Poster Session 1: Systematics and Evolution

Pyrenolichens of the Hungarian lichen flora III: The genus Arthopyrenia sensu lato

Aguirre-Hudson, B. (1), Farkas, E. (2), Lõkös, L. (3)
(1) Mycology Section, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 2AB, UK; (2) Institute of Ecology and Botany, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, H-
2163 Vácrátót, Hungary; (3) Department of Botany, Hungarian Natural History Museum, H-1476 Budapest, Pf. 222, Hungary

The aim of this research is to clarify species concepts of the taxa included by Verseghy (1994) in the genus Arthopyrenia. She included 11 species in her work, which we have re-examined using traditional morphological methods. The genus has been recently revised for North America (Harris 1995), the British Isles (Coppins 1988) and Scandinavia (Foucard 1992), yet has not been critically examined for Central Europe since Keissler (1938).
The collections studied (over a hundred packets) are deposited in the Collectio Lichenum of the Botanical Department of the Hungarian Natural History Museum (BP) and were gathered by Ö. Szatala, V. Gyelnik and F. Fóriss in the first half of last century. Where necessary, collections from other herbaria have also been studied for comparative purposes.
For the systematic arrangement of the species we follow the generic concepts introduced by Harris (1995). Thus the bulk of species included in Arthopyrenia by Verseghy (op. cit.) can be re-arranged in three different genera: Arthopyrenia sensu stricto (Arthopyreniaceae), Naetrocymbe Körber (Naetrocymbaceae) and Anisomeridium (Müll. Arg.) Choisy (Monoblastiaceae). Also (and mainly due to
misidentifications) some material can be reassigned to other genera, e.g. some collections of Arthopyrenia fraxini on ash are re-determined as Tomasellia arthonioides, and at least five different species have been referred to Arthopyrenia punctiformis (i.e. Naetrocymbe punctiformis), some of which represent new records for Hungary. Furthermore, the variety atomaria attributed by Verseghy (op. cit.) to Arthopyrenia punctiformis is nomenclaturally a Leptorhaphis species (see Aguirre-
Hudson et al. 2002).
The identity of the little-known Hungarian species Arthopyrenia mori Sántha non (Rehm) Zahlbr. (i.e. A. santhai Szatala) and its relationship with other European taxa currently included in Arthopyrenia is also under study.
This research is supported by grants of the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund: OTKA T 030209 and T 047160.


Phylogenetic study of the lichen-forming family Peltulaceae (Lichinales) to reveal their origin and range expansion

Bachran, A. (1), Lutzoni, F. (2) & Büdel, B. (1)
(1) Kaiserslautern University of Technology, Kaiserslautern, Germany; (2) Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

The phylogenetic history of a group of organisms is tied to its origin and range expansion history. Even without fossils one can track the migratory, dispersal and speciation history by using a well-resolved and supported phylogeny and recent distribution data. For the lichen-forming ascomycete family Peltulaceae, setting up a phylogenetic hypothesis is difficult due to their uniform anatomy. The family is part of the order of the Lichinales and comprises by now about fourty species in three genera, i.e., Peltula, Phyllopeltula and Neoheppia. The Peltulaceae occur in arid and semi-arid climatic regions, even within humid regions they can exist in arid and semi-arid microclimatic islands. In arid zones, lichens of the genus Peltula constitute an essential part, often as soil crusts, of the lichen flora of desert soils. They also colonize inselbergs and other accessible rock surfaces. Members of this family can be found throughout the world but have a center of occurrence in the arid and semi-arid zones of the African continent. The distribution of the Peltulaceae species over the various continents is not consistent: there are 33 species recorded from Africa, thus marking a main geographical area for this family, followed by North America and Asia. With nine records, Africa has the highest number of endemic species. In general, there is an imbalance concerning species number and endemisms in favour of the southern-hemisphere continents. Moreover, the recent geographical distribution of some Peltulaceae species shows similarities to the distribution of ancient xerophytic mosses, which are known to be at least of the Triassic (approx. 200 million years). Thus, we hypothesize the family itself has originated on the ancient supercontinent Gondwana. As a first step toward this biogeographic study of the Peltulaceae, a phylogeny based on molecular data is presented to test the monophyly of the family and its three genera.


The genus Lepraria in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and neighbouring countries of South Eastern Europe. Preliminary results

Bayerová, S.
Institute of Botany, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, CZ-252 43 Pruhonice, Czech Republic

The genus Lepraria is widely distributed and up to now is fairly well known only in small part of the world, especially in Northern and Western Europe. The knowledge of the genus is still insufficient in several vast areas of Europe, e.g. in South Eastern Europe, as well as in some Central European countries (e.g. Czech Republic). The focus of this exploration is to increase the current knowledge in the framework of present worldwide results of research. The presented study is based on literature reports, herbarium material and field studies. The chemical analyses are carried out using standardized thin-layer chromatography (TLC). The thallus surfaces of representatives of genus Lepraria were investigated in detail using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). A list of species, including Lepraria toensbergiana Bayerová et Kukwa sp. nov. and the species new for particular countries, is presented.


"Know your lichens, think cryptogamic" reflexion on LAT- relation

Beltman, I.
2bcVirtual – Doorwerth, Netherlands

A central role for lichens in biology
In discussion about the origin of the eukaryotic cell in the praecambrium between scientist of different disciplines, it is accepted that processes of symbiosis are playing an important role. In papers, books and presentations on this subject, scientists do not have knowledge of our recent results. If lichens are mentioned as examples of
symbiotic taxa mostly a Cladonia -picture is shown. But a contribution from lichenologists to the principle discussion about symbiosis, is missing.
On the other hand I have often heard professors complaining, more and more students show less interest in lichenology. Of course that is realy a pity. If possible, we have to change both items at the same time. After 30 years of working with lichens I come to this conclusion: lichens show a far more complex behavior, than students ever could expect by reading the descriptions from the "primitive" cryptogamic pioniers, in their text-books.
Dualistic character: What is a lichen realy?
Lichens show a dualistic character (Schwendener, 1868), which implicates several problems with the interpretation of your analytic results. Looking at a lichenvegetation, questions are coming up: What is an individue? How extensive is the population? These questions have more to do with the way how scientists expect lichens should behave, than that it has to do with definitions of species and populations. On one hand lichens behave like (and are treated as) species with all their properties. At the same time lichens behave as a symbiosis of at least two taxa. We all agree lichens found their systematic position in Ascomycetes and Basidiomycetes. It is time for synthesis. I show you a new way of looking at the whole of lichens. Fundamental discussions between scientists often silt up in reformulating definitions and new terminology. I don't pretend to make a contribution towards such a discussion. I want to do it by giving some practical solutions.
E-learning program
I developed an E-learning programm in which I will show for everybody who like "to know their lichens" about the dualistic character and their complexity of symbiotic behavior. (demonstration after the lectures, just ask me).


Lecanora bicinctoidea – a new species in the Lecanora rupicola group

Blaha, J. & Grube, M.
Institute of Plant Sciences, Karl-Franzens-University Graz, Holteigasse 6, 8010 Graz, Austria

Within the Lecanoraceae, the Lecanora rupicola group represents a monophyletic group, containing saxicolous and corticolous members. It is well characterized by the occurrence of the chromone sordidone. The members of the group show a high morphological diversity within species. To evaluate the relationship and delimitation of morphological species, we sequenced several gene loci and provide a haplotype network of ITS data. So far, the molecular data show no clear resolution of L. rupicola and L. bicincta. However, Austrian material of L. bicincta s.l. included a new species: L. bicinctoidea. The species is slightly different from typical L. bicincta in morphological characters, e.g. a thallus of comparatively small areoles and broadly sessile ascomata with a margin similar to that of L. bicincta. The ecological requirements, vertical to overhanging siliceous rocks, correspond more closely to these of L. swartzii. In addition to sordidone, the new species contains chemical compounds not known from other members of the group. The phylogenetic analysis supports the position of the new species close to Lecanora swartzii.


Phylogentic studies in Buellia s.l.

Blaha, J., Grube, U., Fetz, B. & Mayrhofer, H.
Institute of Plant Sciences, Karl-Franzens-University Graz, Holteigasse 6, 8010 Graz, Austria

A phylogenetic study including several main groups in Buellia and related genera of Physciaceae is presented. The dataset includes nuclear ITS and LSU rDNA as well as mtSSU rDNA sequences. The ITS region is too variable in Buellia s.l. for unambiguous alignment and numerous sites need to be excluded. ITS is, however, useful for more detailed investigations within species groups of Buellia. The nuclear and mitochondrial data give not always congruent results and the discrepancies are highlighted. Several well-accepted genera such as Dimelaena, Dermatiscum or Amandinea are nested within Buellia lineages. The value of certain diagnostic characters (e.g. spermatia shape, secondary metabolites) to distinguish buellioid genera is re-evaluated using the molecular data.


