Diversity ofLecidea(Lecideaceae, Ascomycota) species revealed by molecular data and morphological characters

Abstract

Abstract:The diversity of lichens, especially crustose species, in continental Antarctica is still poorly known. To overcome difficulties with the morphology based species delimitations in these groups, we employed molecular data (nuclear ITS and mitochondrial SSU rDNA sequences) to test species boundaries within the genus Lecidea. Sampling was done along a north-south transect at five different areas in the Ross Sea region (Cape Hallett, Botany Bay to Mount Suess, Taylor Valley, Darwin Area and Mount Kyffin). A total of 153 specimens were collected from 13 localities. Phylogenetic analyses also include specimens from other regions in Antarctica and non-Antarctic areas. Maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses agreed in placing the samples from continental Antarctica into four major groups. Based on this phylogenetic estimate, we restudied the micromorphology and secondary chemistry of these four clades to evaluate the use of these characters as phylogenetic discriminators. These clades are identified as the following species Lecidea cancriformis, L. andersonii as well as the new species L. polypycnidophora Ruprecht & Türk sp. nov. and another previously unnamed clade of uncertain status, referred to as Lecidea sp. (L. UCR1).

The Dynamic Discipline of Species Delimitation: Progress Toward Effectively Recognizing Species Boundaries in Natural Populations

“…This phylogenetic tree-informed approach to assessing species boundaries represents a common practice in studies of lichen-forming fungi. Previously unrecognized species-level clades with corresponding subtle, or overlooked, phenotypic characters have been commonly observed in both crustose lichens [e.g., Acarospraceae (Wedin et al 2009), Graphidaceae (Rivas Plata andLumbsch 2011;Papong et al 2009), Lecanoraceae (Leavitt et al 2011a), Lecideaceae (Ruprecht et al 2010), Mycoblastaceae , and Teloschistaceae (Vondrák et al 2009;Muggia et al 2008)] and foliose and fruticose lichens [e.g., Lobariaceae (Moncada et al 2014;McDonald et al 2003), Parmeliaceae (Leavitt et al 2013a;Wirtz et al 2012;Divakar et al 2005;Molina et al 2004;Kroken and Taylor 2001), Peltigeraceae (O'Brien et al 2009;Goffinet et al 2003), Physciaceae Divakar et al 2007), and Sphaerophoraceae (Högnabba and Wedin 2003)]. As a specific example, Lücking et al (2008) used a combination of medullary chemistry and underside pigmentation in specimens from the Heterodermia obscurata group in Costa Rica to corroborate monophyletic clades in an ITS gene tree as species-level lineages.…”

Hidden diversity in the morphologically variable script lichen (Graphis scripta) complex (Ascomycota, Ostropales, Graphidaceae)

“…Traditional taxonomic treatments within the family largely rely on chemistry, apothecium shape, and ascospore morphology (Staiger 2002). Molecular data on other lichenized fungal lineages have shown that the classification based on these characters usually underestimates the number of distinct lineages under a single taxonomic name (Crespo and Lumbsch 2010;Crespo and Ortega 2009;Hodkinson and Lendemer 2011;McCune and Schoch 2009;Ruprecht et al 2010;Spribille et al 2011;Vondrák 2012;Wedin et al 2009). Within Graphidaceae, traits traditionally used for classification were shown to have evolved independently several times (Lumbsch et al 2014;Rivas Plata and Lumbsch 2011).…”

A first approach to calculate BIOCLIM variables and climate zones for Antarctica

“…However, apparently, elevation is a better predictor for annual mean temperature than latitude, at least when analyzing the whole Antarctic continent. The comparison of the climate zones of the five different Trebouxia species shows the benefit of the present study: The climate classification, in the study of Ruprecht et al (2012a) mostly based on subjective, verbal descriptions found in literature (Convey and McInnes 2005;Doran et al 2002;Green et al 2000Green et al , 2011bJones and Reid 2001;McKay et al 1993;Monaghan and Bromwich 2008;Pannewitz et al 2005;Reijmer and Van den Broeke 2001;Ruprecht et al 2010;Seppelt et al 1998;Simpson and Cooper 2002;Stickley et al 2005), gets a better resolution and allows conclusions on a higher differentiated level when using the climate zones of the present study. The subjective evaluations of climate conditions can sometimes be quite misleading; the sample of Trebouxia sp.…”

“…Various studies in the past dealt with biodiversity and/or ecogeographic distribution in bacterial (e.g., Bottos et al 2014), hypolithic (Khan et al 2011), and endolithic communities (Yung et al 2014); soil crusts (Colesie et al 2014a), mosses (Schroeter et al 2011), or lichens (e.g., Castello 2003Green et al 2011b;Hertel 2007;Øvstedal and Smith 2001;Ruprecht et al 2010;Ruprecht et al 2012b) as well as macroflora in general (Peat et al 2007); springtails, mites (McGaughran et al 2008;Stevens et al 2006), and nematodes (Adams et al 2014). Most of these terrestrial biodiversity studies were conducted along the latitudinal gradient at the Ross Sea coastline.…”