People
Döring, Heidi
| Job Title | Laboratory Manager / Taxonomic Mycologist |
|---|---|
| Department | Jodrell |
| Section | Mycology |
| Science Teams |
Mycology United Kingdom |
| Joined Kew | 2005 |
| Foreign 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.
Role
Systematics of plant parasitic fungi (Exobasidium) and lichen fungi; molecular species delimitation; culture collection maintenance and laboratory management.
Current research focuses on molecular systematics, including phylogenetic species delimitation, and phylogeny of different fungal groups with special interests in plant pathogens and lichen-forming fungi. Present studies, in continuation from post-doctoral studies, are on the phylogeny of European Exobasidium species (Basidiomycota, Ustilaginomycetes) and an investigation of species boundaries and intraspecific genetic variation in species of the lichen genus Stereocaulon (Ascomycota, Lecanoromycetes). Also working on the DNA barcoding of herbarium specimens of macrofungi at Kew, and that of British lichens as a major molecular project to be started which is at the planning stage. Supporting ongoing taxonomic and floristic studies within the Mycology section through molecular work (Stropharia, Rhizoctonia). Besides molecular work, a limited amount of morphological and anatomical work is undertaken for basic taxonomy. Recently an account of the Scandinavian species in the family Stictidaceae (Ascomycota, Ostropales) was completed (as continuation from previous post-doctoral work). Also responsible for the maintenance of Kew’s living fungal collections and laboratory management in support of the work of the Mycology section in general.
Projects
Fungal DNA Barcoding at Kew: Closing the Sequence Gap
Towards a DNA Barcode for the British Lichenized Fungi (Lichens)
Selected Publications 2001-2005
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.
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.
Selected Publications pre-2001
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.