Dissertation Research: Systematic Investigations in the Basidiomycete Genus Coprinus Phylogeny, Character Evolution, and Development

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Phylogenetic systematics can offer great insights into evolution but until recently has rarely been applied to fungi because traditional morphological characters are few in number and are thought to have often evolved in a convergent or parallel manner. With the advent of molecular methods to generate independent data and modern systematic approaches for phylogenetic analysis of all types of characters it has become possible to make progress in understanding the evolutionary history of fungi. The objectives of the proposed research are to produce a broad- scale phylogeny for the genus Coprinus (Pers.:Fr.) S.F. Gray and use this phylogeny to study the manner in which fungal characters have evolved. Multiple character sets will be generated from morphological, molecular, and developmental sources. Morphological characters will be drawn from the study of macro- and microscopic characters of fresh and dried basidiocarps and living mycelia grown in the laboratory. Restriction site maps, DNA sequences, and gene organization will constitute the molecular characters. Developmental data will consist of observations made on thin sections of fruitbodies. Data sets will be analyzed together and separately using cladistic methodologies to determine a consensus phylogeny. Character evolution will then be studied by individually mapping characters onto the consensus phylogeny. This research will 1. elucidate evolutionary patterns in fungal morphology and development, 2. provide a better understanding of which fungal characters are informative in a phylogenetic sense and at what taxonomic levels, 3. provide a phylogenetic hypothesis for an important genus of fungi, and 4. serve as a model for the study of evolution through the integration of multiple data sets analyzed through a cladistic framework.