Francois M. Lutzoni, Professor of Biology and Curator of Lichens, Duke Herbarium

Francois M. Lutzoni

Please note: Francois has left the "Duke Herbarium" group at Duke University; some info here might not be up to date.

Office Location:  357 Bio Sci Bldg, Durham, NC 27708
Office Phone:  (919) 660-7261
Email Address: send me a message
Web Pages:  http://www.lutzonilab.net/index.shtml
http://www.lutzonilab.org

Teaching (Fall 2024):

Teaching (Spring 2025):

Education:

Ph.D.Duke University1995
M. Sc.University of Ottawa1990
M.S.Ottawa University1990
B. Sc.Université Laval1987
B.S.Grinnell College1987
Specialties:

Lichens
Research Interests: Evolution of symbiotic systems

Keywords:

Africa • Agaricales • Algorithms • Alleles • Amino Acid Sequence • Ammonia • Animals • Archaea • Ascomycota • Asia • Aspergillus • Aspergillus fumigatus • Automatic Data Processing • Bacteria • Base Sequence • Bayes Theorem • Biodiversity • Biological Evolution • British Columbia • Canada • Cation Transport Proteins • Chlorophyta • Chytridiomycota • Classification • Cluster Analysis • Computational Biology • Cyanobacteria • Demography • DNA, Fungal • DNA, Intergenic • DNA, Mitochondrial • DNA, Ribosomal • DNA, Ribosomal Spacer • Ecosystem • Endonucleases • Eukaryota • Europe • Eurotiales • Evolution, Molecular • Fungal Proteins • Fungi • Gene Expression • Gene Rearrangement • Gene Transfer, Horizontal • Genes, Fungal • Genes, Mating Type, Fungal • Genetic Loci • Genetic Variation • Genetics, Population • Genome • Geography • Greenland • Haplotypes • Heterococcus • Huperzia • Iceland • Internet • Introns • Lecanorales • Lichens • Light • Likelihood Functions • Microscopy • Microsporidia • Mitochondria • Models, Genetic • Molecular Sequence Data • North America • North Carolina • Open Reading Frames • Panama • Parmeliaceae • Pattern Recognition, Automated • Phylogeny • Picea • Pinus taeda • Plant Leaves • Plants • Polymerase Chain Reaction • Polymorphism, Genetic • Quaternary Ammonium Compounds • Quebec • Reproduction • Reproduction, Asexual • Rhodophyta • RNA • RNA Polymerase II • RNA, Fungal • RNA, Ribosomal • RNA, Ribosomal, 18S • RNA, Ribosomal, 28S • Rosacea • Sequence Alignment • Sequence Analysis, DNA • Sequence Homology • Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid • Software • Species Specificity • Spores, Fungal • Symbiosis • Tropical Climate • Verrucariaceae • Xanthophyceae

