PEET: Phylogenetic and Monographic Research on Spizellomycetalean Chytrids (Chytridiomycota)

菊科真菌繁殖时带有向后的单鞭毛游动孢子，通常被认为仅限于水生生境。然而，从几乎任何土壤样本中都可以提取到大量的龟裂，在那里，它们腐烂了碎片并寄生了其他微生物。阿拉巴马大学的Martha Powell和Peter Letcher以及缅因州大学的Joyce Longcore建议使用多基因序列和游动孢子超微结构特征来分析Spizellmycetales目的土壤chytrids。这些研究人员将培训三名研究生，作为现代chytrid系统学方法的下一代专家。对新专家的需求是巨大的，因为最后一次专题治疗裂隙虫已经有45年的历史了，已经过时了。研究人员将探索将系统发育物种的概念应用于spizellcetalean chytrids。作为这一项目的成果，受训者将出版现代丛枝菌属专著和对新发现的分类群的描述。该项目将为GenBank提供新的土壤壶菌序列，在分子环境研究中具有重要价值。一个扩展的chytrid Peet网站将提供广泛的信息和图像。Peet学员将获得教育学和视频制作方面的新技能，为中学生制作学习模块，传达对葫芦和真菌生物多样性的欣赏。这些努力的总和将使脊椎动物更为人所知，识别它们的问题更少，从而使人们更好地了解它们在环境中的重要性。

Chytrid fungi reproduce with posteriorly uniflagellate zoospores and are commonly considered limited to aquatic habitats. Yet an abundance of chytrids can be extracted from almost any soil sample where they decay debris and parasitize other microbes. Martha Powell and Peter Letcher, at The University of Alabama, and Joyce Longcore, at The University of Maine, propose to use multigene sequences and zoospore ultrastructural characters to analyze soil chytrids in the Order Spizellomycetales. These researchers will train three graduate students as the next generation of experts in modern methods of chytrid systematics. The need for new experts is great because the last monographic treatment of chytrids is 45 years old and is outdated. Investigators will explore the application of the phylogenetic species concept to spizellomycetalean chytrids. As outcomes of this project, trainees will produce modern monographs of spizellomycetalean genera and descriptions of newly discovered taxa. This project will contribute new sequences of soil chytrids to GenBank, valuable in molecular environmental studies. An expanded Chytrid PEET website will make information and images widely available. PEET trainees will gain new skills in pedagogy and video production, generating learning modules for middle school children that transmit an appreciation for chytrids and fungal biodiversity. The totality of these efforts will make chytrids better known and their identification less problematic, leading to a better understanding of their importance in the environment.