Teófilo Herrera Suárez (24 February 1924 – 23 April 2020) was a Mexican

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their taxonomy, genetics, biochemical properties, and use by humans. Fungi can be a source of tinder, food, traditional medicine, as well as entheogens, poison, and ...

who was known for his contributions to the Mexican mycological flora. He was also an

emeritus professor ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

at the

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public university, public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countri ...

(UNAM), where he worked for over 50 years.

Professional training

Herrera is originally from

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. In 1940 he enrolled in the UNAM National High School. In 1942 he decided to study Biology instead of Medicine thanks to the positive influence of his teacher Francisco Villagran. He began as an undergraduate student in the Faculty of Sciences at UNAM and got his degree in 1945. Later on, he moved to the US to pursue a master's degree in Microbiology and Biochemistry of Fermentation, which he obtained in 1953 from the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

in Madison. He expanded his knowledge getting a second bachelor's degree in 1954, this time in Chemical Biology and Parasitology at the School of Biological Sciences from the

National Polytechnic Institute National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

(IPN). Further on, he began his Doctorate's degree at UNAM; he focused his research in "

gasteroid fungi The gasteroid fungi are a group of fungi in the Basidiomycota. Species were formerly placed in the obsolete class Gasteromycetes Fr. (literally "stomach fungi"), or the equally obsolete order Gasteromycetales Rea, because they produce spores insid ...

" and got his degree with honors in 1964 with his thesis: "Gasteromycetes of the

Valley of Mexico The Valley of Mexico (; ), sometimes also called Basin of Mexico, is a highlands plateau in central Mexico. Surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, the Valley of Mexico was a centre for several pre-Columbian civilizations including Teotihuacan, ...

".http://www.100.unam.mx/images/stories/universitarios/dhc/PDF/herrera-suarez-teofilo.pdf

Scientific career

Early career

He began his teaching career in 1946, right after getting his bachelor's degree, as a lab assistant at the UNAM National High School. Further, he taught in different public and private schools, diverse courses such as Biology, Anthropology and Zootechny. He started as an instructor in 1952 in the Faculty of Sciences teaching for undergraduate students at UNAM, where he eventually taught for over 50 years lectures in Botany, Microbiology, Mycology, and History of Science.

1940s–1950s

He started as an assistant researcher for Manuel Ruíz Oronoz, his mentor, in 1945. Ruíz Oronoz's research was focused on studying fermenting microorganisms from "

pulque Pulque (; ), occasionally known as octli or agave wine, is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented sap of the maguey (agave) plant. It is traditional in central Mexico, where it has been produced for millennia. It has the color of milk, ...

". Throughout his scientific career, Herrera has remained interested in fermenting microorganisms behind traditional Mexican alcoholic beverages. Herrera participated in the isolation and identification of pulque fungi, commonly called "pulqueros", such as: ''

Saccharomyces cerevisiae ''Saccharomyces cerevisiae'' () (brewer's yeast or baker's yeast) is a species of yeast (single-celled fungal microorganisms). The species has been instrumental in winemaking, baking, and brewing since ancient times. It is believed to have be ...

'', '' Pichia membranaefaciens'', ''

Candida boidini Candida, or Cándida (Spanish), may refer to: Biology and medicine * ''Candida'' (fungus), a genus of yeasts ** Candidiasis, an infection by ''Candida'' organisms * Malvasia Candida, a variety of grape Places * Candida, Campania, a ''comun ...

'', '' C. incospicua'', and numerous species of the genera

Kloeckera ''Hanseniaspora'' is a genus of yeasts. The name ''Kloeckera'' is applied to its anamorph form. They are typically apiculate (lemon-shaped) in shape and often found in grape musts pre-fermentation. The genus name ''Hanseniaspora'' honours Emi ...

Rhodotorula ''Rhodotorula'' is a genus of fungi in the class (biology), class Microbotryomycetes. Most species are known in their yeast states which produce orange to red colony (biology), colonies when grown on Sabouraud agar, Sabouraud's dextrose agar (SD ...

and Torulopsis. In 2003 he published a book entitled: "Más allá del pulque y el tepache" ("Beyond pulque and

tepache Tepache is a fermented beverage made from the peel and the rind of pineapples, and is sweetened either with '' piloncillo'' or brown sugar. It is sometimes seasoned with chili powder and served cold. Tepache is usually sold as a chilled drink by ...

