Caloplaca cupulifera

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Caloplaca cupulifera
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Lecanoromycetes
Order: Teloschistales
Family: Teloschistaceae
Genus: Caloplaca
Species:
C. cupulifera
Binomial name
Caloplaca cupulifera
(Vain.) Zahlbr. (1931)
Synonyms [1]
  • Placodium cupuliferumVain. (1915)

Caloplaca cupulifera is a widely distributed species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. [2] It has a chrome-yellow thallus with bright yellow cup-shaped soredia (powdery vegetative propagules). Although originally described as a new species in 1915 and placed in the large genus Caloplaca in 1931, modern molecular phylogenetics suggests that its classification requires an update.

Contents

Taxonomy

The lichen was first formally described as a new species in 1915 by Finnish lichenologist Edvard August Vainio as a member of the genus Placodium. The type specimen was collected by Frederik Børgesen from Saint John, one of the Virgin Islands. Alexander Zahlbruckner transferred it to the Caloplaca in 1931. [3]

Modern molecular phylogenetic studies have affirmed the placement of this species in this subfamily Teloschistoideae in the family Teloschistaceae. These results demonstrate that its genetic lineage is distinct from the Caloplaca (in the strict sense), a genus that is part of the subfamily Caloplacoideae. [4]

Description

Caloplaca cupulifera is distinguished by its rimose -areolate to areolate thallus, with marginal areoles that are irregularly lobate but not distinctly effigurate or placodioid . The thallus has a deep chrome-yellow colour, with a smooth yet dull and non-shiny surface. This species is characterised by its unique crateriform (or 'cupuliform') soralia , measuring 0.2–0.4 mm in diameter. These soralia are often deeply abraded , showing excavate features with granular , bright yellow soredia (15–34  μm in diameter). Apothecia have not been observed to occur in this species. [4]

The secondary chemical makeup of Caloplaca cupulifera includes fragilin, a lichen product that contributes to the thallus's chrome-yellow colour and the soredia's bright yellow hue. Other compounds such as 7-chloroemodinal, 7-chloroemodic acid, 7-chloroemodin, and norcaloploicin are occasionally present in smaller amounts. [4]

Habitat and distribution

Caloplaca cupulifera is believed to have a potentially global distribution in dry (sub-)tropical regions. Originally reported from the New World, including Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, Brazil, and the Galapagos, it has also been recorded from Australia. In the Galapagos, it is quite common, especially along the coast and in the dry zone, where it typically grows beneath shaded and sheltered rock overhangs. The species has uniform internal transcribed spacer (ITS) DNA sequence data in specimens from the Galapagos, while those from Australia have slightly different ITS sequences, suggesting the presence of various genotypes across different global regions. [4] In northern North America, Caloplaca cupulifera grows on acidic rocks on the western coast, with a range extending north to northern Oregon and south to northern Baja California. [5] It is widely distributed in India, where it grows on both calcareous and non-calcareous rocks in moist and dry habitats of temperate to tropical areas. [6] It is one of two saxicolous lichens implicated in the slow degradation of the Konark Sun Temple in India. [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<i>Wetmoreana</i> Genus of lichens

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<i>Wetmoreana appressa</i> Species of lichen

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<i>Wetmoreana brouardii</i> Species of lichen

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Caloplaca conranii is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. The lichen has a bright yellow thallus about 1–2 cm wide, featuring a thick texture with convex, pustule-like formations around the edges and occasionally forming clusters in the centre. Its apothecia are quite large and heavy, ranging from 0.4 to 1.5 mm in diameter, with a flat, dull orange or brownish-orange disc, and long, narrow ascospores.

Neobrownliella montisfracti is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It is found in Australia. The small lichen has dull pink to grey areoles, characterised by completely immersed, reddish to pink-brown apothecia and lacking soredia and isidia. Its areoles are closely pressed against the substrate, with the apothecia containing small, elongated ascospores and narrowly rod-shaped conidia.

Caloplaca nothocitrina is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. Its thallus is up to 8 mm in diameter and deep yellow in colour. It comprises small dispersed areoles, occasional concave soralia, and circular apothecia with a bright yellow margin and a dull dark yellowish or brownish disc.

<i>Flavoplaca austrocitrina</i> Species of lichen

Flavoplaca austrocitrina is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It is widely distributed in Europe, and has also been recorded in South America.