To chemosystematical study of Parmelia pulla group in Ukraine

Blum, O. B., Grybov, I. V. & Krupa; L. I.
M. M. Gryshko National Botanical Garden, Natnl. Acad. of Sci., Kyiv, Ukraine

Parmelia pulla group belongs to the specific brown Parmelia lichens considered now as separate genus Neofuscelia Essl. (1978). Neofuscelia pulla group provides another example of chemosyndromic variation, a new type of chemical variation in lichens described at first in Cetrelia (Culberson & Culberson, 1976). The total chemistry of the N. pulla group is more complex than that of Cetrelia (Culberson et al., 1977).
Lichen substances of 85 lichen specimens of Neofuscelia pulla group (N. pulla, N. "pokornyi", N. ryssolea and N. loxodes) collected in Ukraine (Polissia, Forest-Steppe zone, Steppe zone and Crimea) have been identified by standardized TLC method (Culberson, 1972; 1974) and additionally with UV-photometry method. Several compounds have been identified: divaricatic, 4-0-dimethyldivaricatic, stenosporic, 4-0-dimethylstenosporic, oxostenosporic, gyrophoric, norstictic, glomelliferic acids. Unknown substances TE-6, Cp-7 (admittedly PPY compounds) and Cp-2 were determined.
Two chemical races of N. pulla were discovered: race 1 with stenosporic acid as the primary medullary constituent and race 2 with divaricatic acid as the primary medullary constituent. The first race is mainly distributed in the west and central parts of Ukraine, and the second – in east, south-east and Crimea. N. ryssolea and N. "pokornyi" are both characterized by obvious predominance stenosporic acid and grow only in the south of Ukraine. It is possible that N. "pokornyi" should be only recognized as the variety of N. pulla. Isidiate form of N. loxodes contains glomelliferic and glomellic acids as the primary medullary constituent and is rare only in south-east of Ukraine.
Two samples from Crimea admittedly contain small quantity of norstictic acid together with divaricatic and stenosporic acids. As norstictic acid is present in N. pulla group only in N. attica, which is morphologically identical with N. pulla, some complementary investigations of these specimens are necessary.


Contribution to the genus Cladonia in the Iberian Peninsula. II. Supergroup Cocciferae

Burgaz, A. R. (1), Ahti, T. (2) & Martínez, I. (3)
(1) Departamento de Biología Vegetal I, Fac. CC. Biológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040-Madrid, Spain; (2) Botanical Museum, P.O. Box 7. FIN-00014, Helsinki University, Finland; (3) Escuela Superior Ciencias Experimentales y Tecnología, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28933-Móstoles, Madrid, Spain

The revision of the genus Cladonia (Stenroos et al. 2002) suggests a provisional supergroup Cocciferae defined by the red or ochraceous apothecia and the presence of ß-orcinol depsides constituted mostly by the old sections Cocciferae and Ochroleucae. A complete morphological, chemical and biogeographical study of sixteen species of this supergroup is presented to complete the knowledge of the genus in the Iberian Peninsula (Burgaz & Ahti 1992, 1994, 1998; Burgaz et al. 1999), as part of the project Spanish Lichenological Flore (BOS2001-0869-C04-04). Data of some revised herbaria samples (BC, COI, LEB, LISU, MA, MACB, PO, SANT), fresh material ca. 400 collected by the authors and some bibliographic reports are used. Many species are new reports for the provinces. Most of the species are confined to more humid mountainous areas and shaded habitats, by this can be catalogued as oceanic, apparently they need soil moisture and air humidity avoiding summer drought. Of the16 taxa reported, 6 grow over 1600 m altitude in the subalpine and oromediterranean belts, 7 have a wide altitudinal range growing from 150-1900 m, while C. incrassata has a very narrow altitudinal range. Usually they grow on acid soils, siliceous substrata, gneiss or granitic rocks, humus under shrubs of heath, bark or bases of mature trunks, decaying or rotting wood of Pinus, Quercus and Fagus. In many cases, the Iberian Peninsula represents the southern outpost in their European distribution, and the following species can be listed: (1) species restricted to the Eurosiberian Region: C. deformis, C. incrassata, C. metacorallifera and C. umbricola; (2) species which rarely reach the Mediterranean Region in the northern of the Sistema Ibérico: C. digitata and C. sulphurina; (3) species with the southern limit in the Sistema Central: C. bellidiflora, C. borealis, C. carneola, C. coccifera, C. floerkeana, C. luteoalba, C. macilenta, C. pleurota and C. polydactyla; (4) the most frequent species is C. diversa which has the southern limit in Sierra Morena.


Phylogeny of cyanobacterial taxa of the lichen genus Lobaria

Cornejo, C. (1), Tchabanenko, S. (2) and Scheidegger, C. (1)
(1) Swiss Federal Institute WSL, CH-8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland; (2) Sakhalin Botanical Garden, Gorky Street 25, 693023 Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia

Despite the many detailed morphological, anatomical and chemical studies carried out for the classification of lichens at a species level, the taxonomic importance of the studied characters often remained ambiguous. Those Lobaria species, which associate with cyanobacteria only, have developed a broad variety of vegetative propagules that are used as taxonomical characters for identification. Most of these species form either soredia, isidia or isidioid soredia, but rarely produce apothecia. On the other hand, the few apotheciate species do not form specific vegetative propagules. The aim of the present work is to develop a phylogeny of the cyanobacterial species Lobaria kurokawae, L. pseudopulmonaria, L. isidiosa, L. retigera, L. hallii and L. scrobiculata. Additionally, the tripartite species L. pulmonaria and L. oregana were also investigated. The taxonomical position of Pseudocyphellaria anomala, which is morphologically similar to L. pulmonaria, except for its pseudocyphellae on the lower surface, was also verified. Based on the nrDNA regions ITS and LSU, a phylogenetic tree was constructed, and the resulting genealogy compared to that as assessed by morphological and chemical traits.


Molecular phylogeny and iron fixation in rusty-coloured Acarospora species

Crewe, A. T. (1), Purvis, O. W. (2) & Wedin, M. (1)
(1) Dept. of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden; (2) Dept. of Botany, The Natural History Museum, London, UK

The Acarospora smaragdula species complex is investigated to study the pattern of evolution and adaptation in a group where traditional taxonomic interpretation is complicated, and where molecular phylogeny can be utilised to investigate and test hypotheses of the evolution of morphological / anatomical characters. One obvious character complex where these taxa show large variation is the over-all colour, something that may be caused by effects of mineralization from the substrate. The strong rust colouration of certain taxa growing on weathered iron-bearing rocks with a low pH, is one such example.
Here we present results from a study focussing on the two iron-containing taxa A. smaragdula v. lesdainii f. subochracea Magn. and A. sinopica (Wahlenb.) Körb. A molecular phylogeny was generated from sequence data from two independent loci: the nuclear ITS rDNA and mitochondrial SSU rDNA. The results support the current view of treating A. sinopica as a separate species from A. smaragdula, but they also suggest that A. smaragdula v. lesdainii f. subochracea is a distinct unit within the A. smaragdula complex. The location and fixation of Fe in these two 'rusty-coloured' taxa, which are shown to be distinct by the molecular phylogeny, was investigated utilising a combination of light microscopy (LM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron-probe microanalysis (JEOL) and x-ray diffraction (XRD). A similar location of Fe was observed in tissues within these two taxa. Variable Fe element ratios suggest that different substances may be involved in the fixation.


Genetic diversity of the epiphytic lichen species Lobaria meridionalis and L. pulmonaria

Csencsics, D., Cornejo, C. & Scheidegger, C.
Swiss Federal Institute WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland

The three epiphytic lichen species Lobaria immixta, L. meridionalis and L. pulmonaria occur on the Macaronesian Islands (Azores, Canary Islands, Cape Verde Islands and Madeira) often in mixed populations. L. immixta is considered as a Macaronesian endemit and can generally be easiliy distinguished from the other two species by morphological and chemical characters. However, delimiting the species L.
meridionalis and L. pulmonaria is not always possible, because sampled thallus fragments are often not optimally developed. Preliminary results indicate molecular characters which allow us to assign our samples to either L. meridionalis or L. pulmonaria (sequences of ITS-region of nuclear ribosomal DNA). To shed light on the biogeographic and evolutionary history of these lichen species, we use recently developed, fungus specific genetic markers, namely microsatellite loci. We use these to investigate the genetic structure and differentiation of the lichen species mentioned, comparing specimens from the Azores, Madeira, the Canary Islands and
Sicily. The aim of this study is to discover whether (i) the populations on these islands form different intraspecific evolutionary lineages and (ii) whether the microsatellite loci we studied support the delimitation of L. meridionalis and L. pulmonaria as characterised by morphological and molecular sequence (ITS) data.


