Documenting fungal pathogens: the need to digitize microfungi in institutional collections [poster]

Microfungi are the largest group of fungi with over 56,000 species, many of which cause diseases in animals and plants. Severe microfungal pathogens are considered an emerging threat to biodiversity, animal, human, and ecosystem health, as well as agricultural production. For example, the microfungus Puccinia graminis causes stem rust in wheat that threatens global food supplies, while Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis is responsible for massive extinctions of amphibians across the world. Despite the importance of microfungi, especially pathogens, we still lack fundamental knowledge for most groups regarding their distributions, diversity, ecology, phenology, and phylogeny. The recent “one fungus - one name” changes in the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants create additional taxonomic challenges (e.g., locating relevant specimens such as types and tracking name changes) for resolving nomenclatural issues when microfungi have two names for different reproductive stages in their pleomorphic life-cycles. The NSF funded Macrofungi Collection Consortium (MaCC) project is digitizing macrofungal specimens, including types, in institutional collections across the nation, and serves as a model for documenting microfungi and providing much needed resources for addressing taxonomic issues within the group.