Global Biodiversity Patterns of the Photobionts Associated with the Genus Cladonia (Lecanorales, Ascomycota)

The diversity of lichen photobionts is not fully known. We studied here the diversity of the photobionts associated with Cladonia, a sub-cosmopolitan genus ecologically important, whose photobionts belong to the green algae genus Asterochloris. The genetic diversity of Asterochloris was screened by using the ITS rDNA and actin type I regions in 223 specimens and 135 species of Cladonia collected all over the world. These data, added to those available in GenBank, were compiled in a dataset of altogether 545 Asterochloris sequences occurring in 172 species of Cladonia. A high diversity of Asterochloris associated with Cladonia was found. The commonest photobiont lineages associated with this genus are A. glomerata, A. italiana, and A. mediterranea. Analyses of partitioned variation were carried out in order to elucidate the relative influence on the photobiont genetic variation of the following factors: mycobiont identity, geographic distribution, climate, and mycobiont phylogeny. The mycobiont identity and climate were found to be the main drivers for the genetic variation of Asterochloris. The geographical distribution of the different Asterochloris lineages was described. Some lineages showed a clear dominance in one or several climatic regions. In addition, the specificity and the selectivity were studied for 18 species of Cladonia. Potentially specialist and generalist species of Cladonia were identified. A correlation was found between the sexual reproduction frequency of the host and the frequency of certain Asterochloris OTUs. Some Asterochloris lineages co-occur with higher frequency than randomly expected in the Cladonia species.Peer reviewe

Notas sobre especies del género "Cladonia" de Bosnia-Herzegovina y Croacia

Field studies in the south of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia have revealed six lichen species new to Bosnia-Herzegovina: Cladonia cervicornis, C. conista, C. phyllophora, C. pulvinella, C. subcariosa and C. subrangiformis. Two species are new to Croatia: C. cryptochlorophaea and C. humilis.Se aportan seis novedades para Bosnia y Herzegovina: Cladonia cervicornis, C. conista, C. phyllophora, C. pulvinella, C. subcariosa y C. subrangiformis y dos nuevas especies para Croacia: C. cryptochlorophaea y C. humili

Genetic variation and factors affecting the genetic structure of the lichenicolous fungus Heterocephalacria bachmannii (Filobasidiales, Basidiomycota)

Heterocephalacria bachmannii is a lichenicolous fungus that takes as hosts numerous lichen species of the genus Cladonia. In the present study we analyze whether the geographical distance, the host species or the host secondary metabolites determine the genetic structure of this parasite. To address the question, populations mainly from the Southern Europe, Southern Finland and the Azores were sampled. The specimens were collected from 20 different host species representing ten chemotypes. Three loci, ITS rDNA, LSU rDNA and mtSSU, were sequenced. The genetic structure was assessed by AMOVA, redundance analyses and Bayesian clustering methods. The results indicated that the host species and the host secondary metabolites are the most influential factors over the genetic structure of this lichenicolous fungus. In addition, the genetic structure of H. bachmannii was compared with that of one of its hosts, Cladonia rangiformis. The population structure of parasite and host were discordant. The contents in phenolic compounds and fatty acids of C. rangiformis were quantified in order to test whether it had some influence on the genetic structure of the species. But no correlation was found with the genetic clusters of H. bachmannii.Peer reviewe

Taxonomic notes on Pycnothelia Dufour and Gymnoderma Nyl. (Cladoniaceae) in Madagascan Region

This study was focused on two species of lichen-forming fungi from Madagascan Region whose taxonomy has been controversial over the years, Cladonia mascarena Nyl. and Heterodea madagascarea Nyl. While some authors considered C. mascarena to belong to Cladonia, others place it in Pycnothelia Dufour. In this study three loci (ITS rDNA, rpb2 and ef1 alpha) were used to determine the phylogenetic placement of C. mascarena. Our results show that it belongs to Pycnothelia and the combination Py cnothelia mascarena (Nyl.) Nyl. is substantiated. In addition, a key to the genus Pycnothelia is provided. The morphological study of new specimens of Gymnoderma coccocarpurn Nyl. and H. madagascarea concluded that these taxa belong to a same species, confirming the extension of Gymnoderma Nyl. to Africa. The overlooked genus Baeoderma Vain. is regarded as a synonym of Gymnoderma, and its type species Baeoderma madagascareum (Nyl.) Vain. is referred to G. coccocarpum.Peer reviewe

Cladonia verticillata en la Península Ibérica

Peer Reviewe

Taxonomy of Cladonia angustiloba and related species

The lichen species Cladonia angustiloba is characterized by a well-developed primary thallus and narrow squamules which show deep incisions, and the presence of usnic and fumarprotocetraric acids. Morphologically it is similar to C. foliacea and C. convoluta, from which it can be distiguished by the squamule size and morphology. Since similar characters were used to distinguish C. foliacea from C. convoluta which do not represent different lineages, it is necessary to examine the taxonomic status of C. angustiloba by means of DNA sequences. In this study, the species delimitation within the C. foliacea complex was studied by sequencing three loci, ITS rDNA, cox1 and RPB2. The data were analyzed by means of phylogenetic and species delimitation methods (GMYC, PTP, ABGD and BPP). Our results show that none of the three species is monophyletic. Most of the species delimitation methods did not support the current species as evolutionary lineages. Only some of the BPP analyses supported C. angustiloba as a species distinct from C. foliacea and C. convoluta. However, the hypothesis that considers the C. foliacea complex as constituted by a unique species obtained the best Bayes Factor value. Therefore, C. angustiloba and C. convoluta are synonymized with C. foliacea. A new, thoroughly checked synonymy with typifications of the whole C. foliacea complex is presented. An updated survey of the world distribution data is compiled.Peer reviewe

"Cladonia verticillata" ("Cladoniaceae", Ascomycota), nueva cita para la Península Ibérica

The identity of a putative collection of Cladonia verticillata is assessed by means of ITS rDNA region. The phylogenetic analyses confirmedthat this specimen belongs to C. verticillata, and this species is reported as new to Iberian Peninsula.La identidad de una supuesta muestra de Cladonia verticillata es evaluada por medio de la región ITS rDNA. Los análisis filogenéticos revelaronque esta muestra pertenece a C. verticillata y, por tanto, esta especie es una nueva cita para la Península Ibérica

Nuevos registros de distribución geográfica para la flora briofítica y liquénica de Chile

Ten new distributional records to the Chilean bryo-lichenic flora are reported. Three species and a subspecies are new to the flora of the province of Chiloé, five species are new from the Los Lagos Region and one species is new to mainland Chile. The specimens were collected in peatlands (Sphagnum bogs) and swamp forests of Tepualia stipularis in Isla Grande de Chiloé (Chile) (41°- 43° S; 74°-73° W). Diagnostic characters, chemistry (only lichens), habitats preferences and distribution are provided. The national ranges of two species are expanded.Se reportan 10 nuevos registros de distribución geográfica para la flora brio-liquénica de Chile. Tres especies y una subespecie son nuevas para la provincia de Chiloé, cinco especies son nuevas para la Región de Los Lagos y una es nueva para Chile continental. Los especímenes fueron recolectados en turberas esfagnosas y bosques anegados de Tepualia stipularis de la Isla Grande de Chiloé (Chile) (41°- 43° S 74°-73° W). Se proveen caracteres diagnósticos de las especies, química (sólo para líquenes), preferencias de hábitat y distribución. Se extiende el rango de distribución de dos especies

Sharpening the species boundaries in the Cladonia mediterranea complex (Cladoniaceae, Ascomycota)

The complex Cladonia mediterranea belongs to the section Impexae and is formed by C. azorica, C. macaronesica and C. mediterranea. These species are basically distributed in the Mediterranean and Macaronesian Regions. In the present work the limits between the species of this complex are re-examined. To this end, the morphological characters were studied along with the secondary metabolites and the DNA sequences from three loci (ITS rDNA, IGS rDNA and rpb2). The morphological data were studied by principal component analysis (PCA), while the DNA sequences were analyzed using several approaches available to delimit species: genealogical concordance phylogenetic species recognition, species tree (BEAST* and spedeSTEM) and cohesion species recognition. In addition, the genealogical sorting index was used in order to assess the monophyly of the species. The different procedures used in our study turned out to be highly congruent with respect to the limits they establish, but these limits are not the ones separating the prior species. Either the morphological analysis or the different approaches to species delimitation indicate that C. mediterranea is a different species from C. macaronesica, while C. azorica and C. macaronesica, which are reduced to synonyms of C. portentosa, constitute a separate lineage

First documented occurrences of Cladonia krogiana and C. rangiformis in north America

Funding Information: We thank Scott LaGreca for providing a photograph of the specimen of C. rangiformis at BM that was reportedly collected on Bermuda; Bruce Allen and the late Ronald Pursell for allowing us to cite their collections of Homalothecium sericeum from Newfoundland; Zdeněk Palice for enabling us to compare his collection of C. krogiana from the Czech Republic with material from Canada and Norway; Nathalie Djan-Chékar (Provincial Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador) for co-organizing the 2007 Tuckerman Workshop; and Irwin Brodo, James Lendemer, and an anonymous reviewer for their helpful comments on the manuscript. Permission to collect lichens in Fundy National Park and New River Beach Provincial Park (NRBPP) was approved by Renee Wissink (Parks Canada) and Martin MacMullin (NB Department of Tourism, Heritage, and Culture). Fieldwork in NRBPP and follow-up studies were supported in part by the New Brunswick Wildlife Trust Fund and the New Brunswick Environmental Trust Fund. Publisher Copyright: © 2021, New York Botanical Garden. All rights reserved.– Cladonia krogiana, previously known only from Norway and the Czech Republic, is reported here for North America from two localities near the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick, Canada. It occurs there on open, rocky banks of clear, free-flowing rivers, habitats similar to those in which it has been found in Norway. We also document the occurrence of C. rangiformis in North America, based on collections from two localities on the southwest coast of Conception Bay, on the Avalon Peninsula of the island of Newfoundland, Canada. It is possibly an accidental, but naturalized, introduction in this area, where European settlement began in the early 1600s. A molecular phylogenetic analysis confirmed the identity of one of the Newfoundland specimens. The IGS rDNA haplotype to which it belongs is the same as the most widely distributed haplotype of C. rangiformis in Europe and Macaronesia. Previous reports of C. rangiformis for continental North America are based on misidentifications. A 19th century collection reportedly made on the island of Bermuda, while correctly identified, is of uncertain provenance.Peer reviewe