Lutzoni Lab

Welcome to the Lutzoni Lab

NSF - Arctic fungi

Learn more about our NSF project on endophytic and endolichenic fungi of the Arctic

NSF - GoLife

Learn more about our NSF, GoLife, project on the largest group of unknown fungi.

Factors shaping lichen networks

Learn more about our NSF BEE project on lichen networks.

Research interests in the Lutzoni lab are centered on symbiotic systems involving fungi and photoautotrophic organisms. Lichens, including their microbiomes, have been our principal focus, but since 2005 our research program has expanded to include endophytic fungi found in all lineages of land plants and endolichenic fungi found in lichen thalli. We have been studying these symbioses primarily from a macroevolutionary perspective, but since 2003 we have adopted an interdisciplinary approach bridging evolutionary biology, ecology, and genomics. Research in the Lutzoni lab spans the full spectrum of activities, from intensive fieldwork-based surveys to experimental laboratory work, across broad spatio-temporal scales.

This November, the Lutzoni Lab participated in the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences’ annual “Darwin Day” event in Raleigh. The theme for this year was “Fungi” and the lab’s exhibit—”The Secret Life of Lichens”—featured lichen herbarium specimens, symbiont cultures, a dissecting microscope, lichen puzzles, and a really cool Scottish children’s video about lichens. A total of 3,579 people visited the museum Saturday—clearly, there is a desire from the public to learn more about science, and fungi in particular.

Welcome to the Lutzoni Lab

NSF - Arctic fungi

NSF - GoLife

Factors shaping lichen networks

2022-12-05: When Science and Art Meet at the End of the Road

2022-11-12: Darwin Day at North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences