Mushrooms are a hot topic these days. Many people are into mushroom hunting and foraging, mainly focusing on popular edible species like the morrell mushroom or truffles. However, did you know that there are about 150,000 species of fungi characterized and there are an estimated 2-4 million of species on the planet? Which means that 90 % or so are unknown and that leaves a lot to be explored!
Bellevue University recently partnered with Nebraska Game and Parks to help identify mushrooms from Nebraska through genome sequencing. Mushrooms play essential roles in the Nebraska oak woodlands. They provide a valuable view into the health of these woodlands and the success of management practices. Many mushroom species are highly sensitive to environmental conditions such as light and soil chemistry and moisture. Knowing which mushroom species grow in oak habitats allows our land managers to detect subtle ecological changes that other monitoring might miss.
The impact of this collaborative research and BU’s role in this was recently highlighted by Dr. John Kyndt’s appearance on the Great Outdoor Radio show at the Boomer Radio:
Chance Brueggemann and Derek Zeller (both associated with NE Game and Parks) have been collecting mushrooms from around the state since 2023 and collected over 1500 specimen so far. Bellevue University students and researchers, led by Dr. John Kyndt, have sequenced over 200 species from this collection by ITS barcoding and about 80 species whole genomes for the NE Game and Parks project. Many of these appear to be new to science (never been described before). Many of these species are already classified and illustrated on the website: www.nebraskamushrooms.org.
In addition to its value for the soil and plant health of the state, the mushroom DNA sequencing project has also created lab projects for several classes, where more than 40 students have learned essential biology skills and techniques using this applied learning approach. It also provides interesting projects for the international students that come to BU through the Erasmus program (Belgium), ICEST and Delphin programs (Mexico). The skills students learn by working on this project can be used in many different fields, from medicine and health sciences to agriculture and environmental sciences.
Several of our lab research students have also been working on this project and to highlight the interest in this project, WOWT Channel 6 recently aired a story featuring our mushroom DNA sequencing project and the student research involved:
Recently Mia Arnold also had a chance to present her research on the Nebraska Fungi Sequencing project at the 2026 Annual Spring Meeting of the Nebraska Academy of Science conference in Lincoln:
The sequencing of mushrooms is an ongoing project and there are more student opportunities to join in this research. If you want to learn more about genome sequencing or DNA barcoding or would like more information about the project contact Dr. John Kyndt (jkyndt@bellevue.edu).