Corticorygma

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Corticorygma
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Lecanoromycetes
Order: Graphidales
Family: Graphidaceae
Genus: Corticorygma
M.Cáceres, S.C.Feuerst., Aptroot & Lücking (2014)
Species:
C. stellatum
Binomial name
Corticorygma stellatum
M.Cáceres, S.C.Feuerst., Aptroot & Lücking (2014)
Corticorygma
Holotype: Fazenda São Francisco, Brazil [1]

Corticorygma is a monotypic fungal genus in the subfamily Graphidoideae of the family Graphidaceae. [2] It contains a single species, the corticolous (bark-dwelling) crustose lichen Corticorygma stellatum. This script lichen is found in the shaded understory of rainforests in the Brazilian states of Rondônia and Paraná.

Contents

Taxonomy

Both the genus and the species were described as new to science in 2014 by the lichenologists Marcela Cáceres, Shirley Cunha Feuerstein, André Aptroot, and Robert Lücking. The type specimen of Corticorygma stellatum was collected from Fazenda São Francisco, located off the BR-319 highway, 30 km (19 mi) north of Porto Velho (Rondônia, Brazil), at an elevation of 100 m (330 ft). Cáceres and Aptroot found the lichen growing on tree bark in a primary rainforest on 15 March 2012. [1]

Molecular phylogenetics analysis shows that Corticorygma forms part of the Acanthothecis clade, which also includes Acanthothecis , Gintarasia , and Topeliopsis darlingtonii . This group of taxa (excluding Topeliopsis darlingtonii, subsequently synonymized with Gintarasia) was formally described as tribe Acanthothecieae, member of the Graphidaceae subfamily Graphidoideae. [3]

Description

The thallus (lichen body) of Corticorygma stellatum is corticolous, meaning it grows on tree bark. It can reach up to 10 cm (3.9 in) in diameter and has a continuous, smooth, light grey surface without a visible prothallus (the initial growth stage of the lichen). In cross-section, the thallus is 30–50  μm thick and comprises a prosoplectenchymatous cortex (5–10 μm thick), a photobiont layer (10–15 μm thick), and a medulla (20–30 μm thick) encrusted with numerous small, grey crystals that are insoluble in potassium hydroxide (K) solution. The photobiont partner is Trentepohlia , a type of green algae with cells that are rounded to irregular, arranged in groups, and measuring 6–11 by 5–8 μm. [1]

The ascomata (fruiting bodies) are lirellate (elongated and furrowed), forming distinct, well-defined stellate clusters that are erumpent (bursting through the surface). These clusters are 1–3 mm in diameter, with individual lirellae measuring 1–3 mm long, 0.2–0.3 mm wide, and 0.12–0.15 mm high. The disc of the ascomata is narrow and light brown, covered with a thick white pruina (powdery coating). The proper margin is thin, dark brown, and also pruinose, while the thalline margin is thick and pruinose. [1]

The excipulum (outer layer of the fruiting body) is dark brown, 15–20 μm wide, and prosoplectenchymatous. The thalline margin is 30–50 μm thick and similar in structure to the thallus. The hypothecium (layer below the hymenium) is hyaline and prosoplectenchymatous, measuring 5–10 μm high. The hymenium (fertile layer) is 100–120 μm high, hyaline, and clear, topped by a granular epithecium that is 15–20 μm high and dark grey-brown. The paraphyses (sterile filaments among the asci) are unbranched and smooth. No periphysoids (specialized paraphyses) are observed. The asci (spore-bearing structures) are cylindrical to narrowly clavate , measuring 100–120 by 25–30 μm. Each ascus contains a single ascospore , which is ellipsoid to oblong, richly muriform (with many internal septa), measuring 60–110 by 20–30 μm, and is 3–4 times as long as wide. The ascospores are hyaline, subdistoseptate (with partially developed septa), and have angular lumina . They do not react to staining with iodine (I–). [1]

The secondary chemistry of Corticorygma stellatum includes a complex of stictic acids, specifically stictic and hypostictic acids, along with two unknown compounds related to norstictic and connorstictic acids. The medulla reacts to chemical spot tests with a P+ (orange) reaction, and microscopic sections show a K+ (persistently yellow) efflux. [1]

Habitat and distribution

Corticorygma stellatum is exclusively found in primary rainforests within the states of Rondônia and Paraná in Brazil. This lichen species lives in the shaded understory of undisturbed rainforest environments. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graphidaceae</span> Family of fungi

The Graphidaceae are a family of lichen-forming fungi in the order Graphidales. The family contains nearly a hundred genera and more than 2000 species. Although the family has a cosmopolitan distribution, most Graphidaceae species occur in tropical regions, and typically grow on bark.

Acanthothecis oryzoides is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) lichen in the family Graphidaceae. Found in Brazil, it was formally described as a new species in 2022 by André Aptroot, Robert Lücking, and Marcela Eugenia da Silva Cáceres. The type specimen was collected in the Parque Natural De Porto Velho (Rondônia) at an altitude of 100 m (330 ft); here, it was found growing on twig bark near a rainforest. The lichen has a dull, glaucous-white thallus, lacking a prothallus. The ascospores are hyaline, ellipsoid, and measure 69–80 by 25–35 μm; they have from 9 to 13 transverse septa with light constrictions at the septa.

