Phylogenetic relationships of Stereocaulaceae based on simultaneous analysis of beta‐tubulin, GAPDH and SSU rDNA sequences

Abstract

The phylogenetic relationships of the lichenised ascomycete family Stereocaulaceae were investigated with partial beta‐tubulin, partial glyceraldehyde 3‐phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) and SSU rDNA sequence data. Due to the marked length variation in the SSU rDNA sequences, the analyses were performed with direct optimization. The combined analysis of the beta‐tubulin, GAPDH and SSU rDNA sequences as well as the separate analyses of beta‐tubulin and GAPDH data recognized the monophyletic group comprising Lepraria, Muhria and Stereocaulon. In the combined analysis Stereocaulon tornense appears as a basal taxon in the Stereocaulon clade, suggesting that the crustose growth form and the absence of cephalodia are primitive features within the genus. Muhria is nested in Stereocaulon and groups with the crustose S. cumulatum and S. leucophaeopsis. The genus Lepraria is monophyletic if Leproloma is included, but species that were represented by several specimens in our study, i.e., Lepraria jackii and Leproloma membranaceum, do not appear as monophyletic entities. The genus Pilophorus is included in Cladoniaceae. Combined analysis of the three datasets clearly led to an increase in support values compared to the separate analyses, showing high support for the monophyly of families Cladoniaceae and Stereocaulaceae and for the sistergroup relation for the two families. The relationships between higher groupings did not reach high support values probably due to the incongruencies among the three datasets.

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

“…The last two families were shown to be more closely related to the Pertusariales and Gyalectales and are now placed in the Ostropomycetidae (see above). Thallus characters were not consistently used to assign genera to both families and molecular data confirm that podetia or pseudopodetia evolved several times independently, although the re-circumscribed Cladoniaceae and Stereocaulaceae are monophyletic (Stenroos and DePriest 1998;Wedin et al 2000a;Myllys et al 2005;Zhou et al 2006). For example, the genera Cladia and Ramalea with pseudopodetia have often been classified in the Cladoniaceae and, based on molecular data, Pilophorus has been transferred from the Stereocaulaceae to the Cladoniaceae as well (Stenroos and DePriest 1998;Wedin et al 2000a).…”

“…The genus Cetradonia with solid podetia was first segregated from the Cladoniaceae (Stenroos and DePriest 1998), but later found to be a sister group to Gymnoderma, which differs in ascus structure from the rest of the Cladoniaceae (Zhou et al 2006). The finding that thallus characters, such as the formation of pseudopodetia, are of little use for the delimitation of the Stereocaulaceae has also been supported by the inclusion of the crustose genera Muhria (Myllys et al 2005), Lepraria (Ekman and Tønsberg 2002) and Hertelidea (Printzen and Kantvilas 2004) into the family. The crustose growth form seems to be plesiomorphic within Stereocaulon and perhaps within the Stereocaulaceae as a whole.…”

A multigene phylogenetic synthesis for the class Lecanoromycetes (Ascomycota): 1307 fungi representing 1139 infrageneric taxa, 317 genera and 66 families

“…Recently, protein-coding markers (usually RPB1 and RPB2 , but also beta-tubulin, GAPDH , and MCM7 ) have been more frequently used for phylogenetic inference within Lecanoromycetes (e.g., Baloch et al, 2010; Crespo et al, 2010; Hofstetter et al, 2007; Lumbsch et al, 2007b; Miadlikowska et al, 2006; Myllys et al, 2005; Otálora and Wedin, 2013; Otálora et al 2013a; Parnmen et al, 2012; Reeb et al, 2004; Rivas Plata et al, 2012a, 2012b; Schmitt et al, 2010). Only five studies (Hofstetter et al, 2007; Lumbsch et al, 2004; Miadlikowska et al, 2006; Reeb et al, 2004; Wedin et al, 2005) were designed specifically to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships within the Lecanoromycetes at the family and higher ranks as a framework for the evaluation of existing classifications.…”

Understory vegetation-environment relationships of lichen-rich forests in north-central British Columbia.

“…The genus Stereocaulon belongs in the family Stereocaulaceae, which has recently been shown to represent a subgroup of the Cladoniaceae (Myllys et al 2005). Despite the apparent subordinacy of the former, the two families are both still considered valid taxonomic groups, due to Stereocaulaceae's monophyly and to the widely accepted conventions on naming associated with each group (Myllys et al 2005).…”

“…Despite the apparent subordinacy of the former, the two families are both still considered valid taxonomic groups, due to Stereocaulaceae's monophyly and to the widely accepted conventions on naming associated with each group (Myllys et al 2005).…”