Community-based Lobster Acquisition Workforce

Hey everyone, I’m getting closer to answering several of my main questions. Here are the ones I can begin to address with this blog post: 1) What are the hosts of Hypomyces lactifluorum , the lobster mushroom mold parasite? 2) Do genetic lineages of the parasite specialize on different host species? 3) Is the white lobster mushroom, named as the separate species Hypomyces macrosporus without DNA data, really its own species or just a color morph of H. lactifluorum ? I’ve had to use a hodgepodge of techniques to obtain enough parasite and host DNA to use for this project, including Sanger sequencing (the more “old-fashioned” sequencing technique) of the ITS gene, Illumina high-throughput sequencing to metabarcode the ITS gene, and whole-genome Illumina high-throughput sequencing. Different techniques worked for different samples, and I have very few clues as to why I found this variation. Just a few more mysteries to throw on the huge pile of fascinating questions in fungal genet...

  Hey all,  It’s been a while since my last update, and the pandemic has severely limited my lab work within the last year. I still don’t have all the data I need for my purposes, but I do have some data that kind people who sent me samples might be interested in: Russulaceae DNA barcodes from ten of the community-sourced samples. I thought I’d provide those for anyone who wants them and explain next steps. They’ll be in a list below the text with initials of the collector and state collected, so you can find your sample if it’s one of the few I’ve successfully sequenced. I’ll explain what you can do with your sequence, if desired. These DNA sequences are from Sanger sequencing, which is the most basic and “traditional” type of sequencing. This only allows me to sequence one version of the DNA barcode (ITS) at a time. This process requires me to PCR-amplify the ITS region of DNA so there are many, many copies of the same sequence. PCR, the process that allows me to copy the s...

Early in the DNA extraction process--differently colored lobsters produce different hues of lobster juice I've gotten some interest recently in what I've been able to accomplish with everyone's samples over the last nearly a year. I've received 31 donations of dried lobster mushroom or uninfected host samples from super generous people and was able to collect further samples of my own in Oregon. Through a combination of "things always take longer than you think" and activities for my thesis, I've only been able to fully process a few samples. My thesis is actually a project about fungus-farming ants, rather than lobster mushrooms, but the two study systems are united by the presence of a fungal parasite in each that are both in the same taxonomic order (so, fairly closely related, in the grand scheme of fungal diversity)-- Hypomyces lactifluorum attacking lobster mushroom hosts, and Escovopsis attacking the fungal crop of ant farmers, both in the ord...

The week of Oct. 6th, my amazing field assistant/boyfriend Derek and I drove from SLC, where we are biology graduate students, to Oregon, my home state. This season has been exceptional for mushrooming on the west coast and I'd been watching on Facebook with envy for months. My aim for this week-long trip was to collect lobster mushrooms, unparasitized Russula brevipes , and whatever else caught my eye. These samples were dried in a food dehydrator we brought along. I also collected soil samples from beneath lobster mushrooms as well as fresh lobster mushroom tissue preserved in a buffer that should enable me to analyze RNA and metabarcoding data. RNA is the molecule that's created when a gene is "read", or expressed. If a gene is being used, its RNA transcript will be produced and can be detected and analyzed. This lets us know what an organism is "up to" and what kind of physiological activities may be taking place as a response to its environment. Metabar...

To answer my research questions regarding diversity of host and parasite, I will need to be able to reliably determine the identity of both associates. Traditionally, morphological (physical) and chemical traits were used to identify fungal species. However, with the ability to isolate and sequence DNA, scientists now have a much more consistent method of assigning specimens to species. DNA sequences are considered a more reliable means of identifying species for many reasons. For one thing, choosing morphological characters that are a useful diagnostic for defining species (especially fungal species) can be really hard. It's difficult to know whether all members of a species have a trait, or if a trait is shared with other species, so the trait may not be a defining characteristic. There also can be subjectivity in how different people measure the trait. In contrast, a DNA sequence can act as a unique "barcode" hundreds of characters long and is read reliably through...

Mushroom samples should be dried as soon as possible to prevent degradation—food dehydrators and ovens on low heat work fine. Please provide the location where you found the sample, down to GPS coordinates if possible. The more specificity the better! If you’d like to provide more information about the environment (types of trees, disturbed/undisturbed area, etc.) that’d be great but it’s not a necessity. I would also love a picture of what the sample looked like before it was dried. This extra info can be sent along with the sample or emailed to me at kendra.autumn@utah.edu , as long as it’s clear which physical sample is yours. Bonus—if you find unparasitized Russula or Lactarius in the same area, I would hugely appreciate those being sent along as well. Wondering if the mushroom you found is actually a lobster? There are many resources online that can aid in ID, such as mushroomexpert.com, but I’ll take any and all samples resembling lobsters—if you’re not sure, send it...

Here's an excerpt from my graduate student first year exam, where I was asked to complete a brief review of the literature to provide background for my project proposal. Technical language is used, so I'll define some terms beforehand: mycoparasite = a fungus which parasitizes other fungi basidiomycete = a fungus belonging to Phylum Basidiomycota, a large evolutionary group of fungi containing most "mushrooms" sporocarp = fruiting body (the actual "mushroom" seen aboveground) taxa = groups of organisms (singular is "taxon") entomopathogen = an organism which parasitizes insects (often meant to refer to arthropods in general) ectomycorrhizal = a fungus exhibiting a mutually beneficial association with tree roots mycelium = the underground network of thin cells called "hyphae" which comprise the fungal organism anamorph = the asexual part of a fungal lifecycle, often mistaken for a completely different organism than the teleomorph ...