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，作为人类和动物的病原体，作为过敏和过敏性的诱导者，作为许多植物的内生菌和共生体，以及作为环境中的腐蚀剂。随着医学的进步，提高了重症患者的预期寿命，我们看到由霉菌引起的感染数量和涉及的真菌种类都有所增加。感染性病原体的身份是查阅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没有得到很好的解决，我们的大部分工作都集中在开发可靠的物种和通用概念上，实际目标是提高诊断真菌感染的能力。长期以来，人们一直把重点放在Ongyenales目的成员上，包括脊椎动物相关的全身病原体、皮肤真菌及其与土壤相关的亲属。目标是利用从经典观测方法、交配实验和基于DNA的分析中获得的数据，描绘物种的生活史，即将无性物种与它们的有性亲属联系起来。最近关于Onygenales的生态、生物学和系统学的两份主要汇编显示，在科、属和种的概念上存在惊人的分歧，在命名上缺乏共识，从而使人们注意到与这些真菌合作的困难和需要进一步研究的领域。我感兴趣的主要领域仍然是无性阶段(无性型)，包括黄孢子菌、麦芽孢菌属、土霉属和其他产生单生无菌分生孢子或节分生孢子的真菌。黄孢子菌和马兰菌属的亲缘关系主要在Onygenales中，但今天这些属包括通过其分生孢子的形式聚集在一起的种类的多样性。将无性真菌与它们的有性亲缘联系起来，是使这些属更能反映进化起源的任何尝试中的重要一步。这项研究强调在文化中的性阶段的诱导和将这些属的成员放在系统发育的背景下，以期评估形态特征的分类学价值。

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.