We do research in fungal systematics and evolutionary biology. We collect field specimens and natural history collections to discern taxonomic and evolutionary relationships of mushrooms using methods of phylogenetic inference. We use phylogenies not just for classification purposes, but also to test hypotheses about the evolution of symbioses, fungal biogeographical patterns, trait evolution, and patterns of diversification in mushrooms.

16 January 2012: New undergrad joins the lab

Christine Braaten, ex-Navy and a returning student, has joined the lab and will learn techniques in molecular systematics and fungal taxonomy. Christine is a good collector and has a broad interest in systematics of Agaricomycetes. She is also producing wiki pages for miscellaneous species of mushroom-forming fungi. Welcome to the lab, Christine.

16 January 2012: New Entolomataceae paper published

Tim Baroni and I published a work placing two rarely encountered southeast USA species, the false truffle Richoniella asterospora and the cyphelloid species Rhodocybella rhododendri, within the genus Entoloma. This work was published in Harvard Papers in Botany; a pdf of the paper can be found on the publications page.

5 December 2011: ECM Agaricales paper accepted

Martin and I have had our work on “Asynchronous origins of ectomycorrhizal clades of Agaricales” accepted by the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

10 November 2011: NSF DDIG proposal submitted

Joshua got his doctoral dissertation improvement grant submitted. If funded, Joshua will focus his priority on establishing a multi-gene phylogeny for the Clavariaceae and examine patterns of ecological and morphological evolution within the group.

31 August 2011: New additions to the lab

- Marisol Sanchez has joined the lab as a first-year PhD student. Marisol is from Mexico City and previously completed her Master’s degree on systematics of Melanoleuca with Joaquin Cifuentes at UNAM. Marisol will work on a poorly known clade or grade of mushroom-forming fungi that centers around Leucopaxillus, Porpoloma, and Dennisiomyces.

- Elizabeth Sheedy joins us for a six-month visit from the University of Melbourne and the Royal Botanic Gardens of Melbourne. Elizabeth is a PhD student working on population genetics and systematics of Laccaria and allies. While at Tennessee she will be working with Martin Ryberg on the evolution of Australian truffle-forming fungi. We are interested to know whether the process of aridification the last 30 million years or so spurred these fungi to shift underground or if there was a response to pressures supplied by marsupials that rely almost exclusively on truffles for their diet.

- Sarah Slocum is a sophomore with pre-med and psychology interests who will join us this semester to to assist with various lab projects. Sarah was one of the top biodiversity students in our BIO130 course Brandon taught last spring.

1-5 August 2011: Mycological Society of America meeting

Wow, almost the entire lab participated in the MSA meeting held this year in Fairbanks, Alaska. Marisol Sanchez and Elizabeth Sheedy (see above) presented posters on their research in the genera Melanoleuca and Laccaria, respectively. Joshua Birkebak gave a talk on the systematics and ecology of the Clavariaceae. Martin Ryberg co-chaired a symposium on diversification in fungi and presented a talk comparing different methods and their efficacy at uncovering patterns of diversification in fungi. And, Brandon Matheny introduced a particularly speciose clade of Australian species of Inocybe, 80% of which are likely undescribed.

10 June 2011: The Australian Biological Resources Study grant

The Australian Biological Resources Study (ABRS) has awarded Neale Bougher (PI) and myself (Co-PI) a three-year award to produce a monographic treatment of Australian Inocybaceae as part of the Fungi of Australia series. The Western Australian Naturalists’ Club generously provided matching funds to make this award possible. This is very exciting news and bodes well for fungal systematics research in Australia.

12 May 2011: Joshua Birkebak passes PhD candidacy exam

Watch out, Clavariaceae. Joshua passed his prelims and is now officially a PhD candidate after two years in the EEB graduate program. Joshua’s research focuses on the systematics, evolution,

and ecology of the Clavariaceae.

1 May 2011: Undergraduates win Phi Kappa Phi award

Brandon sponsored two undergraduates, Pawel Kosentka (biochemistry concentration) and Sarah Sprague (psychology major), in an undergraduate research project that examined the evolution of fungal toxins in the mushroom family Inocybaceae. This work was performed in collaboration with Dr. Shawn Campagna and graduate student Amanda May in the Chemistry Department. Pawel and Sarah’s research was featured in the Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement, also known as EUReCA. Of the 187 presentations at EUReCA, Pawel and Sarah’s poster won one of three Phi Kappa Phi awards. Awesome work, guys, and thanks for the steaks and wine!

9 March 2011: Carlos C. Campbell Memorial Fellowship

Brandon received a Carlos C. Campbell Memorial Fellowship awarded by the Great Smoky Mountains Conservation Association. Carlos Campbell was instrumental in the formation of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Funds from the award will be used to support visiting scientists and photographers to document the mushroom flora of the Smokies.

9 March 2011: Martin’s paper is in press with Evolution

This effort deals with diversification and incomplete taxon sampling in a large clade of mushroom-forming fungi, the Hebelomateae.

21 January 2011: Elizabeth Sheedy, an Australian PhD student, will visit the lab later this year

Elizabeth had been working on the family Hydnangiaceae for her PhD with Barbara Howlett and Tom May at the University of Melbourne and Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne. Elizabeth will pause from this work for a bit to work with us on the emergence and diversification of Australian sequestrate fungi within the Agaricomycetes. Elizabeth will be supported as a Visiting Graduate Student Scholar by our on-going research grant from NSF. She’ll arrive in August.

20 January 2011: Congrats to Joshua Birkebak who has received a Ben Woo Scholarship Award

The Puget Sound Mycological Society gave Joshua (shown right) an award to revise collections of Clavariaceae from the Pacific Northwest. Joshua estimates c. 20 species may occur in the region based on herbarium samples from the University of Washington and the University of Tennessee.

18 January 2011: Martin Ryberg’s paper in Evolution nearing acceptance

At last... accepted with minor changes. Something we like to hear! Martin’s latest work will feature the evolutionary radiation of a large clade of mushroom-forming fungi, the tribe Hebelomateae, which includes Hebeloma, Alnicola, Anamika, and Hymenogaster, a truffle-like group. Since the group’s origin, the tribe has undergone a mode of continual diversification. Sorry to say, but, Hebelomas are continuing to speciate!

14 January 2011: REU supplement award

Good news... the lab received funds from NSF as a supplement to our on-going project to revise the Inocybaceae from Australia. These funds will support one undergraduate student starting this summer and continuing into the next academic year in systematics, collections-based research, and investigation of evolutionary patterns of muscarine in the Inocybaceae.

12 January 2011: We’d like to welcome Brian Looney, an EEB undergrad, to the lab

Brian (shown above with Joshua) participated with us during our 2010 Smokies field season and now will start a research project on Auricularia fuscosuccinea, a jelly fungus primarily known from the tropics and Gulf Coast. This species is closely related to the much better known Wood Ear fungus (Auricularia auricula-judae) and has begun to appear in Tennessee.

6 January 2011: Auritella foveata, a new species from tropical India

Brandon’s paper, together with C.K. Pradeep and two other Indian colleagues, has been accepted in Kew Bulletin. This is an important discovery since it records the genus Auritella on a new continent and will push back in time the evolutionary origin of Auritella. The new species is sister to the rest of the genus, which occurs in tropical Africa and temperate Australia.