Research

Overview

There is a mind-boggling diversity of fungi serving essential ecological roles in almost all ecosystems on Earth. Despite their ubiquity and importance, mycologists estimate that only about 10% of the total number of fungal species have been described. As a fungal biologist, I aim to close the gap between estimated and known diversity by describing new species, and to learn about and share with you the fascinating stories of ecology and evolution that fungi have to tell.

Horizontal Gene Transfer of Gyromitrin

Gyromitrin is an acute toxin and potent carcinogen that is found in some mushrooms, particularly false morel mushrooms (Gyromitra spp.). The product of gyromitrin metabolism, monomethylhydrazine, is infamous for also being a component of rocket fuel, which is as bad for you as it sounds like it would be. You'd think this would be a deterrent to the consumption of false morels. However, in Finland, the highly poisonous Gyromitra esculenta is widely harvested and consumed as a delicacy after first being prepared with a laborious parboiling and washing procedure to rid it of the majority of its gyromitrin. In Michigan there is also a culture of consuming certain false morel species, but these appear to be less toxic than the European species. But are they really?

Despite its importance as a mycotoxin, we still don't know which species produce gyromitrin. False morels belong to a taxonomic family sister to that of the true morels (Morchella spp.). True morels should always be cooked thoroughly, in part because they are poisonous to many people when eaten raw, and these symptoms are strikingly similar to those caused by gyromitrin. Our aim is to first determine which morel species (both true and false) contain gyromitrin, then find the genes responsible for its synthesis, and finally elucidate its evolutionary origin and history of horizontal gene transfer, if any. Along the way, we hope to formulate a set of best foraging practices for mushroom hunters in Michigan so that people can avoid gyromitrin exposure.

Michigan Mycoflora Project

Goal

The goal of the Michigan Mycoflora Project is to assemble a comprehensive inventory of Michigan's macrofungal diversity. For each species present in the state, we hope to document its phenology, range, conservation status, and edibility. We will do this by collating professional and amateur observations from Mushroom Observer, iNaturalist, and MyCoPortal, as well as making new collections backed with DNA barcode data and mining environmental sequence data.

Process

To achieve our goal, we will organize, engage, and teach citizen scientists so that they can effectively contribute to this endeavor; host mycoblitzes and professional forays to crowdsource data collection; analyze historical records and vouchers in the MICH fungarium to discover rare or regionally extinct species; and sponsor collecting expeditions to document poorly sampled taxa and regions.

Communication

We will communicate our results via a website, a high-quality field guide to Michigan's mushrooms, peer-reviewed scientific journal articles, and informational pamphlets.

Outcomes

Such an endeavor will result in important outcomes for mycology, society, and conservation. These include one of the first regional assessments of macroscopic fungal diversity that will serve as baseline data in order to observe the effects of climate change, habitat conversion, and extinction/introduction events on fungal communities. By engaging with citizen scientists, we also hope to practice biocultural restoration – to restore and conserve nature we must first restore our relationship with our natural surroundings. Finally, we hope to discover new species and increase the representation of DNA sequences from correctly identified, vouchered mushrooms in public databases.