Highlights from ISMYCO 2016 and the Asian Network Meeting

Abstract

The Asian Network Meeting was held in Tokyo, Japan on 2 Dec. 2016, as part of ISMYCO 2016 (International Symposium of Mycotoxicology). This meeting was the first to take place in Japan since the 2003 meeting in Kagawa. This short manuscript introduces highlights from ISMYCO2016 and reports from the Asian Network Meeting. ISMYCO 2016 was convened on the campus of the University of Tokyo (30 Nov. – 2 Dec.) (Photo. 1). This was the 5 ISMYCO symposium sponsored by the Japanese Association/Society of Mycotoxicology; the others were: 1999 Chiba, 2003 Kagawa, 2006 Thailand, and 2011 Sapporo. On this occasion, 240 participants attended from over twenty countries. In the 13 years since the symposium in Kagawa, IT technology has changed dramatically. Now we can access the international news and other information from a handy palm-size mobile device anytime, without international walls. Nevertheless, information on mycotoxins and mycotoxigenic fungi is limited and difficult Photo. 1 Yayoi auditorium, the University of Tokyo to access readily and thus international symposia and meetings remain important. This symposium consists of keynote speeches, a poster session (Photo. 2), selected oral sessions, a young researcher session (Photo. 3), an analytical session, and five scientific sessions. These sessions were: Session 1: Distribution of mycotoxigenic fungi and molecular genetics, Session 2: Mycotoxin analysis and survey of mycotoxin contamination, Session 3: Exposure to mycotoxins and risk assessment, Session 4: Toxicity and action mechanism of mycotoxins, and Session 5: Mechanism and regulation of mycotoxin production and control of mycotoxin contamination in food and feed, and the Asian Network Meeting. Details of the scientific session will be provided in the next issue by the chair of each session. Next, I report on the Asian Network Meeting. The Asian Network Meeting was held for the purpose of sharing information on mycotoxins, including regulations, research institutes, and current research in each country, while aiming for future cooperation and networking between Asian researchers. Prominent researchers were invited from Asia. The facilitator was Dr. Masahiro Nakajima and about 50 researchers attended. At the meeting, the current situation related to mycotoxin research was reported by the delegate from each country. These delegates were Dr. Liu from China,