Micarea Fr. genus in Poland – taxonomy, distribution and ecology

Czarnota, P.
Scientific Laboratory of the Gorce National Park, Poreba Wielka, Poland

Despite the lichen genus Micarea is well known in Europe since publishing the taxonomic study of European Micarea species by Coppins in 1983, the particular species still afford a lot of troubles. Especially specimens collected before this ‘mythical’ date need revision and also a confirmation of plentiful materials found recently seems to be necessary.
The purpose of the studies is to establish which species cited previously in literature under the different synonyms and housed in Polish herbaria really belong to the genus Micarea, to explore the different ecological regions in Poland based on the recent knowledge of Micarea as well as to know the present diversity, distribution and ecology of the species.
Until now more than 1000 specimens of Micarea have been revised anatomically, chemically and morphologically and also about 200 specimens mainly from M. prasina complex were examined by TLC. The materials from Polish herbaria KRA, KRAM, KRAP, KTC, UGDA, BDPA, OLTC, POZ, WRSL, and author’s collection housed in GPN have been analysed. Some type species stored in Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh as well as Coppins’s (E) and Palice’s (hb. Palice) collections and also many author’s specimens personally confirmed by B.J. Coppins were used to compare and determine examined taxa. Moreover, the Coppins’s monograph and other newer publications on Micarea have been used.
During the studies 33 species of Micarea have been ascertained. Among them are all species cited previously in the first Polish checklist of lichenized fungi (Faltynowicz 1994) except M. assimilata, which specimens refer to Helocarpon crassipes, and M. ternaria, reported only one in the past in the Tatra Mts, but the material have not been seen yet. The second edition of the Polish checklist include 24 Micarea species (Faltynowicz 2004), but the new data based on recent findings resulted a few other ones not reported in this country and even in this part of Europe as well.
The work has been supported by the Polish Research Committee in the period 2002–2005 (KBN grant no. 3P04C 040 23).


Speciation in Xanthoria

Eichenberger, C., Scherrer, S., Gansner, H. & Honegger, R.
University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland

Speciation processes are poorly understood in lichen-forming ascomycetes. According to published data on hydrophobin gene and rDNA (ITS 1 and 2, 5.8S) sequences (Scherrer & Honegger 2003, NPH 157: 375-389) and on mating systems (Honegger et al. 2004, Mycol. Res. 108 [4]) the genus Xanthoria is a suitable system for studies on speciation. Additional species, including unknown samples, from worldwide locations and additional molecular markers such as the beta-tubulin gene (see contribution of S. Scherrer et al.) and mtLSU rDNA were included in the analysis. The hydrophobin gene sequence proved to be an excellent marker for close relationships among Xanthoria species. Our combined data sets indicate that the Eastern Mediterranean area harbours cryptic species. In the presumably homothallic X. parietina the switch from heterothallism to homothallism (see contributions of R. Honegger et al. and S. Scherrer et al.) might have been one of the key steps in the speciation process. The abundance of ascomata of all developmental stages is the main phenotypic feature separating X. parietina from the neighbouring, heterothallic X. calcicola and X. ectaneoides. Homothallism, combined with a low substrate specificity, was probably part of the ecological success which allows this common and widespread, nitrophilous species to colonize even new continents (Australia, New Zealand). Combined data sets indicate that X. parietina is a derived, not a primary species as has been previously assumed in the literature, and that various South African Xanthoria spp. (X. flammea, X. turbinata, X. capensis, X. karrooensis) and the Australasian X. ligulata are more closely related to the X. parietina complex, including X. calcicola and X. ectaneoides, than the latter to X. polycarpa, X. candelaria, X. elegans and X. resendei or to the genus Xanthomendoza.


Sorediate Thelotremataceae containing psoromic acid in neotropical lowland rainforests

Emmerer, B. & Hafellner, J.
Institute of Plant Sciences, Karl-Franzens-University, Graz, Austria

First results of investigations of sterile crustose lichens in neotropical lowland rainforests are presented. In tropical rainforests crustose corticolous lichens which reproduce by vegetative diaspores are among the most badly known, although they are very common and widely distributed in understory habitats. Several characters indicate that many of the sterile crusts belong to the Thelotremataceae, one of the codominating lichen families in tropical rainforests. Within the Thelotremataceae psoromic acid is the most frequently detected secondary compound (120 species). So far only one species which regularly produces soredia and contains psoromic acid has been described (Ocellularia pulverulenta Hale). Seven further sorediate taxa, all with certain features in thallus morphology, with an identical secondary chemistry (psoromic acid chemosyndrome) and all from the neotropics, can be distinguished by morphological characters of the thallus and the vegetative diaspores. Two of them develop also ascomata which confirms the assumption that all these species belong to the Thelotremataceae. Based on comparisons with other fertile species and applying the current generic concept of Thelotremataceae, three sorediate taxa are assigned to Myriotrema, three to Ocelluaria and one to Thelotrema. However, only further collections with fruiting bodies or molecular data could confirm their taxonomic placement.


Is Xanthoria parietina reliable model taxon?

Fedorenko, N. M. & Kondratyuk, S. Ya.
Department of Lichenology and Bryology, M.H. Kholodny Institute of Botany NASU, Kyiv, Ukraine

At the XV International Botanical Congress representatives of the genus Xanthoria were recommended as model lichens for all-round investigations in the physiology, biochemistry and so on. In general the genus Xanthoria accepted to be easy to identify. It is not secret that anatomical characters are not analyzed during identification of such taxa as X. parietina and X. elegans.
Considering mentioned above we could admit that many experimental investigations with Xanthoria species may be doubtful as far as investigators worked with specimens incorrectly determined.
Detail revision of material called as "Xanthoria parietina" from various continents with involving anatomical and biochemical characters shown it to be very heterogenous. A number of new taxa, namely X. dissectulata and X. bonae-spei from South Africa (Kondratyuk et al. 2004a), as well as X. elixii and X. streimannii from Australia (Kondratyuk et al. 2004b) is recently described.
Detail comparative morphometric study of extensive collections of X. parietina material from Europe and Asia is carried out during this study. Some specimens are similar with X. steineri by sporae size but they have different thallus morphology. Also, some specimens have similar morphological characters with X. parietina but they have different anatomical characters (including the spore length and width). Reinvestigation of the type of X. parietina with aim to check all characters used in modern taxonomy of xanthorioid lichens is in urgent need.
It is concluded that determination of X. parietina material, especially from different continents including Europe and Asia, should be done with great care and with including anatomical characters. X. parietina is confirmed only by European material indeed. Asian Near East material of "X. parietina" shows characters of X. steineri aggr.
Financial support of the STCU NN18R is deeply acknowledged.


Molecular phylogenetic study on the genus Anzia and some allied genera

Fujiwara, A. (1), Hara, K. (1), Yamamotu, Y. (1) & Yoshimura, I. (2)
(1) Department of Biological Production, Faculty of Bioresource Sciences, Akita Prefectural University, Akita, Japan; (2) The Hattori Botanical Laboratory, Kochi, Japan

The genus Anzia comprises 38 species of foliose lichens that has spongiostratum on the ventral side of the laciniae. Members of Anzia have been well studied in their morphology, taxonomy, chemistry, and phytogeography. However, no molecular studies have been done. In this study, molecular phylogenetic relationships were studied on the genus Anzia and allied genera (Hypogymnia, Menegazzia, and Pannoparmelia).
Based on sequences of nuclear SSU rDNA, the result indicates that the genus Anzia is monophyletic with Parmeliaceae. Some persons placed Anzia in the Anziaceae by the presence of the spongiostratum and many (more than 32) lunate spores, and Pannoparmelia with 8 spores in the Parmeliaceae. More recently, Anzia and Pannoparmelia were often treated in the same family, either Parmeliaceae or Anziaceae.
The relationships within species of Anzia and between a few allied genera were studied using nuclear ITS regions and mitochondrial SSU regions, respectively. The results of both relationships will be discussed.


The lobed Caloplaca, phylogeny and taxonomy of a problematic species complex within the Teloschistaceae

Gaya, E. (1), Lutzoni, F. (2), Llimona, X. (1) & Navarro-Rosinés, P. (1)
(1) Departament de Biologia Vegetal (Unitat de Botànica), Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Diagonal 645,08028 Barcelona, Spain; (2) Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, 27708-0338, USA.

The lichen genus Caloplaca (Teloschistaceae, Ascomycota), even though of conspicuous habit, is among the least known taxonomically. The poor understanding of its species has often led to being overlooked. It can be considered as one of the most complex and diversified genus among the crustose lichens, exemplified by an undetermined and highly debated number of species ranging from 350 species world-wide to 1100 according to Kirk et al. (2001) and Kärnefelt (1998), respectively.
Moreover, the delimitation of this genus has been always problematic due mostly to the strong similarity between lobed species of Caloplaca and species of other genera within Teloschistaceae, such as Xanthoria and some species of Fulgensia. Among all lobed Caloplaca species, the Saxicola group has been the most controversial taxonomically.
To provide a comprehensive and more natural classification of this group of lobed Caloplaca, we report here results from phylogenetic analyses that were carried out on sequences of the nuclear rDNA internal trancribed spacer region (ITS).
Based on this ITS phylogeny, together with morphological and anatomical characters, some of the so far accepted species of this group of Caloplaca were associated with high support values. The same was true for potentially new cryptic species with elusive diagnostic morphological and anatomical characters. A proposal for achieving a more natural classification of this group will be presented. For example, Fulgensia schistidii (Anzi) Poelt, has been transferred back to Caloplaca.
Finally, we tested the hypothesis that the lobed Caloplaca species form a monophyletic group within a broader taxon sampling of the Teloschistaceae, including taxa representing all species groups of Caloplaca.
References
Kärnefelt, I. 1998. Problems related to the marine lobate and subfruticose species of Caloplaca. Folia Cryptog. Estonica 32: 27-35.
Kirk, P. M., P.F., Cannon, J. C. David and J. A. Stalpers. 2001. Ainsworth & Bisby's dictionary of the fungi. 9th Ed. CAB International, Oxon.


