Lichens and associated fungi from Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska.

Lichens are widely acknowledged to be a key component of high latitude ecosystems. However, the time investment needed for full inventories and the lack of taxonomic identification resources for crustose lichen and lichenicolous fungal diversity have hampered efforts to fully gauge the depth of species richness in these ecosystems. Using a combination of classical field inventory and extensive deployment of chemical and molecular analysis, we assessed the diversity of lichens and associated fungi in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska (USA), a mixed landscape of coastal boreal rainforest and early successional low elevation habitats deglaciated after the Little Ice Age.

(Ramalinaceae, Lecanorales), a new lichen species from western North America.

S. Ekman & Tønsberg, a lichenised ascomycete in the family Ramalinaceae (Lecanorales, Lecanoromycetes), is described as new to science. It is distinct from other species of in the combination of mainly three-septate ascospores, a crustose thallus forming distinctly delimited soralia that develop by disintegration of convex pustules and the production of atranorin in the thallus and apothecia.

Two Basidiomycete Fungi in the Cortex of Wolf Lichens.

Since the late 1800s, mycologists have been detecting fungi above and beyond the assumed single fungus in lichen thalli [1-6]. Over the last century, these fungi have been accorded roles ranging from commensalists to pathogens. Recently, Cyphobasidiales yeasts were shown to be ubiquitous in the cortex layer of many macrolichens [7], but for most species, little is known of their cellular distribution and constancy beyond visible fruiting structures.

Evolution of growth habit, inflorescence architecture, flower size, and fruit type in Rubiaceae: its ecological and evolutionary implications.

During angiosperm evolution, innovations in vegetative and reproductive organs have resulted in tremendous morphological diversity, which has played a crucial role in the ecological success of flowering plants. Morindeae (Rubiaceae) display considerable diversity in growth form, inflorescence architecture, flower size, and fruit type. Lianescent habit, head inflorescence, small flower, and multiple fruit are the predominant states, but arborescent habit, non-headed inflorescence, large flower, and simple fruit states occur in various genera.

Phylogeny and character evolution in the jelly fungi (Tremellomycetes, Basidiomycota, Fungi).

The Tremellomycetes (Agaricomycotina, Basidiomycota, Fungi) are a nutritionally heterogeneous group comprising saprotrophs, animal parasites, and fungicolous species (fungal-inhabiting, including lichen-inhabiting). The relationships of many species, particularly those with a lichenicolous habit, have never been investigated by molecular methods. We present a phylogeny of the Tremellomycetes based on three nuclear DNA ribosomal markers (nSSU, 5.

The devil in the details: interactions between the branch-length prior and likelihood model affect node support and branch lengths in the phylogeny of the Psoraceae.

In popular use of Bayesian phylogenetics, a default branch-length prior is almost universally applied without knowing how a different prior would have affected the outcome. We performed Bayesian and maximum likelihood (ML) inference of phylogeny based on empirical nucleotide sequence data from a family of lichenized ascomycetes, the Psoraceae, the morphological delimitation of which has been controversial. We specifically assessed the influence of the combination of Bayesian branch-length prior and likelihood model on the properties of the Markov chain Monte Carlo tree sample, including node support, branch lengths, and taxon stability.

Slippery when wet: phylogeny and character evolution in the gelatinous cyanobacterial lichens (Peltigerales, Ascomycetes).

Many lichen fungi form symbioses with filamentous Nostoc cyanobacteria, which cause the lichen to swell and become extremely gelatinous when moist. Within the Lecanoromycetes, such gelatinous lichens are today mainly classified in the Collemataceae (Peltigerales, Ascomycota). We performed Bayesian MCMC, maximum likelihood, and maximum parsimony analyses of three independent markers (mtSSU rDNA, nuLSU rDNA, and RPB1), to improve our understanding of the phylogeny and classification in the Peltigerales, as well as the evolution of morphological characters that have been used for classification purposes in this group.

The limitations of ancestral state reconstruction and the evolution of the ascus in the Lecanorales (lichenized Ascomycota).

Ancestral state reconstructions of morphological or ecological traits on molecular phylogenies are becoming increasingly frequent. They rely on constancy of character state change rates over trees, a correlation between neutral genetic change and phenotypic change, as well as on adequate likelihood models and (for Bayesian methods) prior distributions. This investigation explored the outcomes of a variety of methods for reconstructing discrete ancestral state in the ascus apex of the Lecanorales, a group containing the majority of lichen-forming ascomycetes.

The sister group relation of parmeliaceae (Lecanorales, Ascomycota).

The family Parmeliaceae (Lecanorales, Ascomycota) is possibly the largest, best known and most thoroughly studied lichen family within its order. Despite this fact the relationship between Parmeliaceae and other groups in Lecanorales is still poorly known. The aim of the present study is to contribute to finding the sister group of Parmeliaceae as an aid in future studies on the phylogeny and character evolution of the group.

Molecular phylogeny of the genus Lecania (Ramalinaceae, lichenized Ascomycota).

