Progress toward dna barcoding the vast diversity of fungi Dr. Amy Y. Rossman

Progress toward DNA barcoding the vast diversity of fungi

• Dr. Amy Y. Rossman

• USDA Agricultural Research Service

• Systematic Mycology & Microbiology Laboratory

• U.S. National Fungus Collections

Fungi are everywhere!

Fungi are polyphyletic. True fungi are more closely related to animals than to any other major group of organisms. The Oomycetes including the cause of Sudden Oak Death (SOD) and late blight of potatoes are more closely related to heterokont algae than other fungi. Myxomycetes or slime molds are relatively closely related to protozoans.

Based on ratio of fungi:plant of 5-6:1 in a few well-studied places. Only 5-10% are known, thus 90-95% have yet to be discovered.

2nd Workshop on DNA Barcoding of Fungi 17 September 2007, Taipei, Taiwan

Ectomycorrhizae

Aecidial state of black stem rust on unrelated host - barberry

Many, many undescribed species of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in one deciduous forest in Japan. Yamoto, M. & K. Iwase. 2005. Mycoscience 46: 334-342.

• Environmental samples of fungi in alpine soils.

• Are these unknown or just unsequenced lineages?

• Schadt et al in Science 301:1359-1361. 2003

What region to use for DNA barcode for fungi?