Identification and systematics of rust fungi in Queensland

Topic: Identification and systematics of rust fungi in Queensland
Supervisors: Tanya Scharaschkin (NRS), Roger Shivas (QDPI&F), Andrew Geering (QDPI&F)
If interested, contact: Dr Tanya Scharaschkin, School of Natural Resource Sciences. Email – t.scharaschkin@qut.edu.au
Duration: Mid November 2008 to mid February 2009 (start and end dates are flexible)
Description:
The rust fungi (Uredinales) are destructive pathogens of a range of plants including cereals, legumes, forest trees and native plants. They have caused famines and destroyed the economies of entire countries. Rusts usually attack the leaves of plants where they can produce up to five different types of spores. Most rusts are limited to specific host plant families, genera or even species.
There are approximately 7,000 species of rust fungi worldwide, with over 500 species reported from Australia. The QDPI&F Plant Pathology Herbarium (Indooroopilly) has a large collection of specimens of rust fungi from Australia. Amongst these specimens are many unidentified and undescribed species of rust fungi, particularly those found on native Australian plants.
Traditional taxonomy of the rusts has been based primarily on the morphology of teliospores. An opportunity exists for a student to work with this collection under the supervision of experienced mycologists and molecular biologists. The student will use morphological and molecular techniques to gain an understanding of the diversity and phylogeny of rust fungi in Queensland. This project has potential to result in publications (e.g., description of new species) and could be extended into an honours research project.