"), in which he writes about these two beverages as well as other traditional Mexican alcoholic beverages such as "

pozol Pozol (from the Nahuatl ) is the name of both fermented corn dough and the cocoa drink made from it, which has its origins in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. The drink is consumed in the south of Mexico in the states of Campeche, Chiapas, and Tab ...

", "

tesgüino Tesgüino is an artisanal corn beer produced by several Uto-Aztecan peoples.El ...

" and " colonche". In this book, as well as in the rest of his research, he always provides information of the social impact and history behind it. During the late 1940s and early 1950s, Herrera and his collaborator

Gastón Guzmán Gastón Guzmán Huerta (August 26, 1932 – January 12, 2016), a Mexican mycologist and anthropologist, was an authority on the genus ''Psilocybe''. Career He was born in Xalapa, Veracruz, in 1932. His interest in mycology began in 1955 when as ...

were the only scientists focused on studying macromycetes in Mexico. In fact in 1948, Herrera published the description of ''

Podaxis pistillaris ''Podaxis pistillaris'' is a xerophile, xerophilic Agaricaceae, agaric mushroom related to the puffballs and Coprinus, inkcaps. It is commonly known as the desert shaggy mane. It grows to 11 cm tall and thrives in deserts and semi-deserts o ...

''. Later, with Guzmán, he published a compilation of more than 100 pages with 82 different species of edible mushrooms from the local markets in Mexico; it was published in the ''Anales del Instituto de Biología''. During the late 1950s he became interested in hallucinogenic mushrooms from several regions of Mexico, specifically

Huautla de Jiménez Huautla de Jimenez is a town and municipality in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is part of the Teotitlán District in the north of the Cañada Region. The name Huautla comes from the Náhuatl. The town is called "Tejao" (also Eagle's Nest) in ...

Oaxaca Oaxaca, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of the Mexico, United Mexican States. It is divided into municipalities of Oaxaca, 570 munici ...

, in the Mazateca Sierra. Like his previous studies, he did not only study the taxonomy, ecology, and distribution of hallucinogenic mushrooms, but he focused part of his research in social impacts, learning about these fungi directly from the local

shaman Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...

, María Sabina. His ecological research in hallucinogenic mushrooms determined the environmental conditions for these organisms to grow: oak and coniferous forests between 1,300 and 2,600 msl. However, further studies showed that hallucinogenic fungi can also grow, although rarely, at sea level (''

Psilocybe cubensis ''Psilocybe cubensis'', commonly known as the magic mushroom, shroom, golden halo, golden teacher, cube, or gold cap, is a species of psilocybin mushroom of moderate potency whose principal Psychoactive compound, active compounds are psilocybin ...

''), and above 3,500 msl ('' Psilocybe aztecorum''). During 1958 he focused his research in culturing, under laboratory conditions, the hallucinogenic mushroom ''Psilocybe cubensis''. Further on, he described the hallucinogenic effects of Psilocybe based on personal experience, which were published in the Mexican journal "Neurología",: (Translation to English)

''"Increased blood pressure and body temperature as well as increased heart rate and pulse, other effects may be present, such as shivers, flushing or paleness, nauseas, tremor and heavy legs; in some cases headache, dizziness, euphoria, and changes in behavior; almost always, occurrence of hallucinations shaped like geometric bright figures of various and changing colors like a kaleidoscope, changes in the understanding with rapid disintegration and confusion of ideas, difficulty to distinguish reality from fiction, loss of space and location, sense of shortening or elongated as well as distorted or disconnected body parts; schizophrenia, namely, split personality, feeling apart from the body and mind. All of these trigger a state of anguish, unable to distinguish between real and unreal, but generally, a feel that there is direct communication with god or supernatural forces or beings. In general, the psychotropic effect lasts for four to five hours but it can last longer, there can be sporadic manifestations even several days after the ingestion of hallucinogenic mushrooms."''

In mid-1960s he began studying macromycetes from the Valley of Mexico, specifically the class

Gasteromycetes The gasteroid fungi are a group of fungi in the Basidiomycota. Species were formerly placed in the obsolete class Gasteromycetes Fr. (literally "stomach fungi"), or the equally obsolete order Gasteromycetales Rea, because they produce spores insi ...

