Introductory seminar: "Systematics and ecology of Nordic Hymenogaster"
Science and Information Technology
Introductory seminar with PhD student Alexandra Dombrowski, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences
Introductory seminar with PhD student Alexandra Dombrowski, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences
Focus for Alexandra’s PhD-project is taxonomy of Hymenogaster, see abstract below.
Her main supervisor is Henrik Nilsson with Ellen Larsson (BioEnv ) and Mikael Jeppson (Sveriges Mykologiska Förening) and Torda Varga (Royal Botanic Gardens Kew) as co-supervisors and Bengt Oxelman as examiner.
Abstract
Hymenogaster is a genus of hypogeous basidiomycete ectomycorrhizal fungi, meaning they form fruiting bodies underground and have symbiotic relationships with trees. The genus was described in 1831 and has suffered from changing species concepts since then - ranging from having 8 described species to 94, depending which author you rely on. The goal of my PhD project is to resolve the taxonomy of Nordic Hymenogaster using multilocus phylogenetic inference and morphological analysis of both historic and newly collected specimens targeted through fieldwork in hitherto unsampled regions of Sweden and possibly beyond. With clearer species concepts, I hope to also use distribution modelling to aid further collection effort and better understand the ecology of these species. In addition, I will examine the position of Hymenogaster within Hymenogastraceae using phylogenomics.