Current Ph.D. Students  

Postdocs Mentored

Representative Publications

  1. McDonald, TR; Dietrich, FS; Lutzoni, F, Multiple horizontal gene transfers of ammonium transporters/ammonia permeases from prokaryotes to eukaryotes: toward a new functional and evolutionary classification., Mol Biol Evol, vol. 29 no. 1 (January, 2012), pp. 51-60 [21680869], [doi]  [abs]
  2. Geml, J; Kauff, F; Brochmann, C; Lutzoni, F; Laursen, GA; Redhead, SA; Taylor, DL, Frequent circumarctic and rare transequatorial dispersals in the lichenised agaric genus Lichenomphalia (Hygrophoraceae, Basidiomycota)., Fungal biology, vol. 116 no. 3 (March, 2012), pp. 388-400, ISSN 1878-6146 [doi]  [abs]
  3. Gaya, E; Högnabba, F; Holguin, A; Molnar, K; Fernández-Brime, S; Stenroos, S; Arup, U; Søchting, U; Van den Boom, P; Lücking, R; Sipman, HJM; Lutzoni, F, Implementing a cumulative supermatrix approach for a comprehensive phylogenetic study of the Teloschistales (Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota)., Molecular phylogenetics and evolution, vol. 63 no. 2 (May, 2012), pp. 374-387 [22306043], [doi]  [abs]
  4. Hodkinson, BP; Gottel, NR; Schadt, CW; Lutzoni, F, Photoautotrophic symbiont and geography are major factors affecting highly structured and diverse bacterial communities in the lichen microbiome., Environmental microbiology, vol. 14 no. 1 (January, 2012), pp. 147-161, ISSN 1462-2912 (Special issue entitled "Omics Driven Microbial Ecology”.) [doi]  [abs]
  5. Joneson, S; Armaleo, D; Lutzoni, F, Fungal and algal gene expression in early developmental stages of lichen-symbiosis., Mycologia, vol. 103 no. 2 (March, 2011), pp. 291-306, ISSN 0027-5514 [20943535], [doi]  [abs]
  6. U'Ren, J; Lutzoni, F; Miadlikowska, J; Arnold, AE, Community analysis reveals close affinities between endophytic and endolichenic fungi in mosses and lichens, Microbial Ecology, vol. 60 no. 2 (2010), pp. 340-353, ISSN 0095-3628 [doi]  [abs]
  7. O'Brien, HE; Miadlikowska, J; Lutzoni, F, Assessing reproductive isolation in highly diverse communities of the lichen-forming fungal genus peltigera., Evolution; international journal of organic evolution, vol. 63 no. 8 (August, 2009), pp. 2076-2086 [19453383], [doi]  [abs]
  8. Arnold, AE; Miadlikowska, J; Higgins, KL; Sarvate, SD; Gugger, P; Way, A; Hofstetter, V; Kauff, F; Lutzoni, F, A phylogenetic estimation of trophic transition networks for ascomycetous fungi: are lichens cradles of symbiotrophic fungal diversification?, Systematic biology, vol. 58 no. 3 (June, 2009), pp. 283-297 [20525584], [doi]  [abs]
  9. McLaughlin, DJ; Hibbett, DS; Lutzoni, F; Spatafora, JW; Vilgalys, R, The search for the fungal tree of life., Trends in microbiology, vol. 17 no. 11 (November, 2009), pp. 488-497, ISSN 0966-842X [doi]  [abs]
  10. Gueidan, C; Ruibal Villasenor, C; de Hoog, S; Gorbushina, A; Untereiner, WA; Lutzoni, F, An extremotolerant rock-inhabiting ancestor for mutualistic and pathogen-rich fungal lineages, Studies in Mycology, vol. 61 (2008), pp. 111-119