Molecular phylogeny of the Verrucariales

Gueidan, C. (1), Roux, C. (2), Untereiner, W. A. (3), Amtoft, A. (4), Harris, R. C. (4), Keller, C. (5) & Lutzoni, F. (1)
(1) Duke University, Durham, NC, USA; (2) Faculté des Sciences et Techniques de St-Jérôme, Marseille, France; (3) Brandon University, Manitoba, Canada; (4) New-York Botanical Garden, New York, USA; (5) WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland

Several recent molecular phylogenetic studies of the Ascomycota have shown that the order Verrucariales is sister to the non-lichenized order Chaetothyriales. These two orders share a most recent common ancestor with members of the order Pyrenulales. Together, these three orders are recognized as forming the subclass Chaetothyriomycetidae (sensu AFTOL, 2004). However, these studies included only a few representative taxa (ranging from one to three species) for each of these orders. Therefore, the monophyly of these three orders needs to be tested with a broader taxon sampling. Phylogenetic relationships among member of Verrucariales and Chaetothyriales are mostly unknown and the morphology-based circumscription of genera within these orders has never been compared to a monophyletic delimitation of genera based on molecular data. One aim of this study is to reconstruct a comprehensive molecular phylogeny of the Verrucariales and Chaetothyriales to test their monophyly. The second main goal of this study is to use monophyly as a grouping criterion to elucidate relationships among species representing the diversity within each of the main genera of Verrucariales. The morphology-based classification of genera within this order will be compared to monophyletic entities based on DNA sequences. To reach these goals, we sequenced two nuclear genes, SSU and LSU, as well as ITS for about 40 ingroup taxa (ca. 30 Verrucariales and 10 Chaetothyriales), and 4 outgroup taxa. These combined datasets were analyzed using weighted maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and a Bayesian approach. Our results confirm the monophyly of the order Verrucariales and its phylogenetic position sister to the order Chaetothyriales. Within the Verrucariales, the main genera as currentlycircumscribed do not appear to be monophyletic.


Genetic variation within Leptogium schraderi agg and its preliminary taxonomic implication

Guttová, A. & Perny, M.
Institute of Botany, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 14, 845 23 Bratislava, Slovakia

European continent is home of 5 closely related Leptogium species, taken as aggregate for the purpose of this study. These are terricolous/saxicolous L. schraderi, L. turgidum, saxicolous L. plicatile, L. massiliense and L. subtorulosum. The species L. schraderi is known from 21 European countries, Asia (Turkey, including Cyprus),
North Africa and Canada; L. plicatile from Europe, North America and New Zealand; L. subtorulosum from Europe (Switzerland, Great Britain, Portugal); so as L. turgidum (Belgium, the Netherlands, Croatia, Luxembourg, Germany, Ukraine, Great Britain); L. massiliense also from Europe (Great Britain, France, Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, Greece).
All the 5 species have been recognized for a long time (the oldest one L. schraderi was described in 1799, the youngest one L. subtorulosum in 1882). Published information is still sporadic, limited to statements on the occurrence and commentaries on ecological requirements. Anatomy, morphology, alternatively nomenclature is discussed much rarer. An increasing lot of material enables to observe transitions in a sense of habitus of a thallus, substrate, development
of fruiting bodies and vegetative propagules.
Altogether 65 fresh specimens covering the taxa L. schraderi, L.
turgidum, L. plicatile and L. massiliense from 4 countries (Slovakia, Italy, Czech Republic, Great Britain) were sampled, voucher specimens deposited in BM, SAV, SIENA. 2 genetic markers were amplified: ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 rDNA (using the primers ITS1F, ITS4R) and LrRNA mtDNA (primers ML3, ML4). Preliminary analysis of ITS data using maximum parsimony show that English fruticose samples (= L. schraderi) form well bootstrap-supported clade, while Slovak and Italian ones were distributed among L. plicatile and the samples with transitional thalus morphology. MtDNA data suggest low genetic variation among the subset of samples. L. schraderi forms 2 separate clades and the clade of L. plicatile is moderately bootstrap-supported.


Phylogeny of Dermatocarpon based on ITS- and ß-tubulin-data

Heidmarsson, S.
Icelandic Insitute of Natural History, Akureyri Division, Akureyri, Iceland

Dermatocarpon (Verrucariales) is as genus known for the plasticity which many of its species show. The type-species, Dermatocarpon miniatum, is particularly plastic which has resulted in the description of numerous varieties of this species. ITS-data indicate that the different varieties of D. miniatum do not represent monophyletic entities (Heidmarsson 2003) and the data also indicate that D. leptophyllum and D. linkolae should be included in D. miniatum.
The present study includes altogether ca. 70 specimens of Dermatocarpon which belong to at least 13 different taxa. The ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 rDNA area was sequenced and also a part of the ß -tubulin gene. Both data-sets were analysed separately and also combined.
Reference:
Heidmarsson, S. 2003 Molecular study of Dermatocarpon miniatum (Verrucariales) and allied taxa. – Mycological Research 107: 459-468.


Phylogenetic relationships of the Physciaceae inferred from rDNA sequence data and selected phenotypic characters

Helms, G. (1), Friedl, T. (1) & Rambold, G. (2)
(1) Experimentelle Phykologie und Sammlung für Algenkulturen, Albrecht-von-Haller-Institut, Universität Göttingen, Untere Karspüle 2, 37073 Göttingen, Germany; (2) Lehrstuhl Pflanzensystematik, Universität Bayreuth, Universitätsstraße 30, 95448 Bayreuth, Germany

The phylogenetic relationships of the Physciaceae were deduced from rDNA sequence data and correlated to the distribution of selected phenotypic traits. A common origin of the Physciaceae and Caliciaceae as previously shown (Wedin et al. 2000) was confirmed. It could be shown that the Caliciaceae are nested within a particular clade of the Physciaceae. A unique region in loop 37 of the nrSSU rRNA secondary structure model was identified, which distinguishes the Physciaceae/ Caliciaceae from other Lecanoralean families. Analyses of nrITS sequences revealed a bifurcation of the Physciaceae/Caliciaceae clade, which was found to be congruent with the distribution of ascus type and hypothecium pigmentation. Ascospore characters and excipulum types revealed higher degrees of homoplasy but still correlated well with the distinction of the basal bifurcation in the Physciaceae/Caliciaceae. Fine-structure details of ascospores and the structure of excipula were found to be important for the recognition of convergences in these traits. Other previously used characters, i.e. growth habit, certain ascospore types or structure of the upper cortex, were found to be of multiple origins within the Physciaceae. All monophyletic lineages of non-crustose growth habit exhibit uniform ascospore types, indicating a higher evolutionary age of ascospore types than foliose growth habit. The taxonomic segregation of the Physciaceae into the Physciaceae and Caliciaceae is proposed here.


What do protein-coding genes (ATP6, EF1-alpha and RNA polymerase II) bring to molecular systematics of lichens ?

Hofstetter, V., Miadlikowska, J., Gueidan, C., Reeb, V., Arnold. A. E., Kauff, F., Cox, C., Yahr, R. & Lutzoni, F.
Department of Biology, Duke University, USA

The collaborative project, titled Assembling the Fungal Tree of Life (AFTOL), is sampling eight molecular regions (nSSU, nLSU, ITS, mtSSU, RPB2, RPB1, EF1-alpha and ATP6) for 1500 species to contribute toward a comprehensive phylogenetic hypothesis of the Fungi. The resolution power of ribosomal RNA genes and associated non-coding regions is fairly well understood throughout the ascomycete tree. However, only a very few studies have used protein-coding genes to infer phylogeny of lichen-forming fungi. The two multilocus phylogenetic studies that included a protein-coding gene for a broad taxon sampling across Ascomycota (Reeb et al, 2004; Lutzoni et al, 2004) have shown that RPB2 used in combination with ribosomal data recovered multiple deep relationships within Ascomycota that were never revealed previously or were revealed with only low support values in prior studies. Here we present phylogenetic analyses for each of these eight loci, individually and in combination, across a large number of lichen-forming and allied fungal species. The resolving power of each locus will be assessed at different taxonomic levels, ranging from closely related species to taxa classified in different orders. Putative biological causes of inconsistencies among gene trees will be explored. The minimum combination of genes with the highest level of resolution and support will be investigated. We hope this study will form the foundation necessary to guide the selection of loci for future evolutionary studies on lichen-forming and allied ascomycetes.


