ITS1 metabarcoding highlights low specificity of lichen mycobiomes at a local scale.

As self-supporting and long-living symbiotic structures, lichens provide a habitat for many other organisms beside the traditionally considered lichen symbionts-the myco- and the photobionts. The lichen-inhabiting fungi either develop diagnostic phenotypes or occur asymptomatically. Because the degree of specificity towards the lichen host is poorly known, we studied the diversity of these fungi among neighbouring lichens on rocks in an alpine habitat.

Arthonia parietinaria - A common but frequently misunderstood lichenicolous fungus on species of the Xanthoria parietina-group.

Arthonia parietinaria is described as new to science. Host of the type and at the same time the only confirmed host species is the foliose macrolichen Xanthoria parietina. Sequence data of nucLSU rRNA genes reveal a close relationship to Arthonia molendoi.

Extremotolerant fungi from alpine rock lichens and their phylogenetic relationships.

Fungi other than the lichen mycobiont frequently co-occur within lichen thalli and on the same rock in harsh environments. In these situations dark-pigmented mycelial structures are commonly observed on lichen thalli, where they persist under the same stressful conditions as their hosts. Here we used a comprehensive sampling of lichen-associated fungi from an alpine habitat to assess their phylogenetic relationships with fungi previously known from other niches.

Community Analyses Uncover High Diversity of Lichenicolous Fungi in Alpine Habitats.

Lichens are frequently colonized by specialized, lichenicolous fungi. Symptomatic lichenicolous fungi usually display typical phenotypes and reproductive structures on the lichen hosts. The classification based on these structures revealed different host specificity patterns.