<i>Kuettlingeria soralifera</i> Species of lichen

Kuettlingeria soralifera is a saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen species in the family Teloschistaceae, first described in 2006. It is similar to Kuettlingeria xerica but distinguished by the presence of soredia on its thallus.

Lazarenkoiopsis is a single-species fungal genus in the family Teloschistaceae. It contains Lazarenkoiopsis ussuriensis, a corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichen species found in the Russian Far East.

Filsoniana ferdinandmuelleri is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It is found in Australia. The lichen has a squamulose (scaly) thallus, with a range of bright yellow to greenish-yellow and brownish-orange colours in its soredia and apothecia, respectively. The areoles of this lichen are varied in size, slightly raised from the thallus surface, and each carries one to four apothecia. The soralia are rounded or irregularly shaped, covering most of the thallus surface as a yellow to greenish-yellow mass. The apothecia have dark brownish-orange discs, surrounded by slightly paler yellow margins, with the spore-bearing asci containing typically eight brownish-golden ascospores.

Hanstrassia lenae is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling) in the family Teloschistaceae. Described as a new species in 2007, the lichen is found in Russian Far East, Mongolia, and Siberia. It closely resembles Elenkiniana ehrenbergii but distinguished by the presence of soralia on its thallus. This species has a thick, effigurate thallus with weak marginal lobes and developed marginal, labriform (lip-shaped) soralia.

Loekoesia is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Teloschistaceae. It contains three species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichens. Collectively, the genus occurs in South Korea, Mauritius, and the United States. The genus is distinguished by its grey, crust-like thallus, which can be either whole or divided into patch-like segments. Loekoesia lichens have bright white, rounded soralia, which produce bluish to whitish powdery propagules (soredia) and are arranged in irregular groups on the thallus.

<i>Coppinsiella</i> Genus of lichens

Coppinsiella is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Teloschistaceae. It contains five species of corticolous and saxicolous crustose lichens with a distribution in Europe, Asia, and North America. Coppinsiella bears resemblance to the genus Athallia, but it is distinguished by its more developed thallus, typically featuring distinctive crater-like soralia and zeorine-form apothecia, which lack a thalline margin.

<i>Sucioplaca</i> Genus of lichen

Sucioplaca is a single-species fungal genus in the family Teloschistaceae. It contains Sucioplaca diplacia, a saxicolous (rock-dwelling) crustose lichen. It is common and widely distributed in the Caribbean, Central America, and the Galápagos Islands, where it grows on coastal rocks.

References

  1. ↑ "Synonymy. Current Name: Caloplaca cupulifera (Vain.) Zahlbr., Cat. Lich. Univers. 7: 226 (1931)". Species Fungorum . Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  2. ↑ "Caloplaca cupulifera (Vain.) Zahlbr". Catalogue of Life . Species 2000: Leiden, the Netherlands. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  3. ↑ Zahlbruckner, A. (1931). Catalogus Lichenum Universalis (in Latin). Vol. 7. Leipzig: Borntraeger. p. 226.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Bungartz, Frank; Søchting, Ulrik; Arup, Ulf (2020). "Teloschistaceae (lichenized Ascomycota) from the Galapagos Islands: a phylogenetic revision based on morphological, anatomical, chemical, and molecular data". Plant and Fungal Systematics. 65 (2): 515–576. doi: 10.35535/pfsyst-2020-0030 .
  5. ↑ Wetmore, Clifford M.; Kärnefelt, Einar I. (1998). "The lobate and subfruticose species of Caloplaca in North and Central America". The Bryologist. 101 (2): 230–255. doi:10.1639/0007-2745(1998)101[230:tlasso]2.0.co;2.
  6. ↑ Mishra, G.K.; Upreti, D.K.; Nayaka, S.; Thell, A.; Kärnefelt, I.; Lőkös, L.; Hur, J.-S.; Sinha, G.P.; Kondratyuk, S.Y. (2020). "Current taxonomy of the lichen family Teloschistaceae from India with descriptions of new species". Acta Botanica Hungarica. 62 (3–4): 309–391. doi: 10.1556/034.62.2020.3-4.5 .
  7. ↑ Nayak, Sandeep Kumar; Behera, Prashant Kumar; Bajpai, Rajesh; Upreti, Dalip Kumar; Satapathy, Kunja Bihari (2017). "Lichens growth on Sun Temple of Konark in Odisha, India- A curse or blessing". Cryptogam Biodiversity and Assessment. 2 (02): 48–52. doi: 10.21756/cab.v2i02.11119 (inactive 5 November 2024).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link)
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