User:Rabern Simmons

I am Rabern Simmons, a fungal systematist with an emphasis on taxonomy of the zoosporic true fungi in the phylum Chytridiomycota (known as chytrids). By isolating pure cultures of chytrid fungi, I construct molecular phylogenies using genomic DNA sequences, examine ultrastructural features of zoospores by transmission electron microscopy, and observe developmental morphology of thalli by light microscopy. With these data, I revise chytrid taxonomic groups to reflect a more natural phylogenetic history than classical taxonomic systems, which relied on morphology detected by light microscopy, and I describe new taxa with modern phylogenetic tools to promote universal taxon concepts.