  11. Hibbett, DS; Binder, M; Bischoff, JF; Blackwell, M; Cannon, PF; Eriksson, O; Huhndorf, S; James, T; Kirk, PM; Lücking, R; Lumbsch, T; Lutzoni, F; Matheny, PB; McLaughlin, DJ; Powell, MJ; Redhead, S; Schoch, CL; Spatafora, JW; Stalpers, JA; Vilgalys, R; Aime, MC; Aptroot, A; Bauer, R; Begerow, D; Benny, GL; Castlebury, LA; Crous, PW; Dai, YC; Gams, W; Geiser, DM; Griffith, GW; Gueidan, C; Hawksworth, DL; Hestmark, G; Hosaka, K; Humber, RA; Hyde, K; Koljalg, U; Kurtzman, CP; Larsson, KH; Lichtward, R; Longcore, J; Miadlikowska, J; Miller, A; Monclavo, JM; Mozley Standridge, S; Oberwinkler, F; Parmasto, E; Reeb, V; Rogers, JD; Roux, C; Ryvarden, L; Sampaio, JP; Schuessler, A; Sugiyama, J; Thorn, RG; Tibell, L; Untereiner, WA; Walker, C; Wang, Z; Weir, A; Weiss, M; White, M; Winka, K; Yao, YJ; Zhang, N, A higher-level phylogenetic classification of the Fungi, Mycological Research, vol. 111 no. Pt 5 (2007), pp. 509-547, ISSN 0953-7562 [doi]  [abs]
  12. Arnold, AE; Henk, DA; Eells, RL; Lutzoni, F; Vilgalys, R, Diversity and phylogenetic affinities of foliar fungal endophytes in loblolly pine inferred by culturing and environmental PCR., Mycologia, vol. 99 no. 2 (March, 2007), pp. 185-206, ISSN 0027-5514 [17682771], [doi]  [abs]
  13. Kauff, F; Cox, CJ; Lutzoni, F, WASABI: an automated sequence processing system for multigene phylogenies., Systematic biology, vol. 56 no. 3 (June, 2007), pp. 523-531, ISSN 1063-5157 [17562476], [doi]
  14. Arnold, AE; Lutzoni, F, Diversity and host range of foliar fungal endophytes: are tropical leaves biodiversity hotspots?, Ecology, vol. 88 no. 3 (March, 2007), pp. 541-549, ISSN 0012-9658 [17503580], [doi]  [abs]
  15. Reeb, V; Haugen, P; Bhattacharya, D; Lutzoni, F, Evolution of Pleopsidium (lichenized Ascomycota) S943 group I introns and the phylogeography of an intron-encoded putative homing endonuclease., Journal of molecular evolution, vol. 64 no. 3 (March, 2007), pp. 285-298, ISSN 0022-2844 [17294323], [doi]  [abs]
  16. Rydholm, C; Dyer, PS; Lutzoni, F, DNA sequence characterization and molecular evolution of MAT1 and MAT2 mating-type loci of the self-compatible ascomycete mold Neosartorya fischeri., Eukaryotic cell, vol. 6 no. 5 (May, 2007), pp. 868-874, ISSN 1535-9778 [17384199], [doi]  [abs]
  17. James, TY; Kauff, F; Schoch, C; Matheny, PB; Hofstetter, V; Cox, CJ; Celio, G; Gueidan, C; Fraker, E; Miadlikowska, J; Lumbsch, T; Rauhut, A; Reeb, V; Arnold, AE; Amtoft, A; Stajich, JE; Hosaka, K; Sung, GH; Johnson, D; O’Rourke, B; Binder, M; Curtis, JM; Slot, JC; Wang, Z; Wilson, AW; Schüßler, A; Longcore, JE; O’Donnell, K; Mozley Standridge, S; Porter, D; Letcher, PM; Powell, MJ; Taylor, JW; White, MM; Griffith, GW; Davies, DR; Sugiyama, J; Rossman, AY; Rogers, JD; Pfister, DH; Hewitt, D; Hansen, K; Hambleton, S; Shoemaker, RA; Kohlmeyer, J; Volkmann Kohlmeyer, B; Spotts, RA; Serdani, M; Crous, PW; Hughes, KW; Matsuura, K; Langer, E; Langer, G; Untereiner, WA; Lücking, R; Büdel, B; Geiser, DM; Aptroot, A; Buck, WR; Cole, MS; Diederich, P; Printzen, C; Schmitt, I; Schultz, M; Yahr, R; Zavarzin, A; Hibbett, DH; Lutzoni, F; McLaughlin, DJ; Spatafora, JW; Vilgalys, R, Reconstructing the early evolution of the Fungi using a six-gene phylogeny, Nature, vol. 443 no. 7113 (2006), pp. 818-822 [17051209], [doi]  [abs]
  18. Miadlikowska, J; Kauff, F; Hofstetter, V; Fraker, E; Grube, M; Hafellner, J; Reeb, V; Hodkinson, BP; Kukwa, M; Lücking, R; Hestmark, G; Otalora, MAG; Rauhut, A; Büdel, B; Scheidegger, C; Timdal, I; Stenroos, S; Brodo, I; Perlmutter, G; Ertz, D; Diederich, P; Lendemer, JC; Tripp, E; Yahr, R; May, P; Gueidan, C; Arnold, AE; Robertson, C; Lutzoni, F, New insights into classification and evolution of the Lecanoromycetes (Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota) from phylogenetic analyses of three ribosomal RNA- and two protein-coding genes, Mycologia, vol. 98 no. 6 (2006), pp. 1090-1103, ISSN 0027-5514 [17486983]  [abs]