The lichenicolous (lichen-inhabiting) fungi of Sweden

Ihlen, P. G. & Wedin, M.
Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University, Sweden.

On lichen associations, there are frequently present additional fungal associates, the lichenicolous fungi, resulting in mini-ecosystems of three and four bionts. Despite the rich biodiversity of lichenicolous fungi, and their diverse lifestyles, ranging from parasites to commensalistic co-symbionts, these fungi are poorly known, both from an evolutionary and a taxonomic point of view. In southern Sweden, there has been a long tradition in conducting research on lichens and lichenicolous fungi. In the recent overview (Santesson et al. 2004: Lichen-forming and lichenicolous fungi of Fennoscandia), 359 lichenicolous fungi have been listed from Sweden. However, this is probably an under-estimated number, as for example, 71 additional lichenicolous fungi are known from the neighbouring countries Norway and Finland and because few collection journeys have been carried out in northern Sweden. Consequently, the main aims of this project are to improve the documentation of these fungi in northern Sweden and to increase the taxonomic knowledge of lichenicolous fungi. During 2003, 30 days were spent on fieldwork from Ångermanland in the south to Lule Lappmark in the north and a total of 230 specimens of lichenicolous fungi were collected. Sixteen species proved to be new to science, two were found new to Scandinavia, and two were new to Sweden. These are currently being published. In order to increase the interest in lichenicolous fungi, an identification guide for Swedish lichenicolous fungi is also under preparation. As the natural relationship of most lichenicolous fungi are poorly known, we have also studied the systematic position of one selected genus, Epilichen, using molecular phylogeny. Epilichen glauconigellus and E. scabrosus proved to be closely related and were found nested within the Rhizocarpaceae. Financial support was provided by The Swedish Taxonomy Initiative (Svenska artprojektet) funded by The Swedish Species Information Centre (ArtDatabanken).


Molecular phylogeny of the Ramalina almquistii species complex

Joneson, S. & Lutzoni, F.
Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

Plastic morphology and limited knowledge of species’ ranges have confounded taxonomy in the lichenized fungal genus Ramalina. One example is the R. almquistii species complex, whose three members are found growing on coastal rocks, cliffs, and land of the greater northern Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea regions. These species have traditionally been separated by morphology, habit, and geography. However, these characteristics overlap between species and it is not possible to separate many specimens definitively. To determine if more than one species is included in this complex, as well as to determine the most closely related taxa, a phylogeny of sixteen Ramalina species was constructed based on ITS and beta-tubulin using weighted maximum parsimony and Bayesian analysis. Trees based on a combined dataset show little variation within the R. almquistii complex, and no support for more than one species. Instead, a group of closely related taxa highlights new questions of habitat preference, species pairs, and biogeography of circumboreal and local members of this genus.


Bioinformatics of AFTOL (Assembling the Fungal Tree of Life)

Kauff, F., Cox, C. & Lutzoni, F.
Duke University, Dept. of Biology, Durham NC-27708, USA

The goal of the NSF-funded AFTOL project (Assembling the Fungal Tree Of Life) is to enhance the understanding of the evolution of the Kingdom fungi by sampling 1500+ species for eight gene loci across all major fungal clades, plus a subset of taxa for a suite of morphological and ultrastructural characters. To facilitate the collection and dissemination of molecular data to (and from) the laboratories and public, a custom-made web-based application and a suite of accessory applications have been written to provide storage and automated analysis. These applications are written in the Python programming language and often use modules provided by the BioPython project. The web-based database interface is built upon the Zope application server. Newly generated sequencing chromatograms are subjected to basecalling (using Phred), local BLAST search and contig assembly (using Phrap). The results of each step are evaluated and forwarded to their authors to allow further verification. The system includes an automated sequence alignment, a test for congruence among partitions and will finally initiate non-interactive phylogenetic analyses in regular intervals. The AFTOL database/bioinformatics project uses only Open Source Software.


Diversity of Umbilicaria species in the neighbourhood of Admiralty Bay (King George Island, Antarctic)

Krzewicka, B. (1) & Smykla, J. (1, 2)
(1) Institute of Botany, Polish Academy of Sciences, Krakow, Poland; (2) Department of Antarctic Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warszawa, Poland

This research documents the occurrence of the genus Umbilicaria in the neighbourhood of Admiralty Bay on King George Island in the maritime Antarctic. Nine species are reported from the area surveyed, with U. kappeni being reported from King George Island for the first time. The occurrence of U. aprina, U. cristata and U. umbilicarioides on the island is confirmed and that of U. aprina is its first documented record from the maritime Antarctic. Fertile specimens of U. umbilicarioides are recorded for the first time from Antarctica. It is remarkable that only 2 Umbilicaria species out of the 11 known in the whole of Antarctica were not found within the surveyed area (i.e. U. saviczii and U. thamnodes). The most common species in the surveyed area was U. antarctica, found in all the surveyed sites. In contrast U. cristata, U. nylanderiana and U. umbilicarioides were found only in single localities, with the last taxon seemingly rare but U. cristata and U. nylanderiana probably more common although being overlooked because of their strong resemblance to U. africana and U. decussata respectively. Such a high number of species of the genus occurring in the area gives an indication of its floristic richness. The area around Admiralty Bay seems to be one of the Antarctic regions with the highest diversity of Umbilicaria species.


Saxicolous species of the genus Rinodina (lichenized Ascomycetes, Physciaceae) in Australia and New Zealand

Lambauer, M. & Mayrhofer, H.
Institute for Plant Sciences, Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, Austria

At present twenty nine saxicolous species of the genus Rinodina (Ach.) Gray are recognized in Australia (mainly resting upon material from south-eastern Australia and Tasmania) and New Zealand. The current revision of all available material from this area is based on collections from several field trips of the authors and from public herbaria. It results in many new records of known species and in several taxa new to science. An overview about distribution, ecology and taxonomy, including molecular, morphological and anatomical data, is provided.


Comprehensive revision of Protousnea (Parmeliaceae: Ascomycota), a genus endemic to southern South America

Liberatore, S.(1), Calvelo, S.(1), Stocker-Wörgötter, E. (2) & Elix, J. (3)
(1) BioLiq. Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche, Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Bariloche, 8400RN, Argentina; (2) Institute of Plant Physiology, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunner Str. 34, A-5020 Salzburg, Austria; (3) Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Australian National University, Canberra, A.C.T. 0200, Australia

A comprehensive revision of the genus Protousnea is presented based on morphological, chemical, anatomical and extensive field studies in the Patagonian Andes and Tierra del Fuego, as well as by comparisons with herbarium material. A complete chemical profile is detailed for each species and sekikaic acid has been shown to be the major medullary metabolite. The new despide 4'-O-demethylsubsekikaic acid is described for the first time. The circumscription of species and intraspecific variability is discussed with reference to key morphological, anatomical and chemical characters and ecological preferences. Conidia are described for the first time. Protousnea malacea (Stirt.) Krog and P. scrobiculata (Sambo) Krog have been synonymised with P. poeppigii (Nees & Flot.). Krog. A key to the species is given. All the species are illustrated and new data are presented on their distribution, substrate preferences and ecology.


"Bacidia" coprodes in the Mediterranean Region

Llop, E. & Ekman, S.
Department of Biology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

Three species of saxicolous lichens, currently included in the genus Bacidia De Not., have been reported from the Mediterranean Region: B. scopulicola (Nyl.) A.L.Sm.; B. trachona (Ach.) Lettau, and B. viridifarinosa Coppins & P.James. B. scopulicola grows on siliceous seashore rocks and is known from the Atlantic coasts of Spain. B. viridifarinosa, a species of both rock and bark, does not seem to be related to Bacidia in the strict sense. Genuine B. trachona is mostly sterile, with black, protruding, often asymmetrical pycnidia, which produce small ellipsoid to bacilliform conidia. This species, which is apparently unrelated to Bacidia and the rest of the Ramalinaceae, is found in siliceous rocks on oceanic climate areas of Western Europe, from Portugal to Norway. However, Mediterranean samples as well as samples from other parts of Europe and North America, named B. trachona, represent a distinct entity belonging to the Ramalinaceae. The correct name of this taxon appears to be B. coprodes (Körber) Lettau. This taxon has dark reddish brown to black apothecia, with a greyish to blackish green pigment in the outer part of the proper exciple and hymenium, pycnidia that are immersed in the thallus except for the dark brown to blackish ostiole. Two types of conidia are found: filiform, curved to sigmoid conidia, and bacilliform to drop-shaped conidia. This taxon mainly grows on calcareous rocks, from sea level to the alpine belt, throughout most of Europe and eastern North America. We consider B. granosa (Tuck.) Zahlbr., described from North American, to be a later synonym of B. coprodes.


