Four new species of lichenicolous fungi are described from Bolivia: Capronia etayoi Flakus & Kukwa sp. nov. (on Dictyonema minus), Lichenosticta jurgae Kukwa & Flakus sp. nov. (on Lecanora sp.), ...Phaeosporobolus trypethelii Flakus & Kukwa sp. nov. (on Trypetheliumochroleucum; the host lichen new to Bolivia) and Spirographa usneae Flakus, Kukwa & Etayo sp. nov. (on Usnea sp.; also known from Ecuador).
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.
Anthropogenic disturbances can have strong impacts on lichen communities, as well as on individual species of lichenized fungi. Traditionally, lichen monitoring studies are based on the presence and ...abundance of fungal morphospecies. However, the photobionts, as well photobiont mycobiont interactions also contribute to the structure, composition, and resilience of lichen communities. Here we assess the genetic diversity and interaction patterns of algal and fungal partners in lichen communities along an anthropogenic disturbance gradient in Białowieża Forest (Poland). We sampled a total of 224 lichen thalli in a protected, a managed, and a disturbed area of the forest, and sequenced internal transcribed spacer (ITS) ribosomal DNA (rDNA) of both, fungal and algal partners. Sequence clustering using a 97% similarity threshold resulted in 46 fungal and 23 green algal operational taxonomic units (OTUs). Most of the recovered photobiont OTUs (14 out of 23) had no similar hit in the NCBI-BLAST search, suggesting that even in well studied regions, such as central Europe, a lot of photobiont diversity is yet undiscovered. If a mycobiont was present at more than one site, it was typically associated with the same photobiont OTU(s). Generalist species, i.e., taxa that associate with multiple symbiont partners, occurred in all three disturbance regimes, suggesting that such taxa have few limitations in colonizing or persisting in disturbed areas.
associated with 53% of the fungal OTUs, and was generally the most common photobiont OTU in all areas, implying that lichens that associate with this symbiont are not limited by the availability of compatible photobionts in Central European forests, regardless of land use intensity.
A sterile sorediate member of the genus
Bacidia
s.str.,
B.albogranulosa
, is described here as a new species. It is characterised by its very thin, pale grey thallus, white, farinose to granular ...soredia, the production of atranorin and the absence of ascomata and pycnidia. It grows on slightly acidic to subneutral bark of broad-leaved trees in old-growth forests in the Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine and Russia (European part of the Caucasus). The new species is well characterised by its morphology, secondary chemistry and molecular (nrITS, mtSSU) traits. It is closely related to other atranorin-containing species in the genus,
Bacidiadiffracta
,
B.polychroa
and
B.suffusa
.
To evaluate the importance of morphological and chemical characters used in the recognition of species within the
group, we performed phylogenetic, morphological and chemical analyses of 335 ...specimens, of which 34 were used for molecular analyses. Phylogenetic analyses, based on ITS rDNA sequences, show that
is distinct from
and the most important difference between those species is the development of pseudocyphellae. In
, they are mostly marginal and form white rims along lobes margins, but laminal pseudocyphellae can develop in older parts of thalli and are predominantly connected with marginal pseudocyphellae. In contrast, in
laminal pseudocyphellae are common and are predominantly not connected to marginal pseudocyphellae. Chemical composition of secondary lichen metabolites in both analysed species is identical and therefore this feature is not diagnostic in species recognition. Few samples of
, species morphologically similar to
and
, were also included in the analyses and they are nested within the clade of
, despite the different chemistry (protocetraric acid present versus salazinic acid in
). All taxa of the
group occupy similar niches, but their potential distributions are wider than those currently known. The absence of specimens in some localities may be limited by the photobiont availability.
and
are moderately selective in photobiont choice as they form associations with at least two or three lineages of
clade S.
, as well as
are associated with
OTU S02 which seems to have a broad ecological amplitude. Other lineages of
seem to be rarer, especially
sp. OTU S04, which is sometimes present in
. This study indicates the importance of extensive research including morphology, chemistry and analysis of molecular markers of both bionts in taxonomical studies of lichens.
The biogeographic history of lichenized fungi remains unrevealed because those organisms rarely fossilize due to their delicate, often tiny and quickly rotting thalli. Also the ecology and factors ...limiting occurrence of numerous taxa, especially those restricted in their distribution to tropical areas are poorly recognized. The aim of this study was to determine localization of glacial refugia of South American Ochrolechia austroamericana and to estimate the future changes in the coverage of its habitats using ecological niche modeling tools. The general glacial potential range of the studied species was wider than it is nowadays and its niches coverage decreased by almost 25% since last glacial maximum. The refugial areas were covered by cool and dry grasslands and scrubs and suitable niches in South America were located near the glacier limit. According to our analyses the further climate changes will not significantly influence the distribution of the suitable niches of O. austroamericana.
Leprariacryptovouauxii
is described as a new semicryptic species similar to
L.vouauxii
, from which it differs geographically (South America) and phylogenetically; both species differ in nucleotide ...position characters in nucITS barcoding marker.
Leprariaharrisiana
is reported as new to South America and
L.nothofagi
as new to Antarctica, Bolivia, and Peru.
Leprariaincana
(South American records are referred to L.aff.hodkinsoniana) and
L.vouauxii
(most South American records are referred to
L.cryptovouauxii
) should be excluded at least temporarily from the lichen list of South America. All records previously referred to as
L.alpina
from Bolivia and Peru belong to
L.nothofagi
. Most of Bolivian records of
L.pallida
belong to
L.harrisiana
.
Leprariaborealis
and
L.caesioalba
should be included in
L.neglecta. Leprariaachariana
,
L.impossibilis
, and
L.sipmaniana
are sequenced for the first time.
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