Research Groups | The Mushroom R&D Department | Prof. Dan Levanon

Personal:

Status: Married + 4 children

• Home Address: Kfar Blum, Upper Galilee 12150, Israel.
• Work Address:(a) Office of Chief Scientist; POB 6; Bet Dagan 50250
  Fax: +972-3-9697193; email: danl@moag.gov.il
• Migal (Kiryat Shmona); POB 90000; Rosh Pinna 12100
  Fax: +972-6-6944980;   email:  iris@migal.org.il

University Education and Additional Training:

• 1972-1973
  B.Sc. in Agriculture,  The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Faculty of  Agriculture, Rehovot, Israel.
• 1972-1974
  Research Associate in the Department of Field Crops, Faculty of
  Agriculture, Rehovot, Israel.
• 1973-1974
  M.Sc. in Forage Crops, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Faculty of
  Agriculture, Rehovot, Israel.
  Thesis: Nitrate content and nitrate reductase activity in Rhodes grass
  (Chloris gayana Kunth) as parameter for nitrogen requirement.
  Supervisor: Prof. A. Dovrat.
• 1976-1978
  Research Associate in Department of Microbiology, Faculty of
  Agriculture, Rehovot, Israel (part-time).
• 1976-1980
  Ph.D in Soil Microbiology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Faculty of Agriculture, Rehovot.
  Thesis: Effect of plants and plant substances on microorganisms involved in nitrogen transformations in the soil. Supervisors: Profs. A. Dovrat and Y. Henis.
• 1990-1991
  Sabbatical leave at ARS-USDA, Beltsville, MD, USA, with Dr. J.L.Starr. Topic: Fate of agrochemicals in the soil.

Positions held and academic status

• 1974-1979    Chairman, Upper Galilee Central Agricultural Committee.
• 1974-1979    Chairman of the Board, Tel-Hai Academic College.
• 1980-1990    Director,  Research and Development Project  for Highland
   Agriculture (the Northern Project).
• 1980-1990    Chairman, Migal-Galilee Technological Centre for R & D.
• 1980 - Research Scientist, Dept. Organic Chemistry Residues, Institute of Soils and Water, Agricultural Research Organization, (ARO), Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, Israel.
• 1984 - Promoted to Senior Scientist, Grade "B".
• 1988 - Promoted to Principal Scientist, Grade "A" (equivalent to Associate Professor).
• 1990-1991 Visiting Scientist, Environmental Chemistry Lab., ARS-USDA, Beltsville, MD, U.S.A.
• 1991-1995 Scientific Coordinator, Agricultural research, northern Israel.
• 1993 - Adjunct Professor, from Dept. Plant Pathology, College of Agriculture, Pennsylvania State University.
• 1993-1995  Scientific Director, Huleh Valley Reclamation Project.
• 1994 - Promotion to Principal Scientist Grade A1 (equivalent to full Professor).
• 1995-1996 Scientific Director, ARO, Volcani Center.
• 1996-Chief Scientist, Ministry of Agriculture.

Teaching Experience:

• 1979-present The Hebrew University  of  Jerusalem,  Faculty of Agriculture. The course "Cell Biology" for first year B.Sc. students (Tel-Hai).
• 1994-present College - B.Sc. Course on "Environmental Microbiology".

Graduate student tutorship:

• Benjamin Motro: M.Sc., The Hebrew University. (With Prof. Y. Henis). Completed 1985.
• Segula Masaphy: M.Sc., The Hebrew University. (With Prof. Y. Henis). Completed 1987.
• Ronen Tchelet: M.Sc., The Hebrew University. (With Prof. Y. Henis). Completed 1988.
• Natan Rothschild: M.Sc., The Hebrew University. (With Prof. Y. Henis). Completed 1990.
• Paula Bilinki: M.Sc., The Hebrew University. (With Prof. I. Chet). Completed 1992.
• Rachel Amir: Ph.D., The Hebrew University. (With Profs. I. Chet and Y. Hadar). Completed 1994.
• Segula Masaphy: Ph.D.  The Hebrew University. (With Prof. Y. Henis). Completed 1996.
• Ofer Danay:  Ph.D.  The Hebrew University.  (With Profs. I. Chet and Y. Hadar). Completed 1999.
  Erika Debreczeni: M.Sc. The Hebrew University (With Prof. Y. Hadar) Completed 1999.