  19. Paoletti, M; Rydholm, C; Schwier, E; Anderson, MJ; Szakacs, G; Lutzoni, F; Debeaupuis, JP; Latgé, JP; Denning, DW; Dyer, PS, Evidence for sexuality in the opportunistic fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus., Current Biology, vol. 15 no. 13 (2005), pp. 1242-1248 [doi]  [abs]
  20. O'Brien, HE; Miadlikowska, J; Lutzoni, F, Assessing host specialization in symbiotic cyanobacteria associated with four closely related species of the lichen fungus Peltigera, European Journal of Phycology, vol. 40 no. 4 (November, 2005), pp. 363-378, Informa UK Limited, ISSN 0967-0262 [doi]  [abs]
  21. Haugen, P; Reeb, V; Lutzoni, F; Bhattacharya, D, The evolution of homing endonuclease genes and group I introns in nuclear rDNA., Molecular Biology and Evolution, vol. 21 no. 1 (2004), pp. 105-116 [doi]  [abs]
  22. Lutzoni, F; Kauff, F; Cox, CJ; McLaughlin, D; Celio, G; Dentinger, B; Padamsee, M; Hibbett, D; James, TY; Baloch, E; Grube, M; Reeb, V; Hofstetter, V; Schoch, C; Arnold, AE; Miadlikowska, J; Spatafora, J; Johnson, D; Hambleton, S; Crockett, M; Shoemaker, R; Sung, G-H; Lücking, R; Lumbsch, T; O'Donnell, K; Binder, M; Diederich, P; Ertz, D; Gueidan, C; Hansen, K; Harris, RC; Hosaka, K; Lim, Y-W; Matheny, B; Nishida, H; Pfister, D; Rogers, J; Rossman, A; Schmitt, I; Sipman, H; Stone, J; Sugiyama, J; Yahr, R; Vilgalys, R, Assembling the fungal tree of life: progress, classification, and evolution of subcellular traits., American journal of botany, vol. 91 no. 10 (October, 2004), pp. 1446-1480, ISSN 0002-9122 [21652303], [doi]  [abs]
  23. Alfaro, ME; Zoller, S; Lutzoni, F, Bayes or bootstrap? A simulation study comparing the performance of Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling and bootstrapping in assessing phylogenetic confidence., Molecular biology and evolution, vol. 20 no. 2 (February, 2003), pp. 255-266 [doi]  [abs]
  24. Barker, FK; Lutzoni, FM, The utility of the incongruence length difference test., Systematic biology, vol. 51 no. 4 (August, 2002), pp. 625-637 [doi]
  25. Lutzoni, F; Pagel, M; Reeb, V, Major fungal lineages are derived from lichen symbiotic ancestors., Nature, vol. 411 no. 6840 (June, 2001), pp. 937-940, ISSN 0028-0836 [doi]  [abs]
  26. Lutzoni, F; Wagner, P; Reeb, V; Zoller, S, Integrating ambiguously aligned regions of DNA sequences in phylogenetic analyses without violating positional homology., Systematic biology, vol. 49 no. 4 (December, 2000), pp. 628-651 [doi]  [abs]
  27. Bhattacharya, D; Lutzoni, F; Reeb, V; Simon, D; Nason, J; Fernandez, F, Widespread occurrence of spliceosomal introns in the rDNA genes of ascomycetes., Molecular biology and evolution, vol. 17 no. 12 (December, 2000), pp. 1971-1984, ISSN 0737-4038 [doi]  [abs]
  28. Zoller, S; Lutzoni, F; Scheidegger, C, Genetic variability within and among populations of the threatened foliose lichen Lobaria pulmonaria (L.), Molecular Ecology, vol. 8 (1999), pp. 2049-2060, Hoffm. in Switzerland.
  29. Lutzoni, F; Pagel, M, Accelerated evolution as a consequence of transitions to mutualism., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 94 no. 21 (October, 1997), pp. 11422-11427, ISSN 0027-8424 [11038586], [doi]  [abs]
  30. Lutzoni, FM, Phylogeny of lichen- and non-lichen-forming omphalinoid mushrooms and the utility of testing for combinability among multiple data sets., Systematic biology, vol. 46 no. 3 (September, 1997), pp. 373-406, ISSN 1063-5157 (journal cover.) [11975328], [doi]  [abs]