Molecular phylogeny of Acarosporaceae (Ascomycota) with focus on the proposed genus Polysporinopsis

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

“…Generic delimitations within Acarosporaceae were based on exciple pigmentation and paraphysis anatomy, but are in need of revision. Neither Acarospora nor Pleopsidium, Polysporinopsis or Sarcogyne were monophyletic in recent analyses Crewe et al 2006). Because the morphological variability within the large genus Acarospora is still poorly understood, species delimitations are uncertain.…”

Mineralization in Rust-colouredAcarospora

“…The colour of both species has widely been assumed to be due to hydrated iron oxides, "rust" (Magnusson 1929;Weber 1962). The taxonomic status of A. sinopica and A. smaragdula was a matter of controversy for over 200 years, but recent molecular evidence confirms that they are distinct species (Crewe et al 2006).…”

Silobia, a new genus for theAcarospora smaragdulacomplex (Ascomycota,Acarosporales) and a revision of the group in Sweden

“…Phylogenetic work, however, has shown that the Acarosporaceae is not closely related to the core-Lecanorales (Reeb et al 2004;Wedin et al 2005) and the most recent classifications place the Acarosporaceae in the Acarosporomycetidae within the Lecanoromycetes, rather distantly from the Lecanorales (Hibbett et al 2007;Tehler & Wedin 2008). Furthermore, several recent phylogenetic studies (Reeb et al 2004;Wedin et al 2005;Crewe et al 2006) have all suggested that Acarospora in its current delimitation is paraphyletic; with a well-supported, monophyletic Acarospora s. str. containing the type species A. schleicheri.…”

“…The Acarospora smaragdula group, the topic of this paper, was the sister to a group consisting of Acarospora s. str., Sarcogyne, Pleopsidium, Timdalia and Polysporina in Wedin et al (2005) and Crewe et al (2006) indicating that this group deserves generic rank. Acarospora smaragdula was, together with A. rugulosa Körb.…”