Evolutionary Relationships of Nonsexual Lichenized Fungi: Molecular Phylogenetic Hypotheses for the Genera Siphula and Thamnolia from SSU and LSU rDNA

Lichen Systematics: The Role of Morphological and Molecular Data to Reconstruct Phylogenetic Relationships

“…A separation of Dibaeis from Baeomyces and a close relationship with Icmadophila was postulated by Gierl and Kalb (1993) based on apothecial colour. This has also been confirmed by molecular data (Stenroos and DePriest 1998;Platt and Spatafora 2000). More recent analyses placed the Icmadophilaceae, including the obligately sterile genera Siphula and Thamnolia, close to the Pertusariaceae (Kauff and Lutzoni 2002;Miadlikowska and Lutzoni 2004), while the Baeomycetaceae are more closely related to the Ostropales (Stenroos and DePriest 1998;Kauff and Lutzoni 2002).…”

“…For example, the occurrence of picrolichenic acid is restricted to the Variolaria-group of the Pertusariaceae. Other clades of this family are also well characterized by chemical compounds , and the separation of Baeomycetaceae and Icmadophilaceae is supported by chemical characters (Platt and Spatafora 2000). In other cases, however, secondary metabolites do not characterize monophyletic groups (Buschbom and Mueller 2006).…”

“…More recent analyses placed the Icmadophilaceae, including the obligately sterile genera Siphula and Thamnolia, close to the Pertusariaceae (Kauff and Lutzoni 2002;Miadlikowska and Lutzoni 2004), while the Baeomycetaceae are more closely related to the Ostropales (Stenroos and DePriest 1998;Kauff and Lutzoni 2002). Platt and Spatafora (2000) concluded that the separation of Baeomycetaceae and Icmadophilaceae was supported by secondary chemistry (depsidones in Baeomycetaceae, depsides in Icmadophilaceae). The placement of the chemically variable genus Siphula in Icmadophilaceae seemed to contradict this statement.…”

“…On the other hand, classical taxonomists make increasing use of molecular data because classical lichen taxonomy is riddled with problems that only independent data from molecular analyses are likely to solve. One very obvious problem that is relatively easy to solve with molecular data concerns the systematic placement of obligately sterile lichens (Stenroos and DePriest 1998;Arup and Grube 1999;Platt and Spatafora 2000;Ekman and Tønsberg 2002;Crespo et al 2004a) or other species with doubtful systematic affinities (Printzen and Kantvilas 2004;L€ ucking et al 2007;Spribille et al 2009). Other such problems arise from the multiple description of morphologically variable species, doubtful circumscriptions of taxa and erroneous assignment of species to them, or misinterpretation of the systematic value of characters due to incorrect homology hypotheses.…”

Las familias "Baeomycetaceae" e I"Icmadophilaceae" en la Península Ibérica

“…Observaciones.-Algunos autores consideraban que la variabilidad química existente implicaba la existencia de dos taxones diferentes (Culberson 1963, Platt & Spatafora 2000, Lambley & Purvis 2009). Sin embargo, Lord et al (2013) confirman los resultados de Kärnefelt & Thell (1995), según los cuales se trata de una especie única con dos quimiótipos, y redescubren la presencia de picnidios (Nylander 1856), cuya existencia justificaría la escasa diferencia genética entre poblaciones muy alejadas.…”