|
|
Eric W.A. Boehm, PhD Assistant Professor, Microbiology Kean University Website: http://www.kean.edu/
Home of the Hysteriaceae, Mytilinidiaceae
& Gloniaceae      The Molecular Systematics of the Hysteriaceae, Mytilinidiaceae & Gloniaceae Intent: This website is devoted to mycology,
a branch of science that is devoted to the study of Fungi (see Bryce Kendrick's The
Fifth Kingdom), specifically as it relates
to the taxonomy and molecular phylogenetics of a group of bitunicate ascomycetes belonging to the Hysteriaceae and to the Mytilinidiaceae
(Eumycota,
Dikarya, Ascomycota, Pezizomycotina, Dothideomycetes, Pleosporomycetidae). On the Tree of Life Project, see the True Fungi or Eumycota
portal for an introduction to
the fungi, and The Hysteriales on the Tree of Life
for an introduction to this group of fungi. On this website, I have tried to assemble much of what is known of these fungi,
including most of the pertinent literature since Henrico Tode's first descriptions in the 1790s to the present day. In
an effort to facilitate species identification, a number of dichotomous keys are presented to species within each family.
These keys take into consideration taxonomic changes brought about by DNA and amino acid sequencing studies (Schoch et
al. 2006; Boehm et al. 2009a, b; Mugambi & Huhndorf 2009), and attempt to provide a morphological basis
for the many new relationships revealed by molecular data. Although the keys are based on those first presented by Zogg (1962),
they considerably expand upon them to include a number of new species and genera described since the original publication
(e.g., Darker 1963, Tilak & Kale 1968, Barr 1975, 1990a, Barr & Blackwell 1980, Amano 1983, Speer 1986, Pande &
Rao 1991, van der Linde 1992, Kantvilas & Coppins 1997, Lorenzo & Messuti 1998, Messuti & Lorenzo 1997, 2003,
2007, Vasilyeva 2000, 2001, Chlebicki & Knudsen 2001, Checa et al. 2007). In addition to incorporating new species and
genera, the revised keys also take into consideration variation in ascospore measurements as presented by different authors,
and include widened distribution reports as well. I hope other workers find these revised and updated keys useful for arriving at a species identification - for that
is the goal of this website. Additionally, for the description of various taxa, I have quoted past workers of the group directly,
duly citing the references from where the quotes originated. This was done so as to provide for a number of different opinions
as to the specific characteristics for each species. It is hoped that this website will be dynamic and will incorporate future
taxonomic changes as they manifest in the literature, most importantly those that originate from the acquisition of new DNA
and protein sequence data. The goal is to determine whether morphological features historically used in the delineation of
higher taxa in the Hysteriaceae and Mytilinidiaceae are phylogenetically informative in the context of sequence-based phylogenies. This site is dedicated to those mycologists
who furthered our understanding of this group of fungi, specifically Hans Zogg, Margaret E. Barr Bigelow, Emil Muller and
Joseph A. von Arx. Current Research: Research interests are centered on the molecular systematics of the Hysteriaceae, Mytilinidiaceae & Gloniaceae. The specific aim of my current research program is to sequence phylogenetically important genomic regions (e.g., the small (nuSSU) & large (nuLSU) ribosomal subunits, the transcription elongation factor (TEF1) & the RNA polymerase subunit II (RPB2) to: (1) investigate ordinal affiliations within the Dothideomycetes for each family; (2) verify the placement of genera within each family and assess their degree of monophyly; and (3) to determine which morphological features are phylogenetically significant and therefore useful for generic delineation. Essentially, I am interested in whether phylogenies based on molecular character states will prove to be concordant with previous morphology-based classifications. Future projects will address speciation within each of the terminal clades defined. Towards this end, in conjunction with a number of international collaborators, a large culture collection has been assembled based on single ascospore isolates, representing the USA, England, France, Italy, Germany, Russia, Argentina, South Africa, Columbia and Tasmania. This culture collection is being added to continuously, with living cultures deposited with the Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures (CBS), The Netherlands, and dried voucher herbarium specimens depostied with the US National Fungus Collections (BPI), Beltsville, MD. Prior Research: Past research projects have included: (1) the elucidation of ultrastructural fungal karyotypes using transmission electron microscopy among the plant rust fungi & allies (Boehm & McLaughlin, 1990; Boehm et al., 1992; Boehm & Bushnell, 1992); (2) the use of pulse field gel electrophoresis to deduce electrohporetic karyotypes among isolates of the Banana Wilt Fungus, Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense (Boehm et al., 1994; Kistler et al., 1995); (3) the use of microsatellite primers to investigate population structure among isolates of the Apple Scab Pathogen, Venturia inaequalis (Boehm et al., 2003), marine monogonot rotifers used in aquaculture (Boehm et al., 2000) and the Pistachio Blight Pathogen Botryosphaeria dothidea (Maet al., 2001); and (4) the development of species-specific molecular diagnostics, based on VNTR satellites for PCR & dot blot hybridization, that were capable of detecting and quantifying in planta the brown rot of stone fruit fungal pathogen Monilinia fructicola (Boehm et al., 2001). Together, these publications formed the basis for five author citations in the leading university-level mycology textbook, namely Introductory Mycology, Fourth Edition (1996), by C.J. Alexopoulos, C.W. Mims and M. Blackwell. Two were also cited in the leading fungal genetics textbook, Fungal Populations and Species, by John Burnett (2003). Publications: (6) Backlund,
J.E., Boehm, E.W.A., Szabo, L.J. and W.R. Bushnell. 1992. Genome size and chromosome number for the Wheat Stem Rust Fungus
Puccinia
graminis f.sp. tritici. Vortr.
Pflanzenzuchtg. 24: 19-21.
(10) Boehm,
E.W.A., Gibson, O. and E. Lubzens. 2000. Cloning and characterization of satellite DNA sequences from the commercially important
marine monogonont rotifers Brachionus rotundiformis and B. plicatilis. Marine Biotechnology 2: 38-48.
|
