ABSTRACT
Fungi constitute one of the most diverse groups of eukaryotes on the planet. Their biological characteristics differ greatly from those of animals and plants. For example, the majority of ascomycetes are haploid and can transmit their genetic information to the next generation through sexual reproduction, asexual reproduction, or both. Many fungi have short generation times and wide geographical distributions, are easy to handle in large numbers, and can be experimentally manipulated without ethical or other constraints. These characteristics make fungi especially tractable as experimental organisms to test fundamental hypotheses in population and evolutionary biology. In addition, fungi cause many diseases that affect agriculture and human health. Thus, improved knowledge of the population genetic structure and evolution of fungi can increase our understanding of how virulence emerges and spreads among local populations and may have practical applications for controlling infectious diseases (Bull, 1994).
