The main aims of this work were to assess phylogenetic relationships of the trentepohlialean photobionts in tropical, mainly sterile, lichens collected in Bolivia, to examine their genetic diversity, ...host specificity, and the impact of habitat factors on the occurrence of Trentepohliales. Based on rbcL marker analysis, we constructed a phylogenetic tree with eight major clades of Trentepohliales, of which seven free‐living species are intermingled with lichenized ones. Our analyses show that the studied photobionts are scattered across the phylogenetic tree and algae from temperate and tropical regions do not form monophyletic groups, except within one clade that seems to be restricted to the tropics. There is no significant occurrence pattern of lichenized Trentepohliaceae on a specific substratum, except Cephaleuros spp. and Phycopeltis spp., which are restricted to leaves, while some clades with lichenized algae may be specialized to tree bark and wood. Moreover, we found two patterns of associations: first, closely related algae can associate with distantly related mycobionts; second, some other trentepohlioid algae associate with selected lineages of fungi (e.g., Arthoniaceae or Graphidaceae). We also found that some lineages of photobionts are even more selective and associate exclusively with one species (e.g., Dichosporidium nigrocinctum, Diorygma antillarum) or closely related lichen‐forming fungi (Herpothallon spp.). Concluding, we found that occurrence of some trentepohlialean photobionts may correlate with the particular type of the mycobiont.
In the past few years, new phylogenetic lineages in
were detected as a result of molecular approaches. These studies included symbiont selectivity in lichen communities, transects along altitudinal ...gradients at local and global scales and the photobiont diversity in local populations of lichen-forming fungal species. In most of these studies, phylogenetic and haplotype analyses based on the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) locus have continuously allowed the recognition of new monophyletic lineages, which suggests that still numerous undiscovered
lineages can be hidden in lichens from unexplored areas, especially in the tropics. Here, we estimated the biodiversity of photobionts in Bolivian Andean vegetation and assessed their specificity. About 403 lichen samples representing 42 genera, e.g.,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
, and
, containing
photobionts, were analyzed. ITS ribosomal DNA (rDNA) and
L markers were used. We obtained
sequences from Bolivian samples belonging to already described clades A, C, I, and S. Thirty-nine
lineages were distinguished within these clades, while 16 were new. To reveal the structure of the community of Bolivian photobionts and their relationships with mycobionts, the comparative effects of climate, altitude, geographical distances, substrate, and habitat type, as well as functional traits of lichens such as growth forms, propagation mode and secondary metabolites, were analyzed. Furthermore, new Bolivian records were included in analysis on a global scale. In our study, the mycobiont genus or even species are the most important factors correlated with photobiont identity. Moreover, we revealed that the community of Bolivian photobionts is shaped by altitude.
Shifts in climate along elevation gradients structure mycobiont-photobiont associations in lichens. We obtained mycobiont (lecanoroid Lecanoraceae) and photobiont (
alga) DNA sequences from 89 lichen ...thalli collected in Bolivia from a ca. 4,700 m elevation gradient encompassing diverse natural communities and environmental conditions. The molecular dataset included six mycobiont loci (ITS, nrLSU, mtSSU,
,
, and
) and two photobiont loci (ITS,
L); we designed new primers to amplify Lecanoraceae
and
with a nested PCR approach. Mycobionts belonged to
s.lat.,
,
,
, the "
"
group, and the "
." saligna group. All of these clades except for
s.lat. occurred only at high elevation. No single species of Lecanoraceae was present along the entire elevation gradient, and individual clades were restricted to a subset of the gradient. Most Lecanoraceae samples represent species which have not previously been sequenced.
clade C, which has not previously been recorded in association with species of Lecanoraceae, predominates at low- to mid-elevation sites. Photobionts from
clade I occur at the upper extent of mid-elevation forest and at some open, high-elevation sites, while
clades A and S dominate open habitats at high elevation. We did not find
clade D. Several putative new species were found in
clades A, C, and I. These included one putative species in clade A associated with
species growing on limestone at high elevation and a novel lineage sister to the rest of clade C associated with
on bark in low-elevation grassland. Three different kinds of photobiont switching were observed, with certain mycobiont species associating with
from different major clades, species within a major clade, or haplotypes within a species. Lecanoraceae mycobionts and
photobionts exhibit species turnover along the elevation gradient, but with each partner having a different elevation threshold at which the community shifts completely. A phylogenetically defined sampling of a single diverse family of lichen-forming fungi may be sufficient to document regional patterns of
diversity and distribution.
