9521926 Huhndorf In an ambitious project to study the systematics and phylogeny of a large and ecologically important group of ascomycete fungi, members of the Sordariales, Dr. Sabine Huhndorf of the Field Museum has assembled an impressive team of collaborators and students, both nationally and internationally. They will address several of the major challenges facing fungal systematics today, including: (1) examining and testing variation, whether environmental or genetic, in key morphological characters used in ascomycete taxonomy; (2) integrating sexual and asexual stages of the fungal organism, which have often been given different scientific names over the years, into phylogenies and classification; (3) stabilizing genus, family, and order-level names through a rigorous phylogenetic analysis of morphological and molecular (DNA) evidence; (4) assessing species diversity in selected tropical regions of Central and South America; and (5) training students at graduate and postdoctoral levels in traditional and modern practices of fungal systematics. Taxonomic monographs of two large genera of sordarian fungi, Chaetosphaeria and Lasiosphaeria, will be the focus of much of the field work and subsequent laboratory and museum study. The research and training enterprises involve colleagues Drs. Greg Mueller and Francois Lutzoni at the Field Museum as well as others in Canada, France, and Sweden, and with colleagues in Panama and Ecuador. Students will also participate in ongoing field work in Costa Rica and in specialized courses in tropical mycology. Computerization of specimen collections and other computer-assisted activities are enhanced by the Field Museum's support for a mycology "gopher" server and other services.
