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- Gregory M. Mueller (Ph.D.)
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- Associate Curator, Mycology
- Chair, Department of Botany
- The Field Museum of Natural History
- Roosevelt Road at Lake Shore Drive
- Chicago, Illinois 60605-2496
- Phone: 312-922-9410, ext. 319
- Fax: 312-427-2530
- E-mail: gmueller@fieldmuseum.org
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- Education:
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- B.A., Botany, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, 1976.
- M.S., Botany, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, 1979.
- Ph.D., Botany, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 1982.
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- Professional Appointments:
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- Associate Curator, Mycology and Chair, Department of Botany, Field
Museum.
- Lecturer, Committee on Evolutionary Biology, University of Chicago.
- Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, University
of Illinois, Chicago.
- Associate Editor, Mycologia, 1995-present.
- Advisory Panel, Systematic Biology Program, National Science Foundation,
1992, 1993, 1995.
- Councilor for Systematics and Evolution, Mycological Society of America,
1993-1996.
- Alexopoulos Prize, The Mycological Society of America, 1992.
- Visiting Scientist, Institute of Physiological Botany, Uppsala University,
Sweden, 1982-1983.
- Postdoctoral Research Associate, Dept. of Botany, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA. 1984-1985.
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- Research Interests:
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- Systematics, population biology, biogeography, and ecology of fungi.
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- My research program centers on the systematics, ecology and evolution
of higher fungi and the mutualistic symbiosis that some of them form termed
mycorrhizae. Four long-term projects are currently receiving most of my
attention:
- i) A survey of mushrooms and related fungi of the Costa Rican tropical
oak forests. Goals of this study are to:
- a) develop the first comprehensive survey of higher fungi from the
neotropics; b) build scientific infrastructure in Costa Rica through training
of graduate students and improving facilities; and, c) screen fungi for
anti-AIDS and anti-cancer compounds. ii) A survey of mushrooms and related
fungi occurring in northern Illinois and Indiana to determine species composition,
distribution and host specificity and to assess the effect of air pollution
on fungi in the region. iii) Comparison of biogeographic relationships
between macrofungi of eastern North America and temperate eastern Asia.
Goals of this study are to document macrofungal diversity in China and
to determine the taxonomic similarity of the two regions based on detailed
morphological analyses and analysis of DNA sequence data of selected taxa.
iv) A monographic study of the genera Hydnangium, Laccaria,
and Podohydnangium. This work is designed to test various theories
of speciation, coevolution (with their obligate tree symbionts) and biogeography
of fungi that form ectomycorrhizae. These projects entail an active field
work component as well as laboratory studies that include micromorphological
analyses (computer-aided light microscopy, SEM and TEM), examination of
in vitro culture morphology, pairing studies and DNA sequencing. These
interrelated projects are providing information on fungal ecology and biology
that are crucial to temperate and tropical forest management and conservation.
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- Selected Publications Mostly Related to the Project:
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- 1992. Systematics of Laccaria (Agaricales) in the continental
United States and Canada, with discussions on extralimital taxa and descriptions
of extant types. Fieldiana: Botany, n.s. 30: 1-158.
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- 1993. (with J. F. Ammirati). Cytological studies in Laccaria
(Agaricales) II. Assessing phylogenetic relationships among Laccaria,
Hydnangium, and other Agaricales. American Journal of Botany 80:
322-329.
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- 1994. (with E. M. Pine) DNA data provide evidence on the evolutionary
relationships between mushrooms and false truffles. McIlvainea 11(2): 61-74.
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- 1995. (with R. E. Halling) Evidence for high biodiversity of Agaricales
(Fungi) in neotropical montane Quercus forests. Pp. 303-312. In: S. P.
Churchill et al. (eds.), Biodiversity and Conservation of Neotropical Montane
Forests. The New York Botanical Garden Press.
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- 1996. editor (with J. Carranza) Fungi of Costa Rica: Selected studies
on ecology and biodiversity. Revista de Biología Tropical 44 (4):
1-154.
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- 1997. (with Q.-X. Wu). Biogeographic relationships between the macrofungi
of temperate eastern Asia and eastern North America. Canadian Journal
of Botany 75 (12)
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