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Research Interests
- Biodiversity and taxonomy of Discomycetes (Ascomycetes) in Israel
- Biodiversity and taxonomy of Agaricacea s.l. in Israel
- Biodiversity and taxonomy of Aphyllophorales of Israel
- Biodiversity and taxonomy of Erysiphales of Israel
- Biodiversity and biology of Dead Sea fungi
Anticancer, antioxidant, and radical scavenging activity of medicinal mushrooms
- Biotechnology of submerged cultivation of many medicinal mushrooms, including haploid strains of Tremella mesenterica, Ganoderma tsugae var. janieae, Pleurotus eryngii and P. ostreatus, Agaricus brasiliensis, Coprinus comatus.
- Immuno-modulating, cholesterol lowering, antidiabetic, antioxidant, and radical scavenging activities for world market dietary supplements
- Investigation of enzymatic activity of pure Basidiomycetes cultures from different ecological groups: cellulose-degrading enzymes, oxidative enzymes (laccase; peroxidase) and lipase
Grants and Projects:
FP7 project of EU:
Biotechnology for the conversion of agro-industrial wastes into food,
nutraceuticals, enzymes and novel biological active substances
by medicinal mushrooms"
Chief Scientist-Ministry of Agriculture:
- Production of Food Supplements from Culinary Medicinal Mushrooms in Liquid Culture for the Israeli Market and Some for the International Market.
- Biotechnology and Cultivation of Culinary Medicinal Mushroom Fruit Bodies New to Israel and Rare in World Markets.
Ministry of Science and Technology:
Israel-Ukraine
Title: Biotechnological investigations of food, dietary supplement, and polysaccharide production from culinary-medicinal mushrooms
Alternative energy:
- Sustainable production of enzymes from Higher Basidiomycetes mushrooms for the bioconversion of agro-industrial waste to cellulosic ethanol.
- Biotechnology and Cultivation of Culinary Medicinal Mushroom Fruitbodies New to Israel and Rare in World Markets.
- Production of Food Supplements from Culinary Medicinal Mushrooms in Liquid Culture for the Israeli Market and Some for the International Market.
Selected Publications
Hazelwandter K., Grodzinskaya A.A. & Wasser S.P. 1995. Radio-cesium in fungi: accumulation pattern in the Kiev district of Ukraine including Chernobyl. Nova Hedwigia, Beihefte (Austria), pp. 88-94.
Wasser S.P. 1996. New, remarkable and rare higher Basidiomycetes from Israel. Czech Mycology, 48(4): 237-250.
Wasser S.P. 1997. A contribution to the taxonomy of the genus Agaricus L.:Fr. emend. Karst. (Higher Basidiomycetes) of Israel. I. Subgenus Agaricus. Bolletino del Gruppo Micol. G. Bresadola - Nuova Serie (Italy), 40(2-3): 465-484.
Buchalo A.S., Nevo E., Wasser S.P., Oren A. & Molitoris H.P. 1998. Fungal life in the extremely hypersaline water of the Dead Sea: first records.Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, B, 265: 1461-1465.
Weis A.L., Solomko E., Buchalo A.S., Wasser S.P. et al. 1999. Cultural study and illudin S production of medicinal mushroom Omphalotus olearius (DC.:Fr.) Fay. (Agaricales s.l.) from Israel. International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms,1(1): 93-103.
Buchalo A.S., Nevo E., Wasser S.P. & Volz P.A. 2000. Newly dis-covered halophilic fungi in the Dead Sea (Israel). In: Journey to Diverse Microbial Worlds.Seckbach J. (Ed.). Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp. 239-252.
Volz P.A.,Ellanskaya I.A., Wasser S.P., Nevo E. & Grishkan I. 2001. Soil Microfungi of Israel. Biodiversity of Cyanoprocaryotes, Algae and Fungi of Israel. C.V. Subramanian & S.P. Wasser (Eds.). A.R.A. Gantner Verlag K.-G., Ruggell. Fifty-two photographic plates, 546 p.
Wasser S.P. & Reshetnikov S.V. 2002. Process for producing, methods and compositions of cholesterol lowering agents from higher Basidiomycetes mushrooms. Patent US No. 6,372,462 B2.
Wasser S.P., Elisashvili V.I. & Tan K.K. 2003. Effects of carbon and nitrogen sources in the medium on Tremella mesenterica Retz.:Fr. (Heterobasidiomycetes) growth and polysaccharide production. International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms, 5: 49-56.
Wasser S.P. Ed. 2004. Evolutionary Theory and Processes: Modern Horizons. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, Boston, London, 420 p.
Hosid E., Grishkan I., Frenkrl Z., Wasser S.P., Nevo E., & Korol A. 2005. Microsatellite markers for assessing DNA polymorphism of Emericella nidulans in nature. Molecular Ecology Notes, 5: 647-649.
Wasser S.P., Zmitrovich I.V., Didukh M.Ya. & Malysheva V.F. 2006. New medicinal Ganoderma mushroom from China - G. tsugae Murrill var. jannieae var. nov. (Aphyllophoromycetideae). International Journal of Medical Mushrooms, 8(2): 159-160.
Petrova R.D., Mahajna J., Reznick A.Z., Wasser S.P., Denchev C.M. & Nevo E. 2007. Fungal substances as modulators of NF-κB activation pathway. Molecular Biology Reports, 34(3): 145-154.
Barseghyan G.S. & Wasser S.P. 2008. Species diversity of the genera Morchella St. Amans and Helvella L. ex St. Amans (Ascomycota, Pezizales) in Israel mycobiota. Nova Hedwigia, 87(3-4): 315-336.
Mahajna J., Yassin M. & Wasser S.P. 2008. Mushroom extracts having anticancer activity. US Patent, WO 2008/0019996 A1.