Where are we in assembling the fungal tree of life, classifying the fungi, and understanding the evolution of their subcellular traits?

Lutzoni, F. (1), Kauff, F. (1), Cox, C. J. (1), McLaughlin, D. (2), Celio, G. (2), Dentinger, B. (2), Padamsee, M. (2), Hibbett, D. (3), James, T. Y. (1), Baloch, E. (4), Grube, M. (4), Reeb, V. (1), Hofstetter, V. (1), Schoch, C. (5), Arnold, A. E. (1), Miadlikowska, J. (1, 6), Spatafora, J. (5), Johnson, D. (5), Hambleton, S.(7), Crockett, M. (5), Shoemaker, R. (7), Sung, G.-H. (5), Lücking, R. (8), Lumbsch, T. (8), O'Donnell, K. (9), Binder, M. (3), Diederich, P. (10), Ertz, D. (11), Gueidan, C. (1), Hall, B. (12), Hansen, K. (13), Harris, R. C. (14), Hosaka, K. (5), Lim, Y.-W. (3, 15), Liu, Y. (12), Matheny, B. (3), Nishida, H. (16), Pfister, D. (13), Rogers, J. (17), Rossman, A. (18), Schmitt, I. (8), Sipman, H. (19), Stone, J. (5), Sugiyama, J. (20), Yahr, R. (1) & Vilgalys, R. (1)
(1) Duke University, USA; (2) University of Minnesota, USA; (3) Clark University, USA; (4) Karl-Franzens-University, Austria; (5) Oregon State University, USA; (6) Gdansk University, Poland; (7) Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; (8) The Field Museum, USA; (9) U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, IL; (10) National Natural History Museum, Luxembourg; (11) National Botanic Garden of Belgium; (12) University of Washington, USA; (13) Harvard University Herbaria, USA; (14) New York Botanical Garden, USA; (15) Curr. addr.: University of British Columbia, Canada; (16) The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research, Japan; (17) Washington State University, Pullman, USA; (18) U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, MD; (19) Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum Berlin-Dahlem, Germany; (20) The University of Tokyo, Japan

We present an overview of progress in molecular systematics of the Fungi since 1990, and demonstrate that overlap among data matrices has been very low. As a result, many of the currently available data cannot be used in multi-locus analyses to infer fungal relationships on a large scale. We report here the results of four Bayesian analyses with complementary bootstrap assessment of phylogenetic confidence using neighbor joining, maximum parsimony, and Bayesian methods on: 1) a combined two-locus data set (nucSSU and nucLSU rDNA) with 558 species representing all traditionally recognized fungal phyla (Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Chytridiomycota, Zygomycota) and the Glomeromycota; 2) a combined three-locus data set (nucSSU, nucLSU and mitSSU rDNA) with 236 species; 3) a combined three-locus data set (nucSSU, nucLSU rDNA and RPB2) with 157 species; and 4) a combined four-locus data set (nucSSU, nucLSU, mitSSU rDNA, and RPB2) with 103 species. The latter three analyses included only members of the Ascomycota and Basidiomycota. The four-locus analysis resolved multiple deep relationships within the Ascomycota and Basidiomycota that were not revealed previously, or that received only weak support values in prior studies. Based on these results and reanalysis of subcellular data, we synthesize current knowledge regarding the evolution of septal features of fungal hyphae, and present a preliminary reassessment of ascomal evolution. The main goal of the poster version of this study is to display the resulting phylogenetic trees for a closer examination of the inferred relationships.


A taxonomic revision of the Thelotremataceae in Australia

Mangold, A. (1), Lumbsch, H. T. (1), Elix, J. A. (2)
(1) Field Museum, Dept. of Botany, Chicago, USA; (2) Australian National University, Dept. of Chemistry, Canberra, Australia

The Thelotremataceae is a family of mainly tropical crustose lichens characterized by a predominantly lichenized life-style with mostly trentepohlioid photobiont. Other characters include immersed-erumpent, rounded ascomata with unbranched paraphyses, and mostly distoseptate ascospores.
They form one of eight currently accepted families in the order of Ostropales with more than 500 species worldwide. About 96 of which are so far known to occur in Australia (McCarthy 2000).
The poster gives an introduction to this group of lichens. It shows a summary of a Ph. D. project which aims at revising the taxa occurring in Australia by examination of anatomical features of the ascomata, morphological characters, and secondary metabolites. It also features a brief section about the results of a molecular study done so far to understand the phylogeny of selected groups in the family.


Genetic and morphological variability in endolithic taxa of Caloplaca sect. Pyrenodesmia

Muggia, L. (1), Tretiach, M. (1), Grube, M. (2)
(1) Dipartimento di Biologia, Università degli Studi di Trieste, Via Giorgieri 10, I-34127 Trieste, Italy; (2) Institute for Plant Science, Karl-Franzens-University Graz, Holteigasse 6, A-8010 Graz, Austria

Taxonomically, the endolithic species of Caloplaca sect. Pyrenodesmia constitute a problematic group of lichens, because of poor diacritical characters, and nomenclatural confusion. Species of this group often grow intermixed on calcareous rock sites.
The first results of a detailed study consisting of morpho-anatomical observations and DNA sequencing of ten sites are given. 15-20 thalli were collected in stations disposed along a South-North gradient crossing the Italian peninsula, from the Gargano promontory to the South-eastern Alps, from sea level to c. 1500 m. DNA was obtained by scraped thalli and the nuclear ITS regions were amplified by PCR using ITS1F and ITS4 primers. The results from a phylogenetic analysis show that this group of endolithic lichens comprises several lineages. Some thalline characters (e.g. the colour of the prothallus) are good diagnostic characters for the segregation of C. erodens from the other taxa considered in this study. The discrimination between C. alociza and C. agardhiana based on the presence of crystals in the hymenium is critically discussed.
The validity of the name Pyrenodesmia agardhiana A. Massal. is questioned on the base of archive researches.


The Mycocalicium genus in the Iberian Peninsula

Muñiz, D. & Hladun, N. L.
Dept. Biologia Vegetal (Botànica), Universitat Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

The Mycocalicium (Ach.) Vain (1890) genus (Mycocaliciaceae, Mycocaliciales, Incertae Sedis, Ascomycetes, Ascomycota, Fungi) accounts nearly 10 species (Kirk et al. 2001). This genus is among the least known taxonomically. The poor understanding of its species has often led to being misidentified and constantly erronearly classified as Mycocalicium subtile (Pers.) Szatala. Here a preliminary revision of this genus in the Iberian Peninsula has been carried out.
In this study a wide distributional range of M. subtile has been found. This specie occurs in continental, Mediterranean, alpine and subtropical regions. The substrate where it grows is also quite variable. It is mainly found on Pinus and Quercus, but also on Juniperus, Castanea, Fagus and Olea.
A great amount of the specimens examined had been previously identified as a M. subtile var minutellum (Szat.). However, their morphological and ecological features did not correspond to the description of this variety. For this reason we consider those specimens differ enough to describe a new species; Mycocalicium llimonae sp. nov.
Another species, Mycocalicium victoriae (C. Knight ex F. Wilson) Tibell (1891) has been found to be more abundant in the Iberian Peninsula than formerly thought. Most of the samples had been often identified as M. subtile, and for this reason has been an overlooked species that needs further study.


On homology and paralogy in polyketide synthase genes from Parmeliaceae

Opanowicz, M. (1), Blaha, J. (2) & Grube, M. (2)
(1) Department of Systematics and Phytosociology, Institute of Plant Biology, University of Wroclaw, ul. Kanonia 6/8, 50-328 Wroclaw, Poland; (2) Institute of Plant Sciences, Karl-Franzens University, 8010 Graz, Austria

The Parmeliaceae is one of the largest lichen-forming ascomycetes families, exhibiting a broad spectrum of secondary compounds which have been used to characterize genera, species, and subspecific taxa. These secondary compounds, mainly polyketides, have also significant ecological roles which are considered in four basic aspects: allelopaty, antiherbivory, light-screening and chemical weathering. The key enzymes required for polyketide synthesis are the polyketide synthases (PKSs), which usually form the basic structures of secondary metabolites. The relationships of genes for these enzymes can now be studied by phylogenetic tools. Heterologous primers can be applied to amplify certain polyketide synthase genes from various representatives of the Parmeliaceae. The genes from Parmeliaceae are widely distributed in a tree involving genes for aromatic polyketides, and indicate the phylogenetic positions of various paralogous genes. This is corroborated by the differential presence of mRNA introns. Usually, only one paralog was amplified by the heterologous primers for all investigated specimens, but specific primers can be used to amplify particular homologous genes. With the present knowledge, some suggestions but no clear assignment can be made on the function of potentially homologous genes.


