Systematics of fungi in the human environment

我在真菌系统学方面的工作重点是微真菌，它们是人类和动物的病原体，是过敏和超敏反应的激发子，是许多植物的内生菌和共生体，也是环境中的腐烂剂。随着医学的进步提高了重病患者的预期寿命，我们看到霉菌引起的感染数量和真菌的多样性都在增加。感染因子的身份是获取文献和评估治疗方案的关键。一些医学上重要的真菌的分类仍然很差，我们的大部分工作都集中在发展可靠的物种和一般概念上，以提高诊断真菌感染的能力。长期以来的重点一直是Ongyenales的成员，包括脊椎动物相关的系统性病原体，皮肤真菌及其土壤相关亲属。目的是描述物种的生活史，即利用经典观察方法、交配实验和基于dna的分析获得的数据，将无性物种与其有性亲属联系起来。最近两本关于Onygenales生态学、生物学和系统学的主要汇编表明，在科、属和种概念上存在惊人的分歧，在命名法上缺乏共识，从而引起人们对这些真菌工作的困难和需要进一步研究的领域的关注。我感兴趣的主要领域仍然是无性阶段（变形），包括Chrysosporium， Malbranchea, Emmonsia， Geomyces和其他产生单孢分生孢子或节分生孢子的真菌。Chrysosporium和Malbranchea的亲缘关系主要在Onygenales内，但这些属今天包括了由它们的分生孢子形式聚集在一起的多样性物种。将无性真菌与它们的有性亲戚联系起来，对于使这些属更能反映进化起源的任何尝试都是重要的一步。本研究强调在培养中性阶段的诱导和这些属成员在系统发育背景下的位置，以评估形态特征的分类价值。

My work in fungal systematics has a focus on microfungi important as human and animal pathogens, as elicitors of allergy and hypersensitivity, as endophytes and symbionts of many plants, and as decay agents in the environment. With advances in medicine that have improved life expectancy of severely ill patients, we have seen a rise in both in numbers of infections caused by molds and in the diversity of fungi involved. The identity of the infectious agent is key to accessing the literature and assessing therapeutic options. The taxonomy of some medically important fungi is still poorly resolved, and much of our work has a focus on developing reliable species and generic concepts with a practical goal of improving the ability to diagnose fungal infection. A long-term focus has been on members of the order Ongyenales, encompassing the vertebrate associated systemic pathogens, dermatophytes and their soil associated relatives. Objectives are to delineate life histories of species, i.e. to connect asexual species to their sexual relatives, using data obtained from classical observational methods, mating experiments and DNA-based analyses. Two recent major compilations on the ecology, biology and systematics of  the Onygenales demonstrated a surprising amount of disagreement in family, genus and species concepts and a lack of consensus on nomenclature, thus bringing attention to the difficulties in working with these fungi and areas in need of further research. My main area of interest continues to be on the asexual stages (anamorphs), including Chrysosporium, Malbranchea, Emmonsia, Geomyces and other fungi producing solitary aleurioconidia or arthroconidia. Affinities of Chrysosporium and Malbranchea are mainly within the Onygenales, but these genera today include a diversity of species brought together by the form of their conidia. Linking asexual fungi to their sexual relatives is an important step in any attempt to make these genera more reflective of evolutionary origins. This study emphasizes the induction of sexual stages in culture and the placement of members of these genera within a phylogenetic context with a view to assessing the taxonomic value of morphological characters.