(currently obsolete). He published an individual and detailed analysis of each of the following genera: ''

Myriostoma ''Myriostoma'' is a fungal genus in the family Geastraceae. Basidiocarps resemble earthstars, but the spore sac is supported by multiple columns (instead of a single column) and has multiple ostioles instead of a single, apical ostiole. Until 2 ...

'', ''

Cyathus ''Cyathus'' is a genus of fungi in the Nidulariaceae, which is a family (biology), family collectively known as the bird's nest fungi. They are given this name as they resemble tiny bird's nests filled with "eggs"structures large enough to ...

'', ''

Phallus A phallus (: phalli or phalluses) is a penis (especially when erect), an object that resembles a penis, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. In art history, a figure with an erect penis is described as ''ithyphallic''. Any object that symbo ...

'', '' Battarrea'' and ''

Tulostoma ''Tulostoma'' is a genus of fungi in the family Agaricaceae. Species in the genus are commonly known as stalkballs, or stalked puffballs. Fossils of ''Tulostoma'' have been reported from 12 million year old rocks in central England and 13.5 mil ...

''. He then expanded his research to other areas of Mexico:

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 ...

State of Mexico The State of Mexico, officially just Mexico, is one of the 32 federal entities of the United Mexican States. Colloquially known as Edomex (from , the abbreviation of , and ), to distinguish it from the name of the whole country, it is the mo ...

and

Campeche Campeche, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Campeche, is one of the 31 states which, with Mexico City, make up the Administrative divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. Located in southeast Mexico, it is bordered by the sta ...

, focusing in the genus

Geastrum ''Geastrum'' (orthographical variant ''Geaster'') is a genus of puffball-like mushrooms in the family Geastraceae. Many species are commonly known as earthstars. The name, which comes from ''geo'' meaning ''earth'' and meaning ''star'', refers ...

. During this time he was interested in identifying edible mushrooms from these regions. With this particular research area, Herrera, instilled interest in the cultivation of ''

Agaricus bisporus ''Agaricus bisporus'', commonly known as the cultivated mushroom, is a basidiomycete mushroom native to grasslands in Eurasia and North America. It is cultivated in more than 70 countries and is one of the most commonly and widely consumed ...

'' and ''

Pleurotus ''Pleurotus'' is a genus of gilled mushrooms which includes one of the most widely eaten mushrooms, '' P. ostreatus''. Species of ''Pleurotus'' may be called oyster, abalone, or tree mushrooms, and are some of the most commonly cultivated ...

'' in Mexico; currently is a fruitful and well-remunerated activity. At the same time he was interested in identifying toxic mushrooms in Mexico. He carried out research in toxic fungi such as ''

Amanita virosa ''Amanita virosa'' is a species of fungus in the class Agaricomycetes. In the UK, it has the recommended English name of destroying angel and is known internationally as the European destroying angel. Basidiocarps (fruit bodies) are agaricoid ( ...

'', '' A. verna'' and '' A. bisporigera'', which cause the majority of fatal poisoning in Mexico.

1960s–1970s

At the end of the 1960s and beginning of the 1970s he became interested in studying the macromycetes from arid ecosystems of Mexico; in collaboration with Gastón Guzmán they became pioneers in this research area. At the same time he continued to describe the Mexican fungal flora from the Valley of Mexico. In 1965 he published a detailed study of the systematic, histology and ecology of the genus

Helvella ''Helvella'' is a genus of ascomycete fungus of the family Helvellaceae. The mushrooms, commonly known as elfin saddles, are identified by their irregularly shaped caps, fluted stems, and fuzzy undersurfaces. They are found in North America and ...

in the Valley of Mexico.

1990s–present

In the early 1990s he characterized the macromycetes of the Yucatan Peninsula. At the same time he characterized the gasteroid fungal diversity of the state of Sonora and studied the ecological distribution and etnomycological importance of the genus Schizophyllum in Mexico. During late 90s he published the book: ''Hongos medicinales y sagrados de México'' ("Medicinal and sacred mushrooms of Mexico") and collaborated in the characterization of microscopic fungal diversity and abundance from several beaches in Mexico from the states of

Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...

Quintana Roo Quintana Roo, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Quintana Roo, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, constitute the 32 administrative divisions of Mexico, federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into municipalities of ...

and

Colima Colima, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Colima, is among the 31 states that make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It shares its name with its capital and main city, Colima. Colima is a small state of western Mexico on the cen ...