Two new species of
are described from the Yungas forest in Bolivian Andes.
is characterised by pseudostromata concolorous with the thallus, perithecia immersed for the most part, with the upper ...portion elevated above the thallus and covered, except the tops, with orange pigment, apical and fused ostioles, the absence of lichexanthone (but thallus UV+ orange-yellow), clear hamathecium, 8-spored asci and amyloid, large, muriform ascospores with median septa.
is known only in a sterile state and produces isidia that develop in groups on areoles, but easily break off to reveal a medulla that resembles soralia. Both species, according to the two-locus phylogeny, belong to
s.str. The production of isidia is reported from the genus
and the family Trypetheliaceae for the first time.
Four species of the genus
are described as new from Bolivia, based on morphological examination and phylogenetic analysis of the fungal ITS barcoding marker. Additionally, two species are reported as ...new to Bolivia (their identification confirmed by molecular data) and one previously reported species is confirmed by molecular data for the first time. Detailed morphological and anatomical descriptions are provided for all new species. Two of the new species,
Ossowska, B. Moncada, Lücking & Kukwa and
Ossowska, B. Moncada, Lücking & Kukwa belong to clade I, as defined in previous studies. In contrast,
Ossowska, B. Moncada, Lücking & Kukwa and
Ossowska, B. Moncada, Lücking & Kukwa, also described here as new to science, belong to clade III.
has an irregular to suborbicular thallus of medium size, with isidia developing into spathulate lobules, cyanobacterial photobiont and apothecia with entire to weakly-crenate margins. The large irregular thallus of the cyanobacteria-associated
has broad lobes, apothecia with verrucous to tomentose margins and cyphellae with raised margins, whereas
has a medium-sized, palmate to irregular thallus with a stipe, but without vegetative propagules and apothecia.
has large and irregular thalli with green algae as photobiont, apothecia with crenate to verrucous margins and urceolate cyphellae with a wide pore and a scabrid basal membrane. Two species,
Delise and
Merc.-Díaz are reported as new to Bolivia (the latter also as new to South America) and belong to clade III.
(Sw.) Ach., species confirmed from Bolivia by molecular data, belongs to clade II.
is characterised by a smooth yellowish-brown upper surface with darker apices and abundant, marginal isidia and a brown lower surface with golden-chocolate brown primary tomentum and sparse, golden-brown rhizines.
has a strongly branched thallus, with undulate lobes and abundant, marginal, palmate, grey to dark brown phyllidia and greyish-brown lower surface with the primary tomentum absent towards the margins.
has palmate, bluish thalli with white cilia and abundant, submarginal apothecia and creamy-white lower surface with a sparse, white primary tomentum.
Six species of
are described as new to science on the basis of material from Bolivia and supported by phylogenetic analysis of the fungal ITS barcoding marker. The species were resolved in all three ...of the clades (I, II, III) widespread and common in the Neotropics, as defined in an earlier study on the genus. Comparison with material from neighbouring countries (i.e. Colombia, Ecuador, Peru) suggests that these new species may be potentially endemic to the Bolivian Yungas ecoregion. For each species, a detailed morphological and anatomical description is given.
Ossowska, Kukwa, B. Moncada & Lücking is a medium-sized green-algal species with laminal to submarginal apothecia with hirsute margins and with light to dark brown lower tomentum.
Ossowska, Kukwa, B. Moncada, Flakus, Rodriguez-Flakus & Lücking is a comparatively small cyanobacterial taxon with
as photobiont, laminal, richly branched, aggregate isidia and a golden to chocolate-brown lower tomentum. The medium-sized, cyanobacterial
Ossowska, Kukwa, B. Moncada & Lücking has cyanobacterial photobiont, bicellular ascospores, apothecia with white to golden-brown hairs on the margins, K+ violet apothecial margin (ring around disc) and epihymenium and a white to dark brown lower tomentum. In contrast, the green-algal species,
Ossowska, Kukwa, B. Moncada & Lücking is characterised by its large size, apothecia with dark brown hairs on the margins and a yellow medulla. The cyanobacterial
Ossowska, B. Moncada, Kukwa, Flakus, Rodriguez-Flakus & Lücking forms stipitate thalli with
as photobiont, abundant, laminal to submarginal apothecia and a golden-brown lower tomentum. Finally, the cyanobacterial
Ossowska, Kukwa, B. Moncada & Lücking produces laminal apothecia with an orange-yellow line of pruina along the margins which reacts K+ carmine-red. In addition to the six new Bolivian taxa, the cyanobacterial
B. Moncada, Ossowska & Lücking is described as new from Colombia and it represents the closely-related sister species of the Bolivian
; it differs from the latter largely in the marginal instead of laminal isidia.
Asexually reproducing fungi play a significant role in essential processes in managed and wild ecosystems such as nutrients cycling and multitrophic interactions. A large number of such taxa are ...among the most notorious plant and animal pathogens. In addition, they have a key role in food production, biotechnology and medicine. Taxa without or rare sexual reproduction are distinguished based on their sporulating structures and conidiomata in traditional morphology-based taxonomy. The number, variation and diversity of asexually reproducing taxa are insufficiently known, even though fungi capable of asexual reproduction may provide an untapped, rich biological resource for future exploitation. Currently, ca. 30,000 asexual species belonging to ca. 3800 genera have been reported (including 1388 coelomycetous and 2265 hyphomycetous genera). Recent reports (2017–2020) reiterate that the number of asexually producing fungi is higher than the number of frequently sexually-reproducing fungi. With the advent of molecular tools and the abandonment of the dual nomenclature system for pleomorphic fungi, priority criteria were established and revisited in the latest outline of fungi and fungus-like taxa. However, species numbers and taxonomic boundaries of pleomorphic taxa and their synanamorphs or synasexual morphs have yet to be addressed. The number of species of speciose genera (e.g.
Alternaria
,
Aspergillus
,
Cercospora
,
Fusarium, Phoma
and
Pseudocercospora
), cryptic species, species of pleomorphic genera, less studied life modes (such as lichenicolous taxa, taxa from extreme environments) and species from biodiversity-rich areas still need evaluation to achieve more reliable estimates of their diversity. This paper discusses the current knowledge on the matter, with diversity estimates, and potential obstacles in several chapters on (1) speciose genera; (2) pleomorphic genera; (3) cryptic species; (4) well-studied but insufficiently resolved taxa, e.g. leaf inhabiting species, marine fungi, (5) less studied life modes, e.g. lichenicolous, rock-inhabiting fungi, insect-associated and yeast-forming taxa and (6) species from biodiversity-rich areas.
The new genus
Pseudolepraria
Kukwa, Jabłońska, Kosecka & Guzow-Krzemińska is introduced to accommodate
Lepraria stephaniana
Elix, Flakus & Kukwa. Phylogenetic analyses of nucITS, nucLSU, mtSSU and ...RPB2 markers recovered the new genus in the family Ramalinaceae with strong support. The genus is characterised by its thick, unstratified thallus composed entirely of soredia-like granules, the presence of 4-
O
-methylleprolomin, salazinic acid, zeorin and unknown terpenoid, and its phylogenetic position. The new combination,
P. stephaniana
(Elix, Flakus & Kukwa) Kukwa, Jabłońska, Kosecka & Guzow-Krzemińska, is proposed.
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