The Molecular Systematics of the Hysteriaceae & Mytilinidiaceae
Intent: This website is devoted to mycology, 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 Eumycota portal for an introduction to the fungi, and the Hysteriales 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. Central to these endeavors has been Hans Zogg’s 1962 monograph Die Hysteriaceae s. str. und Lophiaceae, unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der mitteleuropäischen Formen. Beiträge zur Kryptogamenflora der Schweiz, Band 11, Heft 3: 1-190. This work has served as the basis for our current understanding of the group. As such, I have translated the dichotomous keys into English and present these here for the first time. However, a number of new species have been described since Zogg's 1962 publication (Amano 1983; Barr 1975, 1990; Barr & Blackwell 1980; Checa et al. 2007; Darker 1963; Goree, H. 1974; Kantvilas & Coppins 1997; Lorenzo & Messuti 1998; Messuti & Lorenzo 1997, 2003; Pande & Rao 1991; Speer 1986; Sutton 1970; Tilak & Kale 1968; van der Linde 1992; Vasilyeva 2000, 2001). I have therefore incorporated the new species into the original keys to produce a set of revised and updated keys. The original keys were altered to accommodate new species, as well as to account for variation in ascospore measurements as presented by different authors, or to account for widened distribution reports. 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, on whose shoulders we stand. Current Research: Research interests are centered on the molecular systematics of the Hysteriaceae & Mytilinidiaceae. The specific aim of my current research program is to sequence portions of the small (nuSSU) and large (nuLSU) ribosomal subunits, as well two protein coding genes, namely the transcription elongation factor (TEF1) and 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.
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 (Ma et 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).
Publications: (1) Boehm, E.W.A and D.J. McLaughlin. 1987. Eocronartium muscicola: a basidiomycetous moss parasite exploiting gametophytic transfer cells. Canadian Journal of Botany 66: 762-770. (2) Boehm, E.W.A. and D.J. McLaughlin. 1989. Phylogeny and ultrastructure in Eocronartium muscicola: meiosis and basidial development. Mycologia 81: 98-114. (3) Boehm, E.W.A. and D.J. McLaughlin. 1990. An ultrastructural karyotype for the fungus Eocronartium muscicola using epifluorescence preselection of pachytene nuclei. Canadian Journal of Botany 69: 1309-1320. (4) Boehm, E.W.A., Wenstrom, J.C., McLaughlin, D.J., Szabo, L.J., Roelfs, A.P. and W.R. Bushnell. 1992. An ultrastructural pachytene karyotype of the Wheat Stem Rust Fungus Puccinia graminis f.sp. tritici. Canadian Journal of Botany 70: 401-413. (5) Boehm, E.W.A. and W.R. Bushnell. 1992. An ultrastructural pachytene karyotype for the Flax Rust Fungus Melampsora lini. Phytopathology 82: 1212-1218. (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. (7) Boehm, E.W.A., Ploetz, R.C. and H.C. Kistler. 1994. Statistical analysis of electrophoretic karyotype variation among vegetative compatibility groups in the Banana Wilt Fungus Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense. Molecular Plant Microbe Interactions 7: 196-207. (8) Kistler, H.C., Benny, U., Boehm, E.W.A. and T. Katan. 1995. Genetic duplication in the Banana Wilt Fungus Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense. Current Genetics 28: 173-176. (9) Ravid, T., Tietz, A., Khayat, M., Boehm, E.W.A. and E. Lubzens. 1999. Lipid accumulation in the ovaries of a marine shrimp Penaeus semisulcatus de Haan. Journal of Experimental Biology 202: 1819-1829. (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. (11) Boehm, E.W.A., Ma, Z. and T.J. Michailides. 2001. Species-specific detection and quantification of Monilinia fructicola from California stone fruits and flowers. Phytopathology 91: 428-439. (12) Ma, Z., Boehm, E.W.A., Yong, L. and T.J. Michailides. 2001. Population structure of Botryosphaeria dothidea from pistachio and other hosts in California. Phytopathology 91: 665-672. (13) Boehm, E.W.A., Freeman, S., Shabi, E. and T.J. Michailides. 2003. Microsatellite primers indicate the presence of asexual populations of the apple scab fungus Venturia inaequalis in coastal Israeli apple orchards. Phytoparasitica 31: 236-251. |
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