Anjali Roy (April 1930 – 22 January 2017) was an eminent Indian

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungus, fungi, including their genetics, genetic and biochemistry, biochemical properties, their Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and ethnomycology, their use to humans, including as a so ...

and academic. The

fungus A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from th ...

genus ''

Royoporus ''Royoporus'' is a genus of fungi in the family Polyporaceae. It was circumscribed by mycologist Asit Baran De in 1996. The genus name honours Indian botanist Anjali Roy, (1930–2017), who worked at Visva-Bharati University in West Bengal. The ...

'' is named in her honour.

Early life

Roy was born in April 1930 in Rajshahi, then in pre-Independence India and now in

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

. She passed her matriculation examination from the girls' school there in 1945. She graduated with honors in

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

from Presidency College, Calcutta, and her post-graduation from Ballygunge Science College in 1952. She obtained a

D.Sc. Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

from the Calcutta University under the guidance of S. N. Banerjee.

Early research and academics

Roy's initial post-doctoral research, on the ''Coriolellus'', was conducted in Canada where she was mentored by Mildred K. Nobles. Returning to India, she began work as a medical mycologist in the Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine. In 1974, she joined the University of Burdwan as a

lecturer Lecturer is an List of academic ranks, academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. T ...

. Five years later, she moved to the Visva-Bharati University, where she remained until she retired in 1995. Roy as professor mentored 10

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

students.

Specialization in polypores

Roy developed a lasting interest in wood-rotting

polypore Polypores are a group of fungi that form large fruiting bodies with pores or tubes on the underside (see Delimitation for exceptions). They are a morphological group of basidiomycetes-like gilled mushrooms and hydnoid fungi, and not all polypor ...

s, and devoted herself to the

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

of the group of fungi, characterizing them based on

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its ...

, characteristics in cultures, chemical responses, the type of rot they induced and their

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

. She authored around 150 papers on the subject, and was published in authoritative journals in her field. She also served on the advisory committee of the ''Journal of Mycopathological Research'', the official journal of the Indian Mycological Society. Roy's research culminated in a

monograph A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monograph ...

titled ''Polyporaceae of India'' in 1996, a collaboration with her student Asit Baran De. The monograph summarized 114

Polyporaceae The Polyporaceae are a family of poroid fungi belonging to the Basidiomycota. The flesh of their fruit bodies varies from soft (as in the case of the dryad's saddle illustrated) to very tough. Most members of this family have their hymeniu ...

species, based mainly on the authors' own material collected over a forty-year period from across India. Besides, they also studied the collections at many botanical institutions, especially in the Presidency College and the Forest Research Institute in

Dehradun Dehradun () is the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, with the Uttarakhand Legislative As ...

. De went on to

name A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A personal ...

a genus of Polyporaceae, ''

'', in her honour. Roy died on 22 January 2017.

Bibliography

Books: *Roy, Anjali and De, Asit Baran (1996). ''Polyporaceae of India''. International Book Distributors, Dehradun, India. pp. 309. Journal Articles: *Studies on hyperpigmented form of ''Trichophyton rubrum''
Mycopathol. 27:1–8
(1965). *Anatomy of Indian Polyporaceae. Bull. Bot. Soc. Bengal 22, (1968). *A significant variation of ''Microsporum gypseum''
Mycopathol. 37:45–48
(1969). *Anatomy of India Polyporaceae V: ''Polyporus anthelminticus'' Berk. Visva Bharati Annals (Sc.) Part II. 14, 20–29, (1971). *Some micro-structures in relation to Polyporaceae
Mycopath. Mycol. Appl. 48, 111–119
(1972). *Record of ''Poria xylostromatoides'' from India. Sci. and Cult., 39,179–398, (1973). *Anatomy of India Polyporaceae VI: ''Hexagonia discopoda'' and ''H. sulcata''. Bull. Bot. Soc. Bengal 29, 57–64, (1975). *Structures of zones in fruiting bodies of Polyporaceae. Nova Hedwigia 27, 801-804, (1976). *Taxonomy of ''Fomes durissimus''. Mycologia 71, 1005–1009, (1979). *Studies on Indian Polypores IV, Morphological and cultural characters of ''Polyporus grammocephalus''. Mycologia 73 (1), 150–156, (1981). *Studies on Indian Polypores.VI. Morphological and cultural characters of ''Irpex flavus'' Klotzch. Nova Hedwigia. 34, 259–263, (1981). *Studies on Indian Polypores-VIII. Morphological and Cultural characters of ''Ganoderma colossum'' (Fr.) Torrend. Ibid. 35, 749–754, (1981). *Studies on Indian Polypores.V. Morphological and cultural characters of ''Trametes cubensis''. Can. J. Bot. 60, 192–1015, (1982). *Hyphal system in

Aphyllophorales The Aphyllophorales is an obsolete order of fungi in the Basidiomycota. The order is entirely artificial, bringing together a miscellany of species now grouped among the clavarioid fungi, corticioid fungi, cyphelloid fungi, hydnoid fungi, and p ...

and their respective evolution. Science and Culture 48, 372–376, (1982). *Wood-rotting fungi and their role in tree ecosystem. Science and Culture 48, 246–268, (1983). *New records of two wood rotting fungi from India. Indian Forester 11(2), With Mitra, A and Dutta, S (1985). *Lignin Biodegradation - Present status and future. ''Current Science'' 56, 350-353, (1987). *Cultural characters and mating system of ''Trametes lactinea''. Nova Hedwigia 44, 121–124, (1987). *Beta-glucosidase of a white-rot fungus ''Trametes gibbosa''. Biochem. Internat. 28(5), With Bhattacharjee, B and Majumder, A L (1992). *Taxonomy of ''Hexagonia scutellata'' comb. nov. J. Mycopath., With De, Asit Baran (1998).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roy, Anjali 1930 births Bengali scientists University of Calcutta alumni Indian women botanists Scientists from West Bengal 20th-century Indian women scientists 2017 deaths 20th-century Indian botanists Indian mycologists Women mycologists