Lab Members: Valerie Hofstetter

Photo: Martin

Valérie Hofstetter (Postdoctoral Research Associate)

Department of Biology
Duke University
valh@duke.edu

Education: 
Ph. D. in Mycology , Université de Lausanne (UNIL), Switzerland

Research Interests: 
I am a mycologist interested in molecular systematics and evolution of Basidiomycete fungi and lichenized Ascomycetes.

 

Photo: Taylor Lockwood
Lyophyllum decastes

Current Research: 
My research goals are to determine phylogeny of the Lyophylleae and allies (part of the Tricholomataceae and the Entolomataceae) using molecular data in order to provide a more natural classification of Lyophylleae and allies, to investigate patterns of ecological transitions in this group of fungi and to develop a model system to study the main ecological transitions in Basidiomycota.
More recently I have started to study molecular systematics of lichenized fungi in the broader sense, taking part in the project ‘Assembling the fungal tree of life’ (AFTOL). This project is investigating deep relationships in Fungi to better understand the history of life and ecosystems evolution in which fungi play a central role.

Grants: 
2003 — Postdoctoral fellowship, Swiss National Fund for Research (SNF) to develop a model system for ecological transitions in Basidiomycota based on Lyophylleae and allies in the R. Vilgalys laboratory, Duke University, NC, USA. and NSF postdoctoral fellowship to work on lichen systematics (AFTOL) in the F. Lutzoni laboratory, Duke University, NC, USA.

2002 — Postdoctoral fellowship (SNF) and Société Académique Vaudoise (SAV) to work on molecular systematics of Lyophylleae-Tricholomateae-Entolomataceae in the R. Vilgalys laboratory.

1998 — Travel grant, (SAV), for molecular systematics of Lyophylleae and allies in R. Vilgalys laboratory.

Publications: 
Lutzoni, F., Kauff, F., Cox, J. C., McLaughlin, D., Celio, G., Dentinger, B., Padamsee, M., Hibbett, D., James, T. Y., Baloch, E., Grube, M., Reeb, V., Hofstetter, V., Shcoch, C., Arnold, A. E., 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, R. C., 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., and Vilgalys, R. (2004). Assembling the fungal tree of life: Progress, classification, and evolution of subcellular traits. American Journal of Botany 91:1446-1480.

Hofstetter, V, Clémençon, H., Vilgalys, R., and Moncalvo J. M. (2002). Phylogenetic analyses of the Lyophylleae (Agaricales, Basidiomycetes) based on nuclear and mitochondrial rDNA sequences. Mycological Research 106 (9): 1043-1059.

Moncalvo, J-M., Vilgalys, R., Redhead, S.A., Johnson, J.E., James, T.Y., Aime, M.C., Hofstetter, V., Verduin, S., Larssen, E., Baroni, T.J., Thorn, R.G., Jacobsson, S., Clémençon, H., and Miller, O.K., (2002). One hundred and seventeen clades of euagarics. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 23 : 357-400.

Senn-Irlet, B. & Hofstetter, V. (1996). Wie vermögen moleculare Daten die Klassifikation von Crepidotus- Arten zu verändern? Mycologia Helvetica 8 No 2, 101-107.