Pyrenomycetous fungi are morphologically and biologically diverse and occur in virtually all ecosystems, where they are important as decomposers. Their anamorphs (asexual states) include many industrially beneficial fungi as well as agents of some of the most devastating plant and animal diseases. A number of species are restricted to eastern North America, where remnants of the ancient Tertiary flora persisted, or also occur where similar fragments of this flora are found in eastern Asia. Such a distribution (referred to as the famous “Asa Gray disjunction”) has not been studied previously in pyrenomycetes.

The focus on the proposed project is on continuing my efforts to document the species of pyrenomycetes that occur in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Specimens collected in the Park will be compared with those already known from eastern Asia to assess the taxonomic and biogeographical relationships of the species involved.

Principal Investigator

PI Name:   Dr. Larissa N. Vasilyeva

PI Organization:  Institute of Biology and Soil Science, Far East Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences