Carbonicola (lichen)

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Carbonicola
Carbonicola myrmecina.jpg
Thallus of Carbonicola myrmecina, growing on the bark of Pseudotsuga menziesii ; magnified 20X
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Lecanoromycetes
Order: Lecanorales
Family: Carbonicolaceae
Bendiksby & Timdal (2013)
Genus: Carbonicola
Bendiksby & Timdal (2013)
Type species
Carbonicola anthracophila
(Nyl.) Bendiksby & Timdal (2013)
Species

C. anthracophila
C. foveata
C. myrmecina

Carbonicola is a small genus of lichen-forming fungi. It is the sole genus in the monogeneric family Carbonicolaceae. [1] The genus, which collectively has an almost cosmopolitan distribution, contains three squamulose lichens that prefer to grow on burned wood in temperate areas of the world.

Contents

Taxonomy

Both the genus and the family were circumscribed in 2013 by Mika Bendiksby and Ernst Timdal. In a reassessment of the genus Hypocenomyce, they found that the genus–as then circumscribed–was polyphyletic, dividable into seven clades belonging to different genera, families, orders and even subclasses. Carbonicola includes the three species formerly included in the Hypocenomyce anthracophila group. Using molecular phylogenetic analysis, genus Carbonicola was shown outside to lie outside the Lecanoraceae, in a sister group position to a clade containing the Cladoniaceae and Stereocaulaceae. The generic name Carbonicola combines the Latin roots carbo ("charcoal") and -cola ("dweller") to refer to burned wood, its preferred substrate. [2]

In 2017, Divakar and colleagues proposed to subsume the Carbonicolaceae into the Lecanoraceae, because in their analysis, genus Carbonicola was found to be nested in Lecanora in the broad sense. This synonymy was not accepted in a review published soon afterwards, as the phylogenetic conclusions contradicted the findings of Bendiksby and Timdal, making such a decision premature. [3]

Description

Carbonicola species have a crustose to squamulose thallus. Their photobiont partner is chlorococcoid–spherical, single-celled green algae. The ascomata are in the form of an apothecium, biatorine, with reduced margin. The hamathecium (i.e., hyphae between the asci) is amyloid, and comprises unbranched paraphyses. The asci are semifissitunicate, meaning that the two walls of the ascus do not completely separate during the discharge of the ascospore. Asci, club-shaped (clavate), and have a weakly amyloid apical tholus that contains a darker amyloid, tubular structure. Ascospores number eight per ascus, and lack septa, are ellipsoid, hyaline, and non-amyloid. The conidiomata are in the form of pycnidia; the conidia are non-septate, thread-shaped (filiform), and hyaline. Depsidones are the predominant secondary chemicals found in Carbonicola. These include colensoic acid, 4-O-methylphysodic acid and related compounds, which are found in all species, and fumarprotocetraric and protocetraric acid, which are found in C. anthracophila. [4]

The diagnostic characters of Carbonicolaceae differentiate it from its sister taxa, the Cladoniaceae and the Stereocaulaceae. Unlike those families, which usually form fruticose secondary thalli (a feature absent in the Carbonicolaceae), Carbonicolaceae species form purely crustose to squamulose thalli that are dark brown with a thick, shiny upper cortex. [2]

Habitat and distribution

Typically epiphytic on burnt wood or bark, Carbonicola has a subcosmopolitan distribution, and is found in temperate regions. [4]

Species

Related Research Articles

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The Cladoniaceae are a family of lichenized fungi in the order Lecanorales. It is one of the largest families of lichen-forming fungi, with about 560 species distributed amongst 17 genera. The reindeer moss and cup lichens (Cladonia) belong to this family. The latter genus, which comprises about 500 species, forms a major part of the diet of large mammals in taiga and tundra ecosystems. Many Cladoniaceae lichens grow on soil, but other can use decaying wood, tree trunks, and, in a few instances, rocks as their substrate. They grow in places with high humidity, and cannot tolerate aridity.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baeomycetales</span> Order of fungi

The Baeomycetales are an order of mostly lichen-forming fungi in the subclass Ostropomycetidae, in the class Lecanoromycetes. It contains 8 families, 33 genera and about 170 species. As a result of molecular phylogenetics research published in the late 2010s, several orders were folded into the Baeomycetales, resulting in a substantial increase in the number of taxa.

<i>Psilolechia</i> Genus of fungi

Psilolechia is a genus of four species of crustose lichens. It is the only member of Psilolechiaceae, a family that was created in 2014 to contain this genus.

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<i>Pycnora</i> Genus of lichen

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Candelariaceae</span> Family of lichens

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Hypocenomyce is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Ophioparmaceae. Species in the genus grow on bark and on wood, especially on burned tree stumps and trunks in coniferous forest. Hypocenomyce lichens are widely distributed in the northern hemisphere.

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<i>Schaereria</i> Genus of lichen

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sporastatiaceae</span> Family of lichen-forming fungi

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhizocarpales</span> Order of fungi

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<i>Sporastatia</i> Genus of lichens

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Austrotrema is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Graphidaceae. It is primarily found in the Australian-Southeast Asian region. The genus is characterized by small, pore-like apothecia with a double margin, faintly amyloid ascospores, and stictic acid chemistry. Austrotrema species grow on tree bark and have a continuous thallus with a cortex that is prosoplectenchymatous–featuring densely packed, filamentous fungal hyphae that run parallel to the surface of the lichen, creating a compact and firm texture. The genus is closely related to Thelotrema and Leucodecton, but can be distinguished from them based on molecular phylogenetic data, specific morphological traits, and its secondary chemistry. Currently, Austrotrema comprises three species.

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References

  1. Wijayawardene, Nalin; Hyde, Kevin; Al-Ani, Laith Khalil Tawfeeq; Somayeh, Dolatabadi; Stadler, Marc; Haelewaters, Danny; et al. (2020). "Outline of Fungi and fungus-like taxa". Mycosphere. 11: 1060–1456. doi: 10.5943/mycosphere/11/1/8 .
  2. 1 2 Bendiksby, M.; Timdal, E. (2013). "Molecular phylogenetics and taxonomy of Hypocenomycesensu lato (Ascomycota, Lecanoromycetes) — extreme polyphyly and morphological/ecological convergence". Taxon. 62 (5): 940–956. doi: 10.12705/625.18 . Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  3. Lücking, Robert (2019). "Stop the abuse of time! Strict temporal banding is not the future of rank-based classifications in Fungi (including lichens) and other organisms". Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences. 38 (3): 199–253. doi:10.1080/07352689.2019.1650517. S2CID   202859785.
  4. 1 2 Jaklitsch, Walter; Baral, Hans-Otto; Lücking, Robert; Lumbsch, H. Thorsten (2016). Frey, Wolfgang (ed.). Syllabus of Plant Families: Adolf Engler's Syllabus der Pflanzenfamilien. Vol. 1/2 (13 ed.). Berlin Stuttgart: Gebr. Borntraeger Verlagsbuchhandlung, Borntraeger Science Publishers. p. 121. ISBN   978-3-443-01089-8. OCLC   429208213.