A taxonomic and phylogenetic study of the Leptogium lichenoides-group (Lecanorales, Collemataceae)

Otálora, M. A. G., Martínez, I., Molina, M. C. & Aragón, G.
Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Móstoles , Madrid, Spain

The lichen-forming genus Leptogium (Ach) Gray is a widespread with ca 40 infrageneric taxa in Europe (ca. 250 species in the world) (Aragón et al 2004.) The lichenoides-group comprises four species in Europe: L. intermedium (Arnold) Arnold, L. gelatinosum (With.) J. R. Laundon, L. lichenoides (L.) Zahlbr. and L. quercicola Otálora, Aragón, Martinez & Molina, this last a new species recently described from central and southern Spain (Otálora et al 2004.). The lichenoides group includes species with thin, paper like thallus, bluish-grey to brown, distinctly ridged upper surface, lower surface without tomentose hairs and thallus section not paraplectenchymatous throughout, with a well-developed cortex of a single cell layer. Within each species of this group there is a great morphological variability. L. gelatinosum and L. intermedium are morphologically similar, although some differences in thallus anatomy and apothecial margin have been detected between them (see Aragón & Otalora 2004.). L. lichenoides is the most abundant species of the group, with the largest distribution in Europe, and shows the greatest morphological variability. It is possible to recognize at least three different morphological types based on the presence-absence of isidia, margin shape, and the width and length of lobes. To resolve the taxonomy of the lichenoides-group, the morphological and anatomical characters of 3000 European specimens were examined. In addition molecular characters were analysed from sequence of ITS rDNA and Beta-tubulin DNA. The preliminary phylogenetic analysis showed that the lichenoides-group is a polyphyletic group, and that the great variability of L. lichenoides corresponds to three different taxonomic entities.


Phylogeny of the lichen genus Trapeliopsis as revealed by ITS and mtSSU DNA
sequences

Palice, Z. (1) & Printzen, C. (2)
(1) Institute of Botany, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, CZ-25243 Prùhonice, Czech Republic; (2) Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, Abteilung Botanik/Paläobotanik, Senckenberganlage 25, D-60325 Franfurt am Main, Germany

Trapeliopsis is a small genus of crustose or squamulose lichens that belongs in the family Agyriaceae. The phylogenetic position of Trapeliopsis in relation to other genera of the family have recently been studied based on molecular data. However, the phylogenetic relationships within the genus are poorly known, due to sparse taxon sampling. In an attempt to resolve these relationships, we generated ITS-sequences of 14 and mtSSU-sequences of 10 out of 17 currently accepted Trapeliopsis-species. Together with sequences obtained from Genbank our datasets comprises 15 out of 17 described species. We analyse the resulting dataset by maximum parsimony and Bayesian methods.


Chemistry of the lichen Psoroma xanthomelanum Nyl.

Passo, A. (1), Stocker, E. (2) & Calvelo, S. (1)
(1) Dep. Botany, Univ. Nac. Comahue, Bariloche, Argentina; (2) Institute of Plant Physiology, Univ. Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria

Until recently, the knowledge of the chemistry of the genus Psoroma (Pannariaceae, lichenized ascomycota), was only poor.
Psoroma s. st. is known to produce no substances of taxonomical relevance and for the remaining species of Psoroma only a few new compounds have been described in the past, although they were not included in the taxonomical studies of this genus.
The "foliose" group of the genus (now regarded as Pannaria) is probably the best known. This group is characterized by the presence of depsidones like pannarin, vicanicin and leprolomin. But the chemistry profile is not very complex, containing only one or two major substances.
Psoroma xanthomelanum Nyl., an endemic species of New Zealand, is related to this group regarding its morphology and anatomy.
The present study aimed to get more detailed information about its secondary compounds. Collections of Psoroma xanthomelanum from different herbaria (S, BM, BCRU, MSC) were analysed by TLC and HPLC. Two major compounds were found by HPLC, Pannarin and Contortin. By additional TLC, the presence of the two major substances was confirmed; as a further metabolite the terpenoid zeorin was present and traces of porphyrilic acid were detected.
The chemistry of P. xanthomelamum is consistent with the typical compounds found in Psoroma s. lat., and seems to confirm the close relationship among these species. But, as was shown in this study, the chemical profile is more complex than usual. The presence of the terpenoid zeorin may constitute a diagnostic character of P. xanthomelamum.


Lecania – phylogeny, generic delimitation, ecology and a revision of the Swedish species

Reese Naesborg, R.
Systematic Botany, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Sweden

The crustose lichen genus Lecania is estimated to consist of some forty species occurring mainly on bark, wood, and rocks in temperate areas. Lecania belongs to Lecanorales and has been placed in several different families; it is currently assigned to Ramalinaceae. The classifications so far have relied heavily on a few morphological features, such as ascus-apparatus and exipulum structure, both for species recognition and generic delimitation. A few molecular studies of the family based on ITS and SSU sequence data have included a few Lecania species. These studies have revealed a paraphyletic genus (represented by L. cyrtella and L. naegelii) and hints at a basal position in the family.
Some 20 species are known from Sweden and the genus is regarded as problematic since many species are very rare but our current knowledge of their distribution is very poor.
My research aims at a thorough morphological/anatomical examination of the species occurring in the Nordic countries with special emphasis on ascus structure, exipulum and epihymenium structure, spore and paraphyses characters and occurrence of pigments. I will investigate the phylogeny of the genus in a multi-gene approach based on e. g. ITS, beta tubulin, SSU-rDNA, LSU-rDNA, RPB1, RPB2 and GPD sequences, representing as many species as possible. Moreover, I will try to resolve the position of the genus in the family. The character evolution should then be investigated in relation to the molecular phylogeny. Furthermore, an assessment of the current status and possible threats for the species in Sweden will be made in order to enable a Red-List evaluation.


The genus Strigula in Europe and Macaronesia: taxonomy and ecogeography

Roux, C. (1) & Sérusiaux, E. (2)
(in collaboration with O. Bricaud and B. Coppins)
(1) CNRS, UPRES A 6116, Laboratoire de botanique et écologie méditerranéenne, Institut méditerranéen d’écologie et de paléoécologie, Faculté des sciences et techniques de Saint-Jérôme, FR-1397 Marseille cedex 20, France; (2) Unité de taxonomie végétale et de biologie de la conservation, Département des sciences de la vie, Université de Liège, Sart Tilman B22, B-4000 Liège, Belgique

All species belonging to the lichen genus Strigula present in Europe and Macaronesia are described and their distribution and ecological needs are commented. 23 species are accepted, including 6 new for science: Strigula angustata Cl. Roux et Sérus., S. brevis Bricaud et Cl. Roux, S. cavicola Cl. Roux et Bricaud, S. endolithea Cl. Roux et Bricaud, S. fossulicoloides Sérus. and S. thelopsidoides Coppins, Cl. Roux et Sérus. Strigula buxi Chodat is a species different from S. smaragdula Fr.: Fr., which is pantropical and absent from the area of study. Strigula alpestris (Vezda) Hafellner is reduced into synonymy with S. stigmatella (Massal .) R. C. Harris, S. lateralis Aptroot et van den Boom with S. tagananae (Harm.) R. C. Harris and S. mediterranea Etayo with S. ziziphi (Massal.) Cl. Roux et Sérus. comb. nov. Identification keys are provided (both in French and in English) either for specimens with ascomata or for those producing macropycnidia only.
The complete list of species runs as follows : S. affinis, S. angustata, S. brevis, S. buxi, S. calcarea, S. cavicola, S. confusa, S. decipiens, S. endolithea, S. fossulicoloides, S. glabra, S. jamesii, S. macaronesica, S. minor, S. nitidula, S. phaea, S. porinoides, S. stigmatella, S. sychnogonoides, S. tagananae, S. taylorii, S. thelopsidoides and S. ziziphi.


Systematics, phylogeny and conservation status of Polyblastia in Sweden

Savic, S.
Department of Systematic Botany, Institution for Evolution, Genomics and Systematics. Uppsala University, Sweden

Polyblastia (Verrucariaceae) is probably not monophyletic and in great need of a critical revision. For more than 100 years Polyblastia has been left nearly untouched, apart from descriptions of new species scattered throughout the literature. The only publications from the 20th century to deal with more than one or a few species in floristic contexts were those of Vainio (1921), Magnusson (1952), Servit (1954), Swinscow (1971) and McCarthy (1995). The only major work on Polyblastia in Scandinavia included 19 species (Fries 1877). 33 species were reported from Sweden (Santesson et al 2004), ten of those only from one province, and quite often only from a single or very few collections. None of the species have been assessed for the Red List of Sweden (Gärdenfors 2000).
The morphology of Polyblastia species is rather uniform, and the variation in a few characters traditionally used for their recognition is poorly understood. Polyblastia species are crustose; usually have a poorly developed and often endolithic thallus, black perithecia and muriform spores.
Molecular data and sequence comparisons are now a necessary tool for resolving complex taxonomic problems. There are very few sequences of Verrucariaceae in GenBank, and no sequences of Polyblastia or of other presumably closely related genera such as Thelidium and Staurothele. Currently light microscopy anatomical studies, based on microtome sections, are undertaken and digital images are saved in an image bank.
Pilot molecular studies were successful in isolating total DNA from fresh material and in producing ITS and LSU rDNA sequences from a few species. Eventually sequence comparisons of as many species as possible will form the basis for phylogenetic reconstruction at both species and family level.
This study will be carried out under the supervision of Leif Tibell, and is funded by the "Swedish Species Initiative" project.


