Tremella macrobasidiata and Tremella variae have abundant and widespread yeast stages in Lecanora lichens.

Dimorphism is a widespread feature of tremellalean fungi in general, but a little-studied aspect of the biology of lichen-associated Tremella. We show that Tremella macrobasidiata and Tremella variae have an abundant and widespread yeast stage in their life cycles that occurs in Lecanora lichens. Their sexual filamentous stage is restricted to a specific lichen: T.

Opposite trends in the genus Monsonia (Geraniaceae): specialization in the African deserts and range expansions throughout eastern Africa.

The African Austro-temperate Flora stands out by its important species richness. A distinctive element of this flora is Monsonia (Geraniaceae), mostly found in the Namib-Karoo but also in the Natal-Drakensberg, the Somalian Zambezian and the Saharo-Arabian regions. Here, we reconstruct the evolution and biogeographic history of Monsonia based on nuclear and plastid markers, and examine the role of morphological and niche evolution in its diversification using species distribution modeling and macroevolutionary models.

Understanding lichenicolous heterobasidiomycetes: new taxa and reproductive innovations in Tremella s.l.

Four new lichenicolous Tremella species are described and characterized morphologically and molecularly. Tremella celata grows on Ramalina fraxinea, inducing the formation of inconspicuous galls, and having hyphae with incomplete clamps. Tremella endosporogena develops intrahymenially in the apothecia of Lecanora carpinea, having single-celled basidia and clampless hyphae.

Lichenicolous fungi show population subdivision by host species but do not share population history with their hosts.

Lichenicolous fungi are a species-rich biological group growing on lichen thalli. Here, we analyze the genetic structure of the lichenicolous basidiomycete Tremella lobariacearum and three host species (Lobaria pulmonaria, Lobaria macaronesica, and Lobaria immixta) in Macaronesia. We used ordination and analysis of molecular variance to investigate the structuring of genetic variation, and a simulation test to investigate whether rDNA haplotypes of T.

A Lichen Lectin Specifically Binds to the alpha-1,4-Polygalactoside Moiety of Urease Located in the Cell Wall of Homologous Algae.

A lectin from the lichen Evernia prunastri developing arginase activity (EC. 3.5.

Glycoproteins from sugarcane plants regulate cell polarity of Ustilago scitaminea teliospores.

Saccharum officinarum, cv. Mayarí, is a variety of sugarcane resistant to smut disease caused by Ustilago scitaminea. Sugarcane naturally produces glycoproteins that accumulate in the parenchymatous cells of stalks.

Concanavalin A binds to a mannose-containing ligand in the cell wall of some lichen phycobionts.

Concanavalin A, the lectin from Canavalia ensiformis, develops arginase activity depending on Mn(2+). The cation cannot be substituted by Ca(2+) which, in addition, inhibits Mn(2+)-supported activity. Fluorescein-labeled Concanavalin A is able to bind to the cell wall of algal cells recently isolated from Evernia prunastri and Xanthoria parietina thalli.

Secreted arginases from phylogenetically farrelated lichen species act as cross-recognition factors for two different algal cells.

Purified arginases secreted from Evernia prunastri and Xanthoria parietina thalli hydrolyze arginine in a Mn2+ -dependent reaction. Ca2+ cannot replace Mn2+, but its addition to reaction mixtures in the presence of Mn2+ significantly inhibited arginase activity. Arginases from both lichen species also show lectin function, binding to the cell wall of both homologous and heterologous algae.