All these students worked in my laboratory under my direct supervision.
M.Sc. & Ph.D. thesis evaluation, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Membership in scientific and agricultural committees:

• Evaluating Panel for Soils and Water, BARD Fund (1984-85; 1994-96).
• Organizing Committee, Israel-Belgian Conference on "Organic Matter as a  Resource", 1987.
• National Committee for Agricultural R & D, Ministry of Agriculture.
• Organizing Committee, meeting of Israel Society of Microbiology, 1995.
• Board of Directors, US-Israel Binational R & D Fund (BARD), 1996- .
• Board of Directors, Dutch-Israel Agricultural Research Program (DIARP), 1996-

Editorial responsibilities

Editorial board: Newsletter for Mushroom Research and Development, FAO, Rome.

Editor of special section in J. Compost Sci. & Utilization.
Editor of Conf. Proceedings: "Nature and uses of spent mushroom substrates", March 1994, Philadelphia, PA, USA.

Review of MSS:

• The review system for agricultural journals in Israel.
• "Impact and interactions of inorganic, organic and microbial soil components on environmental quality." Intl. Soc. Soil Sci. working group, MO. Lewis Publishers. Journal of Soil Biology and Biochemistry.

Participation in International Meetings & Functions:

• 1982 5th Intl. Cong. on Pesticide Chemistry, Kyoto, Japan.
• 1983 Intl. Ecology Cong., Jerusalem, Israel.
• 1983 2nd Intl. Symp. on Peat in Agriculture, Bet Dagan.
• 1984 3rd Intl. Symp. on Land Subsidence, Venice, Italy.
• 1984 Intl. Mushroom Symp., Budapest, Hungary.
• 1985 9th Cong. of European Mycologists, Oslo, Norway.
• 1985 FEMS Symp. on Microbial Communities in Soil, Copenhagen,Denmark.
• 1986 Intl. Symp. on Edible Fungi, State College, PA, USA.
• 1987 Intl. Symp. on Mushrooms, Braunschweig, German.
• 1988 Intl. Symp. on Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, Hong Kong.
• 1989 Virginia-Israel Workshop on water resources, Kiryat Anavim, Israel.
• 1991 Intl. Meeting of American Society of Microbiology, Dallas, TX, USA.
• 1992 Batsheva de Rothschild Symposium on the use of micro-organisms to combat  pollution, Kiryat Anavim, Israel.
• 1992 Intl. Conference on environmental quality and ecosystem stability, Jerusalem, Israel.
• 1992 Intl. Meeting of American Chemical Society, Washington, DC.
• 1993 Mushroom Biology Conf., FAO, Rome. Chairman of session and invited speaker.
• 1993 Intl. Symp.on Mushroom Biology & Production, Hong Kong.
• 1994 IUMS 7th Intl. Conf. on Microbiology and Mycology, Prague, Czech. R.
• 1994 IMC 5 Mycological Conf. Vancouver, Canada.
• 1995 In situ and on site bioreclamation, San Diego, CA, USA.
• 1995 Intl. Soc. Mushroom Sci., Oxford, U.K.
• 1995 American Chemical Soc., San Jose, CA, USA.
• 1996 3rd Intl. Symp. Intl. Soc. Environ. Biotechnol., Boston, USA.
• 1999 2nd Intl. Symp. Mushroom Biology & Mushroom Products. Sydney, Australia.
• 2000 XV Intl. Cong. On Science & Biology of Edible Fungi.  Maastricht, Netherlands.
• 2000 Int. Conf. Microbiology og composting Innsbruck, Austria.
• 2001 Int. Conf. On Microbiol ecology Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Special invitations:

• 1986 FAO Headquarters, Rome.  Nomination as research coordinator for a joint  international research project: "Development of  substrates for the cultivation of wild mushrooms".
• 1987 Israel-Belgium Conference: Organic Matter as a Resource.
• 1988 The National University of Taiwan, Taipei - invited  visit and lectures.
• 1989 U.S.A.- Israel-Egypt Joint Symposium: "Scientific development of the Middle East towards the year 2000".
• 1990 Natural Resources Institute, ARS USDA, Beltsville, MD.
• 1990 University of Maryland. Special course on water quality.
• 1991 Pennsylvania State University. Short course and invited lecture on mushrooms.
• 1991 FAO HQ, Rome. Ad-hoc Research Group on Mushrooms. Coordinator of Section on substrates. Invited speaker.
• 1992 International Society of Soil Science, Working Group MO. Edmonton, Canada.
• 1994 International Conference on "Nature and Uses of Spent Mushroom Substrates".  Philadelphia, PA, USA.
• 1994 Int. Conf. Modern Agriculture & the Environment. Rehovot, Israel. Invited speaker. Israel Workshop on composts, Bet Dagan, Israel. Invited speaker.
• 1996 Int. Cong. on Bacteriology and Applied Microbiology (IUMS), Jerusalem. Chairman of Session.
• 1997 Keynote Lecturer, Indian Mushroom Conf., Solan, H.P. India.
• 1998 VI International Mycology Congress, Jerusalem. Chairman of Session.
• 1998 FAO Intl. Mushroom Network, Section Co-ordinator. Invited speaker. Bordeaux, France.

