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Bryn Dentinger

Associate Professor


Office/Building: Biol 311
Phone: 801-213-3695
Email: bryn.dentinger@gmail.com
Dentinger Lab: https://dentingerlab.org/

Research Statement


Fungi are fundamental agents in the environment with enormous impact on ecosystem processes and human well-being. They are the primary agent of decay, ubiquitous symbionts of plant and animals, and the sources of important medicines and enzymes in industry. They are also hyperdiverse, yet we have documented only a small fraction of them. My lab is broadly interested in documenting, describing, and understanding the origin and evolution of global fungal diversity. Research in my lab makes use of diverse lines of enquiry and tools that attempt to synthesize principles of fungal evolution and relationships of fungi with other organisms to understand who, how and why fungi are so diverse and ecologically critical. Collections-based studies that integrate fieldwork and molecular data form the core of my research that encompasses many areas, such as molecular ecology, comparative genomics, historical biogeography, coevolution, taxonomy, and conservation. We employ a variety of techniques, from simple field experiments to high-throughput sequencing, microscopy and culturing to molecular phylogenetics.

Research Interests


General Interests
Specific Interests
  • Evolution and Biodiversity
  • Tropical Biology
  • Fungal Diversity
  • Molecular Systematics/Phylogenomics
  • Fungus-insect and -plant mutualism

Selected Publications


  • Castellano MA, Elliott TF, Truong C, S�n� O, Dentinger BTM, Henkel TW. (2016). Kombocles bakaiana gen. sp. nov. (Boletaceae), a new sequestrate fungus from Cameroon. IMA Fungus 7:239-245.
  • Buyck B, Henkel TW, Dentinger BTM, Sene O, Hofstetter V. (2016). Multigene sequencing provides a suitable epitype, barcode sequences and a precise systematic position for the enigmatic, African Cantharellus miniatescens. Cryptogamie Mycologie 37:269-282.
  • Ainsworth AM, Suz LM, Dentinger BTM. (2016). Hohenbuehelia bonii sp. nov. and H. culmicola: two pearls within the Marram Oyster. Field Mycology 17:78-86.
  • Sarwar S, Jabeen S, Khalid AN, Dentinger BM. (2016). Molecular phylogenetic analysis of fleshy pored mushrooms: Neoboletus luridiformis and Hortiboletus rubellus from western Himalayan range of Pakistan. Pakistan Journal of Botany 48:2077-2083.
  • Niskanen T, Liimatainen K, Kyt�vuori I, Lindstr�m H, Dentinger BTM, Ammirati JF. (2016). Cortinarius subgenus Callistei in North America and Europe-type studies, diversity, and distribution of species. Mycologia 108:
  • Yahr R, Schoch CL, Dentinger BTM. (2016). Scaling up discovery of hidden diversity in fungi: impacts of barcoding approaches. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B. 371: 20150336
  • Dentinger, BTM, E Gaya, H O�Brien, LM Suz, R Lachlan, J D�az Valderrama, R Koch, MC Aime. (2016). Tales from the crypt: Genome mining from fungarium specimens improves resolution of the mushroom tree of life. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 117: 11�32. DOI: 10.1111/bij.12553