Congratulations to Pfister Lab member James Mitchell on the succesful defense of his thesis: "Investigations into Resinicolous Fungi"! Abstract of his thesis is below. Image Credit: J. Mitchell via iNaturalist.
Abstract: Fungi growing on resin have been known since the description of Helotium aureum by Christiaan Hendrik Persoon in 1801. The majority of the fungi described since then are known from extant conifer resins, though a handful are known from angiosperm resins and various fossilized resins. For the most part, these species are not well understood, and have been treated piecemeal in the literature. To promote better understanding of this group of fungi, records and descriptions are gathered and presented in an organized format. In addition, more in-depth examinations are given of fungi historically treated in the genus Sarea and of the species known as Eustilbum aureum/Bisporella resinicola. Taxonomic and nomenclatural issues are discussed, as are some related but non-resinicolous species.