Invitations by professional societies in Israel:

• 1986 Plenary lecture at special meeting on R & D for the food industry. Ministry of Trade & Industry, Tel Aviv.
• 1988 Plenary lecture on development of exotic mushrooms. Meeting of Israeli Export Institute, Tel Aviv.
• 1989 Invited lecture, special meeting of Center for Agriculural Planning and Development, Neveh Ilan.
• 1993 Invited lecture and Session Chairman, Annual Meeting Israel Society of Soil Science, Katzrin.
• 1995 Organzing Committee & Session Chairman, Ann. Meet. Isr. Soc. Microbiol.
• 1995 Special Meeting on Environmental Biotechnology, Technion, Haifa, Israel.

Membership in professional societies:

• Israel Society of Soil Science
• International Society of Soil Science
• Israel Society of Microbiology
• International Society of Mushroom Science
• British Society of General Microbiology
• American Society of Microbiology

Competitive grants:

• 1982 US-Israel  Binational Agricultural Research and Development (BARD) grant. Cooperating Investigator. 3 yrs.
• 1983 US-Israel  Binational Industrial Research and Development grant. Principal  Investigator. 3 yrs.
• 1986 Joint German-Israeli research in water technology grant. Principal Investigator. 2 yrs.
• 1987 US-Israel Binational Basic Science Research Fund (BSF).Cooperating Investigator. 3 yrs.
• 1993 German-Israeli R & D Fund (GIFRID). Principal Investigator. 2 yrs.
• 1993 Joint German-Israeli research grant in water technology. Cooperating Investigator. 3 yrs.
• 1993 Ministry of Science & Technology special grant. Principal Investigator. 3 yrs.
• 1994 US-Israel Binational Agricultural R & D (BARD). Co-operating Investigator, 3 yrs.
• 1996 US-Israel Binational Industrial R & D (BIRD). Cooperating Investigator, 2 yrs.
• 1998 German-Israel R & D Fund (Gifrid). Principal Investigator, 2 yrs.
• 1998 EU Agricultural Research (FAIR) Grant. Co-operating Investigator, 2 yrs.
• 1999 EU 5th Framework (CRAFT): Co-operating Investigator. 2 yrs.

Awards:

1989 Israel Government nominee for World Food Prize, for outstanding contribution to agricultural and agro-industrial development in northern Israel.

Contributions to scientific community:

The following are the main contributions during the last 7 years. Numbers in brackets refer to relevant MSS in List of Publications.

Composting organic wastes

These studies dealt with recycling organic wastes for re-use in agriculture. The major achievement of this research was the establishment of physical, chemical and microbiological parameters for the production of composts. These parameters have been applied principally to the production of composts as substrates for mushroom cultivation and to the recycling of sewage sludge (41, 42, 45, 47). They are now being evaluated for other composting systems.

