DR. SARAH BERGEMANN
Assistant Professor

CONTACT:
E-mail: Sarah.Bergemann@mtsu.edu
Phone: (615) 494-7634
Fax: (615) 898-5093
Website: http://frank.mtsu.edu/~sbergema/
Office Location:
Jones Hall 335
MTSU Box 60
Murfreesboro, TN 37132

EDUCATION:
1996, B.S., Botany, Humboldt State University
1998, M.A., Biology, Humboldt State University
2002, Ph.D. , Botany, University of Wyoming

RESEARCH INTERESTS:
My research contributes to a growing effort to improve our understanding the historical and contemporary determinants of genetic structure in plant pathogens and fungi forming mutualisms with plants (mycorrhizae). My research has linked molecular techniques, in combination with field and laboratory experiments, to address questions at local and landscape scales including: (1) What are the contributions of historical, biological or ecological factors that promote population divergence and speciation? (2) How are communities organized and what are the factors contributing to structure and function?

Currently, I several research projects ongoing: 1) BioCode Moorea: collaborative project to barcode (tag all macrobiota and fungi with a DNA sequence); 2) hybridization of phylogenetic species of Armillaria mellea and , a wood decay pathogen, in eastern North America; 3) understanding historical factors affecting the genetic diversity of Russula brevipes (a mycorrhizal symbiont)in forests of North America

Selected List of Publications:
Bergemann SE, Smith MA, Parrent, JL, Gilbert GS, Garbelotto M. Genetic population structure and distribution of a fungal polypore ( Datronia caperata) (Polyporaceae) in mangrove forests of Central America. Journal of Biogeography, under review.

Grubisha LC, Bergemann SE, Bruns TD (2007) Host islands within the California Northern Channel Islands create fine-scale genetic structure in two sympatric species of the symbiotic, ectomycorrhizal fungus Rhizopogon. Molecular Ecology 16: 1811-1822.

Kennedy PG, Bergemann SE, Hortal S, Bruns TD (2007) Determining the outcome of field-based competition between two Rhizopogon species using real-time PCR. Molecular Ecology 16: 881-890.
Peay KG, Bruns TD, Kennedy PG, Bergemann SE, Garbelotto M (2007) A strong species-area relationship for eukaryotic soil microbes: island size matters for ectomycorrhizal fungi. Ecology Letters 10 : 470-480.

Bergemann SE, Douhan GW, Garbelotto M, Miller SL (2006) No evidence of population structure across three sub-populations of Russula brevipes in an oak/pine woodland. New Phytologist 170: 177-284.

Bergemann SE, Garbelotto M (2006) High diversity of fungi recovered from the roots of mature tanoak ( Lithocarpus densiflorus) in northern California. Canadian Journal of Botany 84: 1380-1394.
Bergemann SE, Miller SL (2002) Size, distribution, and persistence of genets in local populations of the late-stage ectomycorrhizal fungus, Russula brevipes. New Phytologist 156 : 313-320.