Morphological variation and phylogenetic relationship within the Lecanora dispersa-group in northern Germany

Schultz, M., Herber, B. & Feuerer, T.
Biocentre Klein Flottbek, Dept. of Plant Systematics and Herbarium Hamburgense, University of Hamburg, Germany

Morphological variation and phylogenetic relationships among members of the Lecanora dispersa-group in northern Germany are studied. The group comprises some of the most common Lecanora species in Central Europe mainly found on nutrient enriched rocky substrates but also on bark and wood. The species are characterised by a thin to evanescent, rarely somewhat lobate thallus of whitish or greyish colour and lecanorine apothecial margins. The apothecial discs are usually brownish or greenish, pruinose or not. Usually some xanthones are present but lichen substances may be lacking entirely.
Although the species are found almost everywhere in northern Germany, determination is very difficult and sometimes even impossible due to very different and sometimes controversal concepts and ideas on how many species should be recognized and how they should be separated. Apparently, speciation processess are still going on in this group and populations may not be separated into distinct lineages recognizable as species. However, it is unlikely that these speciation processess are all at the same stage for the whole group. From field observations in northern Germany, it would appear that there are at least a few distinct species such as L. albescens or L. crenulata, whereas several populations of L. dispersa s.l. may represent different lineages in the ongoing speciation processess within the group. In order to trace phylogenetic relationships we used ITS sequence data as a rather variable molecular marker and mapped anatomical and morphological characters on our phylogenetic tree. Contrary to the view of many recent authors, the bark inhabitating and the calcicolous rock inhabiting populations of L. dispersa s.l. were not identical. Several species are involved. Even on calcareous substrates at least two units could be separated, one of them possibly identical with L. flotowiana.


Taxonomic studies on the Lecanora dispersa complex in North America

Sliwa, L.
Laboratory of Lichenology, W. Szafer Institute of Botany, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków, Poland

The Lecanora dispersa group is characterized by endolithic or endophloedic, rarely superficial thallus, apothecia with mostly white margin, presence of xanthones or lack of any secondary metabolites. The first attempt towards a modern taxonomy of the group was that of Poelt and Leuckert (1995). Fröberg (1997) also contributed to the knowledge of the group. The understanding of the complex of taxa remained, however, still incomplete.
In an effort to estimate diversity of these lichens in North America, morphological and chemical studies were performed on material from 11 American herbaria. The nomenclature of 32 taxa was checked out. The type and/or available historical materials of most of them were investigated as well as some other reference material from many European herbaria. In total, there were over 1650 specimens examined.
The large amount of data compiled after the study revealed: (1) the characters of greatest taxonomic value within the complex (e.g. epihymenial granules, paraphyses, amphithecial cortex, spores, pycnidia, secondary compounds); (2) three distinctive groups of species: L. crenulata gr., L. dispersa sensu stricto gr., L. flotoviana gr.; (3) new findings for North America - neglected taxa (e.g. L. flowersiana, L. utahensis), species new to the continent (e.g. L. flotoviana, L. fugiens) and new to science; (6) distribution patterns of the main taxa. The investigations resulted also in typification of the basic species in the complex.
Although significant progress has been made with this extremely difficult group in a course of the study, some problems remain to be solved using more advanced methods of research.
Poelt, J. & C. Leuckert, C. 1995. Die Arten der Lecanora dispersa-Gruppe (Lichenes, Lecanoraceae) auf kalkreichen Gesteinen im Bereich der Ostalpen eine Vorstudie. Bibl. Lichenol. 58: 289-333.
Fröberg, L. 1997. Variation of the Lecanora dispersa group in South Sweden. Symb. Bot. Ups. 32: 29-34.


Preliminary study of two-celled species of the lichenicolous genus Abrothallus

Suija, A.
Institute of Botany and Ecology, University of Tartu, Lai Street 38, 51005 Tartu, Estonia

The genus Abrothallus was described as a lichen genus (De Notaris 1846) and only some years later its status as lichenicolous fungus genus was confirmed (Montagne 1851). Abrothallus is known from wide range of hosts, especially on Parmeliaceae. The genus is cosmopolitan, known in polar regions (Greenland) as well as in the tropics (South-American countries).
In most cases, no visible damage has been observed, which should be caused by Abrothallus. The destruction or gall-formation of the host thalli is suspected to be induced by the other lichenicolous fungi (e.g. Lichenoconium spp., Phacopsis oxyspora) which frequently occur on same host thallus.
Although the genus itself is well defined by its morphological characters (globose or almost globose ascomata; brown, verrucose, 2- or 4-celled asymmetric ascospores; bitunicate asci, texture of upper and lateral layers of the ascomata etc.), the species boundaries are still unclear.
The species included in this study are characterized by 2-celled ascospores. The study is based on herbarium material, collected from different parts of the world. In order to test the host specificity of Abrothallus, principal component analysis (PCA) and discriminant analysis (DA) were applied. A PCA was carried out on 73 specimens from 11 different hosts and DA on 70 specimens from 9 hosts. The characters used in analysis were: the diameter of ascomata, presence of green pruina on ascomata, size of ascospores (length, width, length/width ratio), colour of layer above the hymenium, size of the asci (length, width), anamorph presence, iodine reaction of the hyphae and host genus. For the quantitative characters the mean was calculated for each specimen and character.
The preliminary study indicates that there is no clear correlation between host and parasite species. However, (1) additional characters (e. g. DNA sequences) should be applied and (2) some morphological characters, which are not exactly defined, should be excluded.


Monophyletic groups within the Parmeliaceae identified by ITS rDNA, beta-tubulin and GAPDH sequences

Thell, A. (1), Feuerer, T. (2), Kärnefelt, I. (1), Myllys, L. (3) & Stenroos, S. (3)
(1) Botanical Museum, Department of the Biological Museums, Lund University, Östra Vallgatan 18, S-223 61 Lund, Sweden; (2) Institut für Allgemeine Botanik und Botanischer Garten, Universität Hamburg, Ohnhorststrasse 18, D-22609 Hamburg, Germany; (3) Herbarium, Department of Biology, University of Turku, FIN-20014 Turku, Finland

Phylogenetic relationships within the Parmeliaceae are analysed cladistically on the basis of DNA characters from partial beta-tubulin, partial glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) and ITS sequences. Eight monophyletic groups including two or more genera were identified in the tree calculated from the combined data matrix. Three of the groups cover almost half of the species of the family. The largest and strongest supported group includes seven genera with their distribution centres in the Southern Hemisphere: Almbornia, Chondropsis, Karoowia, Namakwa, Neofuscelia, Xanthomaculina and Xanthoparmelia. The second group is a clade of four essentially tropical genera: Concamerella, Flavoparmelia, Parmotrema and Rimelia. The third large group with strong support is the core of cetrarioid lichens, distributed primarily in cold areas of the Northern Hemisphere. A separate ITS-analysis of the closely related genera Flavopunctelia, Parmelia and Punctelia is presented.


A tentative attempt to taxonomic arrangements of Japanese lichens, based on the recent checklist

Yoshimura, I. (1), Harada, H. (2) & Okamoto, T. (3)
(1) Hattori Botanical Laboratory, Kochi Branch, Kochi, Japan; (2) Natural History Museum and Institute, Chiba, Japan; (3) Kochi University, Kochi, Japan

To clarify the lichen flora of Japan, we planned a project as activities of the Japanese Society for Lichenology (JSL): 1) checklist; 2) regional or local flora; 3) work shop on lichen taxonomy and identification; 4) field courses for education.
1) Checklist: Lichenized fungi and lichen-allies (including lichenicolous fungi and lichen-like fungi) were enumerated ca. 1200 species from Japan about 40 years ago by Sato (1959-1965), although recently some more additions were made by Ikoma (2002) and Kurokawa (2003).
2) Regional or local flora: Among 48 prefectures, a checklist or catalogue has been published only for six (Chiba Pref., Hiroshima Pref., Ibaraki Pref., Saitama Pref., Tochigi Pref., and Toyama Pref.). Florisitic works have been made mainly for high or famous mountains, or several islands.
3) Work shop on lichen taxonomy and identification: We need more lichenologists who can identify lichens for the floristic works above mentioned.
4) Field courses for education: We have field meetings by the JSL (7 times in 2003).
In this time, a checklist was compiled, and 1602 species in 317 genera were accepted (Harada et al., 2004, Lichenology 2(2): 47-146). It will be revised with 4 or 5 years intervals. A classification including higher ranks is presented for the genera concerned. Some genera are placed in different positions from other systems: i.e., Hyalopyrenia H. Harada excluded from Verrucariaceae.

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