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The need for new experts is great because the last monographic treatment of chytrids is 45 years old and is outdated.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.
