Johann Wolfgang von Goethe-Universität
Frankfurt am Main

Institut für Ökologie, Evolution und Diversität

Group for

Ecology, Morphologoy, and Systematics of Fungi

Research

At present about 70.000 species of fungi are known all over the world. Based on estimates, however, there are more than a million of different species of fungi. Therefore fungi are the most incompletely known group of organisms with the exception of bacteria and viruses, although fungi are very important as parasites of plants, animals and men, for the production of food and medicine as well as in nature, for example as destruents and mycorrhizal partners.

By our research we want to contribute to a better understanding of the worldwide diversity of fungi working especially with plant parasitic fungi and fungi associated with insects as well as fungi associated with lesions on human skin and nails.

Ustilago maydis, the corn smut, causing the ovaries
of corn to develop edible galls (huitlacoche).

Geographically we actually focus on fungi in Panama, where  excellent teaching and research conditions are provided by a university partnership with the UNACHI (Universidad Autónoma de Chiriquí).

• Topics of research
• Currently investigated groups of fungi
• Field work
• Methods
• Results
• Application
• Projects
• Cooperations

 

Topics of research

Ecology, morphology, and systematics of plant parasitic fungi in Panama

Microfungi in Taiwan

Fungi associated with insects

Conidiophors of Leptographium wingfieldii with conidia in slimy
heads in the gallery
of a bark beetle.

 

 

 

Rhytismatales in China

Fungi associated with human skin and nail lesions in Panama

 

Currently investigated groups of fungi

Smut fungi (Ustilaginomycetes p.p., Microbotryales)

Rusts (Uredinales)

Plant parasitic ascomycetes: Rhytismatales, Meliolales and other groups

Plant parasitic Imperfect fungi

Species of the genus Aschersonia and other fungi associated with insects

Mycoparasitic fungi

 

Field work

at home

in the Neotropics: especially in Panama, Cuba, and other countries

in East Asia: in Taiwan and Yunnan, China

 

Meeting of mycologists in Kunming (Yunnan, China).
From left to right: Yang Zhu Liang, Roland Kirschner, Susanne Beckmann, Qian Xiao Ming, He (Yang´s wife), Meike Piepenbring, Hou Cheng Lin.

 

Methods

Field work

Identification of plants and insects associated with fungi

Morphology of the fungus and the infection

Isolation and cultivation of fungi in the laboratory

Light microscopy – drawings

Scanning electron microscopy

Transmission electron microscopy

Taxonomy

Phylogenetic systematics based on DNA sequence data

GLOPP = GLObal informationssystem for the diversity of plantparasitic funig (project for a database available in the internet in future) Link: www.glopp.net

 

Results

new species, new genera etc.

morphological characterisations

keys for identification, also interactive in the internet

Link: www.glopp.net

data of distribution

description of hitherto unknown associations with host plants, insects, and other fungi

new anamorph-teleomorph-connections

ecological interpretation of the observations

observation of interactions

hypotheses of phylogenetic relationships and coevolution of the respective organisms based on morphological characteristics and sequence data

 

Application

The detection, isolaton, description and naming of fungi as well as organisms associated with them is basic scientific research concerning not only ecologically interesting groups but also organisms of economic importance. Since we mainly work on fungi parasitic on plants and associated with insects, the results are relevant particularly to phytopathology. The identification of fungi associated with human skin and nail lesions is clinically significant.

 

 

Projects

Concluded projects

Smut fungi of Costa Rica, Mesoamerica, and the neotropics

Monography of the genus Cintractia, smut fungi

Ultrastructure (TEM) of the development of teliospore walls of smut fungi

Fungi associated with bark beetles in Germany

Fungi associated with bark beetles in China

Observation of the
ecology, morphology
and anatomy of
selected tropical grasses

 

 

 

 

 

 

Luziola subintegra (Poaceae)
at the Panama canal.

 

Current projects:

Plant parasitic microfungi in Panama

University partnership with the UNACHI (Universidad Autónoma de Chiriquí) in Panama Exchange of german and panamanian students and teachers for the Maestría in Biology at the UNACHI with financial support of the DAAD

GLOPP = GLObal informationsystem for the Diversity of PlantParasitic fungi, input of data on taxonomy, morphology, hosts, distribution and literature on plant parasitic fungi into databases of the Diversity Workbench

Microfungi on Taiwan (Roland Kirschner)

Fungi parasitic on insects (Roland Kirschner)

                Hirsutella saussurei on a wasp in Panama.

Fungi associated with human skin and nail lesions in Panama (Orlando Cáceres)

Rhytismatales in China (Hou Cheng Lin)

Meliolales in Panama (Délfida Rodríguez)

Revision of the genus Aschersonia (Boris Koch)

Smut fungi of the Cintractia-group in Argentina (Jasmin Gossmann)

Smut fungi on Cuba (José Manuel Pérez)

Molecular systematics of species of Ustilago/Sporisorium (smut fungi) – relationship and their coevolution with Poaceae (Dr. Matthias Stoll, University of Tübingen)

 

Cooperations

with mycologists in Tübingen, Berlin, München, Halle, ...

with members of universities and herbaria in Latin America (Panama, Cuba, Costa Rica, ...)

with Dr. Yang Zhu Liang at the Akademia Sinica in Kunming (Yunnan), Dr. Chen Chee Jen in Taiwan and Dr. Guo Lin in Peking

with members of the department of Systematic Botany and Mycology Laboratory (SBML) of the United States Department of Agriculture, Beltsville

and many more

 

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Piepenbring, June 04