Water quality

• The River Jordan is the main source of surface water in Israel, and therefore the quality of its water is of supreme importance. A number of research projects in MIGAL (Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel) focus on the elucidation of the mechanisms that govern water quality in this area. Dr. Levanon's role in these studies involves all microbiological aspects, including biotransformation of both natural and xenobiotic (pesticide) chemicals. These studies have brought a better understanding of the parameters of surface water quality, and the impact on it of human activities. Monitoring systems for water quality control are being developed on the basis of this basic knowledge. Dr. Levanon was appointed by the National Water Authority to lead this research (51, 57).
• Biotransformations of organic compounds in soil and water A number of studies initiated by Dr. Levanon have been performed in cooperation with scientists of the Soils and Water Institute at Bet Dagan (ARO), the Faculty of Agriculture of the Hebrew University and the Biology Institute at Nes Ziona, and also (during Dr. Levanon's sabbatical) with scientists from ARS-USDA, Beltsville, MD. In these studies, significant scientific contributions were made in the following topics:
• The role of microorganisms (fungi and bacteria) in the effect of sewage sludge on the physical stability of soils (45)
• The biotransformation of pesticides by soil microflora, and the respective roles of fungi and bacteria (53)
• The impact of tillage on microbial activity and the fate of agrochemicals
  (nitrates and pesticides) in the soil. This issue is linked to the mobility of pesticides in the soil, with the potential contamination of ground water (56, 61)
• The biodegradation of the insecticide Parathion by pure bacterial cultures, and the purification of the enzyme parathion hydrolase from a strain of Pseudomonas with an extremely high specific activity. This enzyme has been found to be effective as a prophylaxis against organophosphorus poisoning (46, 50, 59, 70)
• Biotransformation of the herbicide Atrazine by the fungus Pleurotus pulmonarius, as a model for the bioremdiation of soils polluted by xenobiotic chemicals, by mushrooms (60, 68, 69, 71, 75, 76)
• Minimizing the degradation of peat soils by the use of perennial grasses (44).
• Significant parts of these studies have been performed by the graduate students R. Tchelet, N. Rothschild and S. Masaphy under Dr. Levanon's supervision (in co-operation with Prof. Y. Henis), in his laboratory at MIGAL. On the basis of these achievements, Dr. Levanon was recently asked by the Directors of ARO to establish a laboratory for soil microbiology at the Institute for Soils and Water in Bet Dagan. In this lab., research is already in progress on such topics as the optimization of composting municipal sludge, parameters for compost quality for use
  in organic farming and biotic aspects of the use of effluents for irrigation, as part of the effort to minimize hazards to public health and the contamination of ground water.

Research on higher fungi (mushrooms)

• The mushroom research unit at MIGAL concerns itself with applied research on the development of mushroom cultivation and mushroom products. As head of this unit, Dr. Levanon's responsibilities include the initiation of research according to the needs of mushroom growers in Israel, particularly those in the northern part of the country.
  Research is partly performed in co-operation with scientists from other institutions, especially the Faculty of Agriculture of the Hebrew University. These studies have made significant scientific contributions to:
• The establishment of chemical, physical and biological parameters for the quality control of compost (41, 63)
• Recycling agricultural wastes for use as casing soils in mushroom production (42, 47)
• The utilization of cotton straw as a substrate for the cultivation of edible fungi (41, 49)
• Developing bulk production methods for the production of exotic mushrooms, such as Oyster (Pleurotus sp.) and Shiitake (Lentinus edodes) (41, 54, 55)
• Morphological, physiological and biochemical aspects of the growth of edible fungi in liquid and solid media (49, 52, 58, 62, 64). A significant proportion of these studies  were performed by the graduate students O. Danai, S. Masaphy, B. Motro, P. Bilinki and R. Amir, in the mushroom research unit of MIGAL, under the supervision of Dr. Levanon, in co-operation with Profs. Henis, Chet and Hadar. On the basis of his achievements and publications, Dr. Levanon was recently asked to
  act as scientific co-ordinator of the global network for mushroom research of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.

Contributions to Israeli agriculture

• The project fthe rof peat soils in northern Israel is based on Dr. Levanon's scientific achievements in the use of perennial grasses to minimize the degradation of soil and pollution of water. On the basis of these achievements, Dr. Levanon was recently appointed as scientific coordinator for the Hula Valley reclamation project, which is concerned with the reclamation of eroded peat soils for agricultural and recreational purposes.
• The applied research of the MIGAL group has been recognized as an essential component in the success of mushroom growers in northern Israel by the Ministry of Agriculture, which decided to support a development program to double production in the region, on the basis of the unit's professional supervision.
• Over the past years, Dr. Levanon has acted as scientific coordinator for the agricultural research programs for northern Israel. The knowledge gained through these projects is considered by the Ministry of Agriculture to be crucial to its efforts to enhance agricultural production in this region. A three-year regional development program was recently launched by the Ministry, largely based on the products and technologies that have been developed by our research teams. Due to his personal contribution to these achievements, Dr. Levanon was nominated by Israel as a candidate for the "World Food Prize". 

LIST OF PUBLICATIONS

Articles in Reviewed Journals
Books and invited reviews
Articles in non-reviewed journals
Articles published in Proceedings of Symposia
Abstracts
Final research reports