Leucoagaricus and Leucocoprinus: Phylogeny and Classification of Litter Saprotrophs in the Agaricaceae

本文对蘑菇属Leucoagaricus和Leucocoprinus的分类和进化进行了研究。这些真菌与杂货店的蘑菇密切相关，它们是世界各地原生森林中的垃圾分解者，在地球上最古老的农业系统中，新热带的切叶蚁将它们作为食物种植。美国的许多物种尽管丰富而广泛，但仍未被描述。将在加利福尼亚、夏威夷、巴拿马和泰国对物种进行调查和描述，将开发鉴定工具，结果将发表在科学期刊上。本研究将通过分子标记和系统发育分析来阐明木耳科植物的种类和位置关系。分类、分类和鉴定基础设施对生态学、保护生物学和农业等领域具有内在的影响。本文所描述的工作将为腐生菌的重要群体提供识别工具，这些腐生菌通过碳循环直接与热带生态系统相互作用，并通过与蚂蚁的共生关系间接与新世界热带农业系统相互作用，后者的经济影响巨大。对学生的培训将为将来推动这类工作建立必要的人力资源，而与非专业公众的接触将扩大对基础科学研究的支持。

This study is focused on the taxonomy and evolution of the mushroom genera, Leucoagaricus and Leucocoprinus. These fungi, which are closely related to the grocery store mushroom, are litter decomposers in native forests throughout the world and neotropical leaf-cutter ants grow them for food in the oldest agricultural system on earth. Many species in the USA are still undescribed, despite being abundant and widespread. Species will be investigated and described in California, Hawai'i, Panama and Thailand, identification tools will be developed and results will be published in scientific journals. Relationships between species and positions in their family, the Agaricaceae, will be elucidated with molecular markers and phylogenetic analyses. Taxonomy, classification, and identification infrastructure have an intrinsic impact on fields such as ecology, conservation biology, and agriculture. The work described here will provide identification tools for an important group of saprotrophs that interact directly with tropical ecosystems via carbon cycling, and indirectly with new world tropical agricultural systems via their symbiosis with the attine ants, whose economic impact is huge. The training of students will build the human resources necessary to propel this type of work into the future, while outreach to the non-professional public will broaden support for basic scientific research.