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Montana State University professor Gary Strobel travels the world in search of exotic plants and the mysterious fungi that live inside them. Among his discoveries: a smelly white fungus that acts as a natural antimicrobial.
The gold rush era may be over, but in Montana another type of globetrotting prospector is making news. Montana State University biologist Gary Strobel has spent much of the past two decades rummaging in the planet's remaining rain forests for treasures in twigs and stems. And he's sharing his spoils with the world.

It isn't the plants themselves that most interest Strobel. Back at his laboratory, he inspects the cuttings he has collected for the precious bounty they carry: the bacteria and fungi that live inside, known to biologists as endophytes. Strobel screens the organisms--and the gases and other waste products they give off--looking for potential drugs, pesticides or other useful compounds.

Sometimes what he finds is very useful--and surprising. In 1999, Strobel opened a plastic tray in his Montana State University lab and thought for a minute that his recent expedition to the Honduran rain forest had been a bust. Of the dozen or so species of fungi he had collected there, all had survived the trip. But after Strobel placed them in a shared container to prevent infestation from mites in the laboratory, all but one died after a few days.

At first, Strobel was perplexed. But then came a Eureka moment.
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