REU: Ultrastructure and Evolution in Auriculariaceous Fungi

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Evolutionary relationships within the advanced groups of fungi (mushrooms, puffballs, and relatives) are poorly understood. The basidiomycetes, one of two major divisions of higher fungi, are characterized by the basidium, the spore- forming cell, which can be of two types: those which form cross walls or septa after meiosis and those without septa. The auriculariaceous fungi, whose basidia typically become divided by septa after meiosis, are a group of organisms with characteristics intermediate between the ascomycetes, the presumed ancestors of the basidiomycetes, and the presumably advanced basidiomycetes, with undivided basidia. Dr. McLaughlin of the University of Minnesota will use powerful electron- microscopic techniques to study ultrastructural features in several groups of auriculariaceous fungi. Cellular features that are likely to yield evidence of taxonomic relationships among fungi include aspects of meiotic and mitotic cell-division, the spindle pole body, primary and secondary septa within basidia, and the differentiation of cell- wall layers. The correlation of evidence from these several aspects of cellular structure and function should help determine a more natural grouping of the fungi intermediate between the ascomycetes and basidiomycetes.