Subject Area:
Research Interests:
- Taxonomy, systematics, biodiversity, and ecology of macrofungi, with emphasis on Agaricales, especially those of subtropical and neotropical distribution.
Three activities occupy most of my research:
- My research interests are on taxonomy, systematics and ecology of the Agaricales (mushrooms and allies). Most of my work has focused on neotropical and subtropical fungi, particularly those from Costa Rica. Now, I am working with mushrooms of the Gulf States of the United States, also an area of exceptional biodiversity. Many neotropical fungi have affinities with northern fungi, including those present in southeastern United States.
- I am working with the American Shiitake (Lentinula raphanica). An edible species like the commercial strain, this mushroom in not well-known and there are no genetic or physiology studies. In my lab, students have performed basic cultural and molecular studies that will enable us to study other aspects such as fruiting parameters, strain selection, and genotyping.
- Because of the proximity to mayor water bodies –the Mobile River Delta and the Gulf of Mexico- I am involved in a collaborative effort to document fungi associated to seagrasses. We have been able to identify several mitosporic fungi previously which constitute new reports on this type of angiosperms, and brings to attention the ecological role of this inconspicuous fungi in fragile marine ecosystems.
Research Interests
- Taxonomy, systematics, evolution and ecology of Agaricales mushrooms and aquatic fungi
