Systematics of fungi in the human environment

我在真菌系统学方面的工作重点是作为人类和动物病原体的重要微真菌，作为过敏和超敏反应的激发子，作为许多植物的内生菌和共生体，以及作为环境中的腐烂剂。随着医学的进步提高了重症患者的预期寿命，我们看到霉菌引起的感染数量和涉及的真菌多样性都有所增加。感染源的识别是访问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，以提高诊断真菌感染的能力。长期关注的是Ongyenales目的成员，包括脊椎动物相关的全身性病原体，皮肤真菌及其土壤相关亲属。目的是描绘物种的生活史，即连接无性繁殖的物种，他们的性亲属，使用从经典的观察方法，交配实验和DNA为基础的分析获得的数据。最近的两个主要的编译Onygenales的生态学，生物学和系统学表现出令人惊讶的数量的分歧，在家庭，属和种的概念和缺乏共识的命名，从而引起注意的困难，在这些真菌和需要进一步研究的领域。我的主要兴趣领域仍然是无性阶段（无性型），包括金孢子菌属，Malbranchea，Emmonsia，Geomyces和其他产生单独的粉孢子或节孢子的真菌。金孢子菌属和Malbranchea的亲缘关系主要在Onygenales内，但这些属今天包括了通过分生孢子形式聚集在一起的物种多样性。将无性真菌与它们的有性亲属联系起来是任何试图使这些属更能反映进化起源的重要一步。本研究强调的诱导性阶段的文化和放置这些属的成员在系统发育的背景下，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.