HWhistler

Howard Whisler was on sabbatical in the Taylor lab during 1993 and 1994. He was a Professor of Botany at the University of Washington in Seattle. Sadly, Howard passed away in 2007.

Throughout his academic career, Howard's abiding preoccupation has been with the "lower" fungi, particularly those specialized as parasites or commensals in arthropods. This has included the developmental biology of Amoebidium (Trichomycetes) on Daphnia, Stigmatomyces (Laboulbeniales) on flies, and Coelomomyces in mosquito larvae. Studies of Coelomomyces have revealed that the fungus employs a complicated life cycle, with its gametophyte infecting copepods and its sporophyte occurring in mosquitoes. These observations, in turn, have made it possible to elucidate the sexual mechanism employed by Colelomomyces and has permitted the systematic, in vivo culture of many species of this important pathogen of mosquitoes. Professor Whisler also investigated the factors regulating reproduction of the Monoblepharidales and the application of this information to the general biology of eukaryotic micro-organisms. His most recent work included molecular systematic studies of Saprolegnia in salmon.