Fungal evolution and speciation

Molecular-genetic methods are making possible a revolution in the the study of fungal evolutionary biology. To date, substantial progress has been made toward the goal of determining phylogenetic relationships. This is particularly true for higher taxonomic levels, where small-subunit rRNA sequences have proved valuable. The tremendous range of life-cycle diversity exhibited among fungi makes them excellent candidates for exploring areas of evolutionary biology that are as yet poorly investigated, particularly in terms of population biology, reproductive strategies and speciation. This argument is supported by the results of recent studies.