There, he use electron microscopy to study nuclear division in the basidiomycete yeast, Bullera alba,[1] under the supervision of the mycologist, Professor Kenneth Wells.

[2] While at Georgia, he engaged in discussions about molecular evolution with researchers in the genetics department where his wife, Delia Barnes Taylor, worked on DNA transformation of plants.

In his first few years at Berkeley, he completed ultrastructural research begun in Georgia while shifting his focus to molecular evolution of fungi, beginning with the model filamentous fungus, Neurospora.

In 1990, Taylor's lab group published protocols for fungal PCR[4] that were developed in Berkeley by a team including sabbatical visitor, Dr. Thomas J.

White (who had directed the development of PCR - polymerase chain reaction - at CETUS corporation[5]), postdoc Thomas D. Bruns and student Steven B. Lee.

Taylor and White continued their collaboration by focusing on the evolution of two human pathogenic fungi, Coccidioides immitis[6][7] and Histoplasma capsulatum.

[24] In the past decade, Taylor, in collaborations with Professor Tom Bruns and Dr. Peggy Lemaux of University of California, Berkeley, has used PCR identification of environmental samples to focus on fungal community ecology in indoor air,[25] ectomycorrhizal forests,[26] and the drought resistant crop plant, sorghum.