Döring, Heidi
Job Title
Laboratory Manager / Taxonomic Mycologist
Department
Herbarium, Library, Art, and Archives
Section
Mycology
Science Teams:
Joined Kew:
2005Foreign Language(s):
German (mother tongue), Swedish (reading skills only)Qualifications & Appointments
Diplom-Biologin (MA), Philipps-Univ., Marburg, 1990
Dr. rer. nat. (PhD), Univ. Bayreuth, 2004
Council, British Lichen Society (2007-2009)
Role
Systematics of plant parasitic fungi (Exobasidium) and lichenised fungi; molecular species delimitation & DNA barcoding; culture collection maintenance and laboratory management.
Current research focuses on molecular systematics and phylogeny of different fungal groups with special interest in plant pathogens, lichen-forming fungi and their non-lichenized relatives. Present studies are on the phylogeny of European Exobasidium species (Basidiomycota, Ustilaginomycetes) and on species boundaries and intraspecific variation in certain lichen genera (eg. Stereocaulon, Physcia - Ascomycota, Lecanoromycetes). Also concerned with DNA barcoding of herbarium specimens of macrofungi at Kew, and involved in initiatives for developing DNA barcoding projects for British fungi and lichens. Support is provided to ongoing taxonomic and floristic studies within the Mycology Section through molecular work; molecular tools are also being used to investigate photobiont diversity in lichenized fungi in relation to contemporary distribution patterns and environmental change. A limited amount of morphological and anatomical work is undertaken for basic taxonomy. Responsible for the maintenance of Kew's living fungal collections and laboratory management in support of the work of the Mycology Section.
Projects
Selected Recent Publications
- Wedin, M., Döring, H. & Gilenstam, G. (2004). Saprotrophy and lichenization as options for the same fungal species on different substrata: environmental plasticity and fungal lifestyles in the Stictis – Conotrema complex. New Phytol. 164: 459-468.
- Wedin, M., Wiklund, E., Crewe, A., Döring, H., Ekman, S., Nyberg, Å., Schmitt, I. & Lumbsch, H.T. (2005). Phylogenetic relationships of the Lecanoromycetes (Ascomycota) as revealed by analyses of mtSSU and nLSU rDNA sequence data. Mycol. Res. 109: 159-172.
- Wedin, M., Döring, H., Könberg, K. & Gilenstam, G. (2005). Generic delimitations in the family Stictidaceae: the Stictis – Conotrema problem. Lichenol. 37: 67-75.
- Wedin, M., Döring, H. & Gilenstam, G. (2006). Stictis s. lat. (Ostropales, Ascomycota) in northern Scandinavia, with a key and notes on morphological variation in relation to lifestyle. Mycol. Res. 110: 773-789.
- Bidartondo et al. (2008). Preserving accuracy in GenBank. Science 319: 1616.
- Brock, P.M., Döring, H. & Bidartondo, M.I. (2009). How to know unknown fungi: the role of a herbarium. New Phytol. 181: 719-724.
Selected Earlier Publications
- Blanz, P. & Döring, H. (1995). Taxonomic relationships in the genus Exobasidium (Basidiomycetes) based on ribosomal DNA analysis. Studies in Mycology 38: 9-127.
- Döring, H. & Triebel, D. (1998). Phylogenetic relationships of Bulgaria inferred by 18S rDNA sequence analysis. Cryptogamie, Bryol. Lichénol. 19: 123-136.
- Döring, H., Henssen, A. & Wedin, M. (1999). Ascoma development in Neophyllis melacarpa (Lecanorales, Ascomycota), with notes on the systematic position of the genus. Austral. J. Bot. 47: 783-794.
- Döring, H. & Wedin, M. (2000). Homology assessment of the boundary tissue in fruiting bodies of the lichen family Sphaerophoraceae (Lecanorales, Ascomycota). Plant Biol. 2: 361-367.
- Döring, H., Clerc, P., Grube, M. & Wedin, M. (2000). Mycobiont-specific PCR primers for the amplification of nuclear ITS and LSU rDNA from lichenized ascomycetes. Lichenol. 32: 200-204.
- Lumbsch, H.T., Schmitt, I., Döring, H. & Wedin, M. (2001). Molecular systematics supports the recognition of an additional order of Ascomycota the Agyriales. Mycol. Res. 105: 16-23.
- Lumbsch, H.T., Schmitt, I., Döring, H. & Wedin, M. (2001). ITS sequence data suggest variability of ascus type and support ontogenetic characters as phylogenetic discriminators in the Agyriales (Ascomycota). Mycol. Res. 105: 265-274.
