). Of the 838 species mentioned, the most prominent were Cantharellus cibarius Fr. (3.7%), Boletus edulis Bull. (3.3%) and Agaricus campestris sensu Cooke (2.6%), all edible. The data showed that the ethnomycological knowledge available is strongly concentrated in Mexico, and the primary focus of use of fungi is as food. The main trends point to Ethnomycology as a young Science, but of growing interest, whose ethnomycological knowledge is concentrated in Mexico and in indigenous communities, with focus in use of fungi as food. However, the major gaps demonstrate the need for further ethnomycological studies involving other traditional communities, which not only indigenous, and other regions around the world, which could reveal new relationships between humans and fungi, thereby contributing to the conservation of global mycodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of unconventional medicine has grown since the last decade, however its effectiveness is still questioned by the lack of scientific evidence. Regarding the cancer patient, the replacement of traditional medicine by nonconventional medicine in the fight against cancer is a concern for the successful treatment of the disease. This study evaluated the influence of religion on the use of unconventional therapies among cancer patients treated at Araújo Jorge Hospital in Goiânia-GO. Was interviewed 108 patients, undergoing cancer treatment at the hospital's chemotherapy unit, who reported using unconventional therapies. Data collection was performed through the application of a questionnaire consisting of objective and discursive questions. The data show that most patients are women (30.87%), prevailing the age group between 41-60 years (39.78%) for both sexes and 37.17% are white. The most frequent education corresponds to incomplete elementary school (20.41%) and 18.32% have family income of one minimum wage. Among respondents 96.29.49% of alternative therapy users declared themselves religious. Of these, 54.81% are Catholic and claim to use alternative therapies because of faith, with prayer being the most cited therapy. Thus, it is evident that unconventional medicine is strongly used among cancer patients and, therefore, greater attention is needed from health professionals so that the use of these practices does not compromise conventional treatment, since there are no studies in the literature scientific evidence that proves its efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Brazilian Cerrado is a hotspot with over 12,000 species of plants used for various purposes, such as food and medicine. This literature review provides an overview of the scientific reports on Cerrado's medicinal flora avalilable in PubMed and SciELO. All toghether, 87 references were retrieved from 33 scientific journals for evaluation according to their contents approach. The temporal tendency showed a moderate positive correlation (r=0.56) between publication amount and time in years. The most frequent approaches regarded diverstity and conservation of medicinal plants species, accounting to 20% of the publications. Then, phytochemical prospection and medical themes added up to 16% and 13%, respectively. Dimorphandra mollis Benth. was the most frequently reported specie, accounting to 6.4% of all the 70 species reported. Publications mainly focused on diversity survey and preservation methods. Our findings show an impressive remaining lacuna of knowlodge concerning Cerrado's species diversity, which are commonly used with medical purpose but without a proper proof of effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Saccharomycetales are ascomycetic yeasts and, amongst them, the genus Blastobotrys has approximately 30 known species. Blastobotrysmalaysiensis is a yeast species, described from cave samples, known until then only from Malaysia. In this study, we characterise a new strain and report the second occurrence record of this species. Here, Blastobotrysmalaysiensis URM 8507/SXS 675, was collected from sediments samples from a cave in the Parque Estadual de Terra Ronca (PETER) in Goiás, Brazil. Phylogenetic analyses revealed strong support with the sequence of the species type, as well as with other species of the clade. This new record contributes by providing new molecular data for the species and expanding the knowledge of its distribution beyond the Asian continent., New Information: First record of a yeast for the American continent and its second mention for the world., (Antônio Sérgio Ferreira de Sá, Lucas Leonardo-Silva, Solange Xavier-Santos.)