Microfungi Biodiversity and Evolution
The aims of this NSF funded project are to:
- conduct systematic sampling for two orders of microfungi and their hosts: Pucciniales (rusts/plants) and Laboulbeniales (labouls/insects) in previously unsampled regions
- determine whether accurate estimates from obligate microparasitic fungi, not included in any other estimates, will affect overall fungi species estimates
- determine whether parasitic microfungi follow the reverse latitudinal gradient posited for other fungal groups
and - resolve long-standing unresolved phylogenetic nodes by the incorporation of “missing” lineages for Pucciniales and Laboulbeniales and incorporating phylogenomics