The yeast lichenosphere: high diversity of basidiomycetes from the lichens Tephromela atra and Rhizoplaca melanophthalma.

Lichens are well-known examples of complex symbiotic associations between organisms from different Kingdoms. Microfungi in particular, establish diverse associations with the hosting lichen thallus, as species-specific parasites or transient co-inhabitants. The whole community of lichen-associated fungi constitute the 'lichen mycobiome' comprising both ascomycetes and basidiomycetes, including filamentous and yeast taxa.

Photobiont Diversity in Lichen Symbioses From Extreme Environments.

Fungal-algal relationships-both across evolutionary and ecological scales-are finely modulated by the presence of the symbionts in the environments and by the degree of selectivity and specificity that either symbiont develop reciprocally. In lichens, the green algal genus Puymaly is one of the most frequently recovered chlorobionts. species-level lineages have been recognized on the basis of their morphological and phylogenetic diversity, while their ecological preferences and distribution are still only partially unknown.

gen. nov. sp. nov. from Antarctic Endolithic Communities Untangles the Evolution of Rock-Inhabiting and Lichenized Fungi in .

Microbial endolithic communities are the main and most widespread life forms in the coldest and hyper-arid desert of the McMurdo Dry Valleys and other ice-free areas across Victoria Land, Antarctica. There, the lichen-dominated communities are complex and self-supporting assemblages of phototrophic and heterotrophic microorganisms, including bacteria, chlorophytes, and both free-living and lichen-forming fungi living at the edge of their physiological adaptability. In particular, among the free-living fungi, microcolonial, melanized, and anamorphic species are highly recurrent, while a few species were sometimes found to be associated with algae.

Elaborated regulation of griseofulvin biosynthesis in Penicillium griseofulvum and its role on conidiation and virulence.

Penicilium griseofulvum, the causal agent of apple blue mold, is able to produce in vitro and on apple a broad spectrum of secondary metabolites (SM), including patulin, roquefortine C and griseofulvin. Among them, griseofulvin is known for its antifungal and antiproliferative activity, and has received interest in many sectors, from medicine to agriculture. The biosynthesis of SM is finely regulated by filamentous fungi and can involve global regulators and pathway specific regulators, which are usually encoded by genes present in the same gene cluster as the backbone gene and tailoring enzymes.