Taxonomy and biodiversity of plant pathogenic fungi from Australia

Abstract

Australia is a nation that has remained free of many serious plant pests and diseases that are found in many other parts of the world. This is due to Australia’s geographical isolation as well as over a century of effective plant biosecurity measures. The Australian biosecurity system is multilayered. One such layer is the host-pathogen checklists and databases, which is sometimes evidenced by specimens, such as living cultures. The research presented in this thesis examined the taxonomy and biodiversity of living cultures from the Queensland Plant Pathology Herbarium, Australia’s largest collection of phytopathogenic fungi. The research showed that many of the names used for the fungi examined were incongruent with modern taxonomy, and uncovered an incredible diversity within the culture collection. New insights from this thesis will influence future research in the taxonomy and biodiversity of other underrepresented microfungi in Australia, and provide a firm foundation for plant biosecurity in Australia.