The molecular phylogeny of the lichen genus Lecania was investigated using nucleotide sequences from the mt-SSU rRNA, the ITS region of the nu-rDNA, and the RNA polymerase II second largest subunit. Forty-six species representing Lecania and other genera likely to influence the phylogeny were included in the study. Phylogenetic reconstructions were carried out using Bayesian inference, ML, and MP approaches.

Genetic variation and population differentiation in the lichen-forming ascomycete Xanthoria parietina on the island Storfosna, central Norway.

Genetic diversity and fine-scale population structure in the lichen-forming ascomycete Xanthoria parietina was investigated using sequence variation in part of the intergenic spacer (IGS) and the complete internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of the nuclear ribosomal DNA. Sampling included 213 and 225 individuals, respectively, from seven populations in two different habitats, bark and rock, on the island Storfosna off the central west coast of Norway. Both markers revealed significant variation and a total of 10 IGS and 16 ITS haplotypes were found.

Fungal diversity in rock beneath a crustose lichen as revealed by molecular markers.

Lichen-forming fungi have been assumed to be more or less restricted to the surface of the substrate on which they grow, Conclusive identification of hyphae or an assessment of the fungal diversity inside lichen-covered rock has not been possible using methods based on direct observation. We circumvented this problem by using a DNA sequencing approach. Cores were drilled from a Devonian arcosic sandstone rock harboring the crustose lichen Ophioparma ventosa (L.

Molecular evidence supports the distinction between Xanthoria parietina and X. aureola (Teloschistaceae, lichenized Ascomycota).

This study aims to clarify taxonomic relationships within the current concept of Xanthoria parietina in northern Europe. For comparison, X. calcicola was also included in the study.

Phylogenetic relationships of Lecanoromycetes (Ascomycota) as revealed by analyses of mtSSU and nLSU rDNA sequence data.

The phylogeny of Lecanoromycetes (Ascomycota, Fungi) is investigated utilizing parsimony and Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo analyses, of combined nLSU rDNA and mtSSU rDNA sequence datasets. The results suggest that Acarosporaceae, Candelariaceae, Phlyctis and Pycnora are not members of the monophyletic Lecanorales, and that Timdalia and Pleopsidium are members of a monophyletic Acarosporaceae. Pycnora, Candelariaceae and Acarosporaceae form a monophyletic group.

Disintegration of the Micareaceae (lichenized Ascomycota): a molecular phylogeny based on mitochondrial rDNA sequences.

The phylogeny of the family Micareaceae and the genus Micarea was studied using mitochondrial small subunit ribosomal DNA sequences. Phylogenetic reconstructions were performed using Bayesian MCMC tree sampling and a maximum likelihood approach. The Micareaceae in its current sense is highly heterogeneous, and Helocarpon, Psilolechia, and Scutula, all thought to be close relatives of Micarea, are shown to be only distantly related.

Evolution and taxonomy of the marine Collemopsidium species (lichenized Ascomycota) in north-west Europe.

The taxonomy of the marine species of Collemopsidium in northwest Europe was investigated using morphological and molecular evidence. 210 specimens were collected from the west coasts of Norway and Ireland, and morphological and ecological variables recorded. ITS1 rDNA sequences were obtained from 24 specimens.

Supraordinal phylogenetic relationships of Lecanoromycetes based on a Bayesian analysis of combined nuclear and mitochondrial sequences.

Phylogenetic relationships of lichen-forming discomycetes and their relatives in the class Lecanoromycetes were examined by using nuclear large subunit and mitochondrial small subunit ribosomal DNA sequences. Ninety-eight partial sequences of 53 ascomycetes were generated and aligned with the corresponding sequences retrieved from GenBank resulting in an alignment of 100 taxa that was analyzed using a Bayesian approach with Markov chain Monte Carlo (B/MCMC) methods. The analysis revealed the monophyly of the Lecanoromycetes with two major clades: one clade including the monophyletic orders Graphidales and Ostropales and the paraphyletic Gyalectales, the other clade including the monophyletic Lecanorales (incl.

Local population subdivision in the lichen Cladonia subcervicornis as revealed by mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 intron sequences.

A 753-771 bp long intronic sequence from the mitochondrial cox 1 gene of Cladonia subcervicornis (Cladoniaceae, Lecanorales, Ascomycota) was amplified with newly designed PCR primers. The cox 1 intron sequence, which apparently has not been used for phylogenetic or population genetic research in fungi, displays high infraspecific variation. Sequences were obtained from 124 specimens from four neighboring localities in coastal Hordaland, western Norway.

Tree-Dependent Lichens and Beetles as Indicators in Conservation Forests.

We tested whether the conspicuous lichen Lobaria pulmonaria indicates the number of tree-dependent, red-listed species in a hemiboreal forest in southern Sweden. In 18 naturally regenerated, mainly old deciduous forest plots considered to be of high or very high conservation value, the number of red-listed tree lichens or wood beetles was not positively correlated with the area of the forest stands studied (8-56 ha). The 8 stands with L.