, covering the Pacific Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea; they reported a total of 52 species. In 2002 he published a study about the distribution in Mexico of '' Batarrea phalloides''. During 2003 he studied the distribution of

species in the state of

. In 2005 he characterized the gasteroid fungi of "

Calakmul Calakmul (; also Kalakmul and other less frequent variants) is a Maya civilization, Maya archaeological site in the Mexican state of Campeche, deep in the jungles of the greater Petén Basin region. It is from the Guatemalan border. Calakmul w ...

" in

. In 2006 he characterized the

myxomycete Myxogastria/Myxogastrea (myxogastrids, ICZN) or Myxomycetes ( ICN) is a class of slime molds that contains 5 orders, 14 families, 62 genera, and 888 species. They are colloquially known as the ''plasmodial'' or ''acellular'' ...

's diversity of the national reserve of "Ajos-Bavispe" in the state of Sonora. Additionally he reported new records of several species of

Agaricales The Agaricales are an order (biology), order of fungi in the division (mycology), division Basidiomycota. As originally conceived, the order contained all the agarics (gilled mushrooms), but subsequent research has shown that not all agarics are ...

for the state of Sonora and characterized the diversity of macromycetes of the "Pinacate and great Altar desert reserve". In 2008, Herrera collaborated in a research project aiming to identify the yeasts associated with the production of Mexican alcoholic non distilled and distilled agave beverages; this research was published in FEMS Yeast Research. During the same time he collaborated in a research related to toxic macromycetes from the state of Sonora. Further on, in 2009, he collaborated in the characterization of the macromycetes in the ecological reserve of "Pedregal San Angel" in

. In 2010 he collaborated in a research regarding radioactive accumulation in fungi and their relation to rodents in forests of the nuclear center in Mexico. In 2011, he published a short communication about the first records of fungi collected in 1793-1794 during the first expedition of Sessé and Mociño to Mexico (called "Nueva España" at the time)(Pérez-Silva ''et al.''. 2011, b). This same year he published new records of macromycetes for Temascaltepec in the

(Pérez-Silva ''et al.''. 2011, a).

Academic merits

Herrera's knowledge has been embodied in more than 140 scientific papers, published both in national as well as international journals, all of them

peer reviewed Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work ( peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

. He has written more than 9 text books for middle school and high school as well as books for public in general, interested in botany and mycology. Additionally all of his books have been written in Spanish, his native language, making his knowledge available to Spanish-speaking people. An example of his success are the books "El reino de los hongos" ("The fungal kingdom") and "Etimología e iconografía de géneros de hongos" ("Etymology and iconography of the fungal genera"), both of them written in collaboration with M. Ulloa, widely used in Spanish-speaking universities to teach mycology. Another example is the book entitled: "Breve historia de la botánica en México" (Brief history of botany in Mexico") written in collaboration with M. Ortega, J.L. Godínez and A. Butanda, used in Mexican universities to teach introduction to Botany. He also has technical titles such as: "Fermentaciones tradicionales de México" ("Traditional fermentations from Mexico"), and "Las bebidas alcohólicas no destiladas indígenas de México" ("Alcoholic non-distilled beverages from natives in Mexico"), both of them written with several of his close collaborators. Additionally he collaborated with the Mexican encyclopedia making nearly 1000 cards in 12 different volumes about the Mexican flora. In 2007, with two of his collaborators, he published an illustrated dictionary of mycology. Herrera integrated and consolidated several research groups and collaboration networks that he has kept along in his successful career. He reported for the first time in Mexico, countless fungal species, including: '' Coprinus plicatilis'', ''

Psathyrella pseudocorrugis ''Psathyrella'' is a large genus of about 400 species, and is similar to the genera ''Coprinellus'', ''Coprinopsis'', '' Coprinus'' and '' Panaeolus'', usually with a thin cap and white or yellowish white hollow stem. The caps do not self digest ...

'' and '' P. pseudogracilis''. Herrera described several new fungal species: ''Batarrea potosinus'' (currently known as '' Batarrea diguetti''), '' Bovista ruizii'', '' Batarreoides potosinus'', '' Podocrea cornubovis'', '' Hansenula pozolis'', '' Candida parapsilopsis'' var. ''tuxtlensis'', '' Kloeckera corticis'' var. ''pulquensis'', '' Torulopsis taboadae'' and '' Candida queretana''. He also described several new bacterial species: '' Chromatium ruizi'', '' Agrobacterium azotophilum'', ''

Achromobacter pozolis ''Achromobacter'' is a genus of bacteria, included in the family Alcaligenaceae in the order Burkholderiales. The cells are Gram-negative straight rods and are motile by using one to 20 peritrichous flagellum, flagella. They are strictly aerobic ...

