Author
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DUNKLE, LARRY |
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Submitted to: American Phytopathology Society
Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 4/14/2006 Publication Date: 6/1/2006 Citation: Dunkle, L.D. 2006. Morphology, Molecules, and Mycology [abstract]. Phytopathology. 96:S143. Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: Since the 1960s, when Roger Storck tested the hypotheses that GC content of DNA and RNA reflects fungal phylogeny and that such information could be used to distinguish taxa at various levels, molecular criteria have been increasingly applied to various aspects of mycology and fungal biology. For example, nucleotide sequences of ribosomal DNAs were among the most significant (and perhaps convincing) criteria that banished the Oomycetes from the Kingdom Fungi and relegated the common name of these once treasured members of the Phycomycetes to “fungal-like protists.” Molecular analyses, enabled by the facility of PCR methodology and the availability of genome sequences, have been particularly useful where morphological characters are insufficient to delineate species or unravel species complexes, where sexual infertility precludes definition of biological species, and where host range is an ambiguous and unreliable descriptor at the species level. Nucleotide sequences of key conserved genes, multi-gene genealogies, and genomic DNA profiles have been used to clarify phylogenetic relationships, identify and distinguish fungal species, detect specific fungi in a myriad of environmental niches, define population structure and composition, and track migration of exotic plant pathogens. However, does the nearly infinite resolving power of molecular criteria reach a point beyond which clarity and order suffer? |
