Astrothelium ochroleucoides

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Astrothelium ochroleucoides
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Dothideomycetes
Order: Trypetheliales
Family: Trypetheliaceae
Genus: Astrothelium
Species:
A. ochroleucoides
Binomial name
Astrothelium ochroleucoides
Aptroot & M.Cáceres (2016)

Astrothelium ochroleucoides is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) lichen in the family Trypetheliaceae. [1] It is found in Brazil and Guyana.

Contents

Taxonomy

Astrothelium ochroleucoides was first described in 2016 by lichenologists André Aptroot and Marcela Cáceres. The type specimen was collected from Estação Ecológica de Cuniã (near Porto Velho, Rondônia), where it was growing on tree bark in primary rainforest. It is most similar to Astrothelium corallinum ; the main difference between the two species is the presence of lichexanthone on the thallus and pseudostromata in Astrothelium ochroleucoides. [2]

Description

The thallus of Astrothelium ochroleucoides is corticate , smooth, somewhat shiny, and continuous, covering areas up to 8 cm (3.1 in) in diameter. It is olive-green, approximately 0.1 mm thick, and surrounded by a black prothallus line about 0.3 mm wide. This species does not induce gall formation on the host bark. [2]

Ascomata are spherical, measuring 0.4–0.6 mm in diameter, and immersed in groups of approximately 2–40 in pseudostromata . Pseudostromata have a surface different from the thallus, raised about 0.5–1.0 mm above the thallus, and are oval to irregular or reticulate in outline, up to about 3 mm wide. They are brownish-black, usually partly with a whitish cover, partly brownish, and partly whitish inside. The wall is dark brown all around, with a thickness of up to about 40  μm. Ostioles are apical, not fused, flat to convex, and brown. The hamathecium is not inspersed with oil globules. Asci contain four ascospores , which are hyaline, muriform , fusiform , and measure 80–115 by 15–24 μm, with an upper end rounded, lower end pointed, and angular lumina with only a few transverse, mostly oblique septa. [2]

Pycnidia were not observed in this species. In terms of chemical spot tests, the thallus surface is UV+ (yellow), and the thallus medulla is K−. The whitish parts of the pseudostroma surface are UV+ (yellow) and K−, while the pseudostroma medulla is also K−. Thin-layer chromatography reveals the presence of lichexanthone in the thallus and on the pseudostroma. [2]

Habitat and distribution

Astrothelium ochroleucoides is found on twigs or bark of tree trunks in primary forests, parks, and savannahs. It is known from Brazil and Guyana, where it is locally abundant. [2]

Related Research Articles

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Astrothelium corallinum is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Trypetheliaceae. Found in Guyana, it was formally described as a new species in 2016 by André Aptroot. The type specimen was collected from Rain Mountain, southeast of the village in Paruima Mission at an altitude of 500 m (1,600 ft); here, it was found growing on the smooth bark of trees in a rainforest. The lichen has a smooth, somewhat shiny thallus that covers areas of up to 8 cm (3.1 in) in diameter; the entire thallus is surrounded by a thin (0.3 mm) black line that is the prothallus. The whitish parts of the pseudostromata will fluoresce yellow when lit with a long-wavelength UV light; this is due to the presence of lichexanthone, a lichen product. The thallus, however, does not contain lichexanthone, which distinguishes it from the similar species A. ochroleucoides.

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Astrothelium bivelum is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Trypetheliaceae. Found in Brazil, it was formally described as a new species in 2016 by lichenologists André Aptroot and Marcela Cáceres. The type specimen was collected by the authors in the Parque Natural Municipal de Porto Velho, in a primary rainforest. The lichen has a smooth and somewhat shiny, ochraceous-green thallus with a 0.4 cm-wide rough and irregular prothallus; the thallus covers areas of up to 3 cm (1.2 in) in diameter. The presence of the lichen does not induce the formation of galls in the host. The ascomata are pear-shaped (pyriform), measure 0.5–0.7 mm in diameter, typically aggregate in groups of two to six, and are usually immersed in the bark tissue. The characteristics that distinguish it from other members of Astrothelium include the diffusely pseudostromatic, erumpent ascomata that are covered by thallus and have an external pink pigment, with each containing a single group of fused ascomata; and the 5-septate ascospores. A. bivelum is one of the few Astrothelium-like species with 5-septate ascospores that does not contain lichexanthone.

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Astrothelium novemseptatum is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) lichen in the family Trypetheliaceae. It was first identified in Brazil, and has since been found in Guyana and Colombia. The lichen is characterized by its corticate, smooth, and somewhat shiny thallus, as well as its pyriform ascomata.

Astrothelium solitarium is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) in the family Trypetheliaceae. Found in Brazil, it was formally described as a new species in 2016 by lichenologists André Aptroot and Marcela Cáceres. The species is closely related to Astrothelium ceratinum but differs in its ascospore size.

Astrothelium supraclandestinum is a species of lichen in the family Trypetheliaceae. This lichen species is closely related to Astrothelium subclandestinum, but differs in its hamathecium, which is not inspersed. The species is widespread and has been observed in several countries across different continents.

Astrothelium testudineum is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) lichen in the family Trypetheliaceae. It is found in Brazil.

Astrothelium xanthosuperbum is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) lichen in the family Trypetheliaceae. It is found in Rondônia, Brazil. The species is characterized by its large muriform ascospores and is similar in appearance to Astrothelium disjunctum.

References

  1. "Astrothelium ochroleucoides Aptroot & M. Cáceres". Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life . Species 2000: Naturalis, Leiden, the Netherlands. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Aptroot, André; Cáceres, Marcela Eugenia da Silva (2016). "New Trypetheliaceae from the Amazon basin in Rondônia (Brazil), the centre of diversity of the genus Astrothelium". The Lichenologist. 48 (6): 693–712. doi: 10.1017/s0024282915000584 . S2CID   89013757.