'', and '' Pseudomona mexicana''.

Honors

At the beginning of his scientific career, in the late 1940s, he began the collection of macromycetes at the National herbarium MEXU, which is the largest in Mexico and still remains in operation; at present it carries his name. The UNAM laboratory of mycology and phytopathology is also named after Herrera. In addition, the etnomycological herbarium from the agricultural institute of Oaxaca, as well as the mycological collection in the herbarium at the Autonomous University of Aguascalientes were also named after Herrera. Herrera has belonged to the Mexican National Scientists System (

SNI In chemistry, Si (substitution nucleophilic internal) refers to a specific, regio-selective but not often encountered reaction mechanism for nucleophilic aliphatic substitution. The name was introduced by Cowdrey et al. in 1937 to label nucleo ...

) since 1983 and he was named Emeritus Professor by UNAM in 1990. He was a founding member of several scientific societies, both national and international: "Mexican Society of Mycology", "Latinamerican Society of Microbiology", "Mexican Society of Genetics" and the "Mexican Society of Etnobiology". He has been awarded by UNAM for "successful scientific career" for 25, 35, 40, 45 and 50 years of contributions to science. He led the project, in collaboration with Pérez-Silva and Cifuentes: "Contributions to the knowledge of Mexican mushrooms", which resulted in more than 49 peer-reviewed publications, 5 books, 10 chapters in books, 12 bachelor's degree theses, 12 master's degree theses and 6 PhD theses, as well as 149 conference presentations (87 in national conferences and 62 in international conferences).Noticias Académicas
/ref> Several new fungal species have been named after him: '' Psilocybe herrerrae'', '' P. teofilae'', '' P. novozoncuantlensis'', '' Bovista herrerae'', '' Gerronema theophili'', '' Crinipellis herrerae'', '' Hemimycena herrerae'', '' Amanita herrerae'', '' Opuntia tomentosa'' var. ''herrerae'' and '' Polyprectopus herrerai''.

Selected publications

*Guzmán G, Herrera T. Macromicetos de las zonas áridas de México. II. Gasteromycetos, 1969. Anales del Instituto de Biología UNAM Serie Botánica 40(1):1–92. *Pérez-Silva E, Herrera T, Ocampo-Lopez A, Nuevos registros de macromicetos para el municipio de Temascaltepec, Estado de Mexico, 2011. Revista mexicana de micología 34:23–30. *Perez-Silva E, Herrera T, Ocampo Lopez A, Registro de hongos recolectados por Sessé y Mociño durante la primera real expedición botánica a la Nueva España, México, 2011. Revista mexicana de micología 33:63–65. *Pérez-Silva E, Esqueda M, Herrera T, Coronado M, Nuevos registros de Agaricales de Sonora, México, 2006. Revista mexicana de biodiversidad, 77(1) *Pérez–Silva, E, Herrera T, Iconografía de macromicetos de México I. Amanita, 1991. Instituto de Biología, Publicaciones Especiales 6. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México. *Pérez–Silva E, Aguirre CE, Herrera T, Descripción y nuevos registros de hongos micoparásitos de México, 1983. Boletín de la Sociedad Mexicana de Micología 18: 71–84. *Pérez–Silva E, Herrera T, Macromicetos tóxicos: ''Chlorophyllum molybdites'' causante de micetismo gastrointestinal en México, 1986. Boletín de la Sociedad Mexicana de Historia Natural 38:27–36.

Authority name

References

a. Pérez-Silva E, Herrera T, Ocampo-Lopez A, Nuevos registros de macromicetos para el municipio de Temascaltepec, Estado de Mexico, 2011. Revista mexicana de micología 34:23-30. b. Perez-Silva E, Herrera T, Ocampo Lopez A, Registro de hongos recolectados por Sessé y Mociño durante la primera real expedición botánica a la Nueva España, México, 2011. Revista mexicana de micología 33:63-65. {{DEFAULTSORT:Herrera Suarez, Teofilo 1924 births 2020 deaths Instituto Politécnico Nacional alumni Mexican mycologists National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni Academic staff of the National Autonomous University of Mexico University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Mexican expatriates in the United States