Global phylogeny and taxonomic reassessment of the lichen genusDendriscosticta(Ascomycota: Peltigerales)

Abstract

The genus Dendriscosticta (Ascomycota: Peltigerales) encompasses several distinctive lichen-forming fungal species restricted to the Northern Hemisphere. Most are flagship species of old-growth forests with good air quality. A global phylogeny of the genus based on multilocus sequence data (ITS, RPB1, EF-1α, MCM7), model-based phylogenetic methods, and morphological and chemical assessments, reveals a high level of cryptic speciation often associated with restricted geographical distribution and/or chemical characters. Using sequence-based species delimitation approaches, we circumscribe two main clades referred to as the D. wrightii clade, with five unequivocal species, including D. gelida sp. nov., and the D. praetextata clade, with eight putative species, including D. phyllidiata sp. nov. The absence of recently collected material of D. hookeri comb. nov. from the type locality unfortunately prevents assignment of this epithet to one of the five supported lineages sharing this morphotype. Three new combinations are proposed: D. hookeri, D. insinuans comb. nov. and D. yatabeana comb. nov. Epitypes are designated for D. wrightii and D. yatabeana. Species diversity within the genus increased from four to nine. Our morphological assessment confirmed that Sticta and Dendriscosticta can be readily distinguished by the presence of excipular algae whereas the structure of the lower surface pores is not a reliable diagnostic feature.

The Tripartite Lichen Ricasolia virens: Involvement of Cyanobacteria and Bacteria in Its Morphogenesis

“…Blom & Tønsberg mycobionts were confirmed by BLAST analyses against the GenBank database. Significant matches of 99% identity and 100% coverage were obtained with R. virens from the United Kingdom (KX385135-KX385141) detected by Cornejo et al [ 67 ], and from Norway, detected by Simon et al [ 68 ]. The aligned fungal ITS was 306 bp.…”

“…Tripartite lichen thalli represent interesting models to analyse the different strategies and adaptations resulting from the interactions of the lichen symbionts [ 69 ]. In Lobaria pulmonaria , a coexistence consisting of a mycobiont, photosynthetic green alga ( Symbiochloris reticulata ) and Nostoc cyanobiont is well known [ 13 , 29 , 32 , 67 , 68 , 70 ].…”

Rare plants and lichens in the Unya River basin (Northern Urals)

“…КК РФ -4, КК РК -1. Реликтовый вид с дизъюнктивным ареалом [Simon et al, 2022]. Находится на северной границе распространения.…”

Differences in fungal communities in the fur of two- and three-toed sloths revealed by ITS metabarcoding

“…Previous research has shown that taxa in the Ascomycota (e.g. members of the orders Helotiales, Capnodiales, Peltigerales and Verrucariales, among others) are commonly found in symbiotic relationships with algae forming lichens [24][25][26][27][28]. For example, Cladosporium associates with red algae (Porphyra yezoensis) [29] and marine brown algae (Actinotrichia fragilis) [30] to form lichens.…”