Acanthothecis saxicola is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling) lichen in the family Graphidaceae. Found in Brazil, it was formally described as a new species in 2022 by André Aptroot, Robert Lücking, and Marcela Eugenia da Silva M.Cáceres. The type specimen was collected near Poço Azul at an altitude of 450 m (1,480 ft); here, in a cerrado forest, it was found growing on an overhanging sandstone. The lichen has an ochraceous white thallus lacking a cortex and a prothallus. Its asci contains eight spores, and the ascospores are hyaline, measuring 22–30 by 5 μm with 6 to 8 transverse septa. Acanthothecis saxicola contains stictic acid, a lichen product detectable using thin-layer chromatography.

Clandestinotrema is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Graphidaceae. It has 17 species. They typically inhabit montane and cloud forest at higher elevations in the tropics.

Gintarasia is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Graphidaceae. It has seven species, all of which are found in Australia. Gintarasia species are corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichens with a thelotremoid form.

Cruentotrema amazonum is a little-known species of script lichen in the family Graphidaceae. It is found in Brazil, Thailand, and Vietnam, where it grows in the understory of primary rainforests.

Fissurina amazonica is a little-known species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) script lichen in the family Graphidaceae. Found in Brazil, it is a shade-loving species that thrives in the understory of undisturbed rainforests.

Fissurina amyloidea is a little-known species of script lichen in the family Graphidaceae. It is found in the primary rainforests of Rondônia, Brazil. It is characterized by its weakly carbonizedlirellae and thick-walled, strongly amyloid ascospores. Despite its superficial similarity to Fissurina subfurfuracea, F. amyloidea exhibits unique anatomical features that set it apart from other species within the genus.

Clandestinotrema portoricense is a rare species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) crustose lichen in the family Graphidaceae. Found in Puerto Rico, it was described as a new species in 2014. It is characterised by its white, slightly shiny thallus that can span several centimetres in diameter, and its rounded ascomata that are immersed in the thallus. Unlike most of its genus counterparts, C. portoricense possesses septated (partitioned) spores and a carbonised (blackened) excipulum and columella, effectively distinguishing it from similar species.

Compositrema is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Graphidaceae. It has four species. The genus was circumscribed in 2012 by lichenologists Eimy Rivas Plata, Robert Lücking, and Helge Thorsten Lumbsch, with C. cerebriforme assigned as the type species. The genus is distinguished by its unique, composite pseudostromatic ascomata, which sets it apart from the otherwise similar genus Stegobolus.

Fissurina chrysocarpa is a little-known species of script lichen in the family Graphidaceae. Found primarily in the rainforests of Rondônia, Brazil, it is distinguished by its bright orange lirellae.

Fissurina duplicans is a little-known species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) script lichen in the family Graphidaceae. It is found in primary rainforests of Brazil. The lichen has an endoperidermal thallus and a double margin of lirellae, setting it apart from similar species.

Ocellularia portoricensis is a rare species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) crustose lichen in the family Graphidaceae. It was discovered in Puerto Rico, where it grows on tree trunks within shadowy understories of specific forests. This organism is distinct from other related lichens by its unique characteristics such as a white medulla and relatively larger, brown-tinted ascospores.

Thalloloma rubromarginatum is a little-known species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) script lichen in the family Graphidaceae. This lichen stands out from its counterparts within its genus, most notably Thalloloma haemographum, due to its corticate thallus and the presence of norstictic acid. Thalloloma rubromarginatum is found in the Sierra palm forests of Puerto Rico.

Trypethelium luteolucidum is a species of lichen in the family Trypetheliaceae, first formally described in 2016. Found in Brazil and Mexico, it is similar to Trypethelium regnellii, but differs by the presence of anthraquinone crystals in the pseudostromata.

Ocellularia vizcayensis is a rare species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) lichen in the family Graphidaceae. It is known from a single collection made in Luzon, Philippines. The lichen thallus is a white, irregularly structured, areolate surface with a layer that includes a photosynthetic partner, both containing large calcium oxalate crystals. Its fruiting bodies are either embedded or protruding, round, with very narrow openings, and contain large, oblong, colorless spores that turn violet-blue when stained with iodine.

Nitidochapsa is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Graphidaceae. It has five species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichens.

<i>Glaucotrema</i> Genus of lichens

Glaucotrema is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Graphidaceae. It has five species.

<i>Mangoldia</i> Genus of lichens

Mangoldia is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the subfamily Graphidoideae of the family Graphidaceae. It contains four species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) script lichens.

Byssotrema is a monotypic fungal genus in the subfamily Graphidoideae of the family Graphidaceae. It contains the single species Byssotrema mirabile, a little-known corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichen found only in Brazil.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Cáceres, Marcela; Aptroot, André; Parnmen, Sittiporn; Lücking, Robert (2014). "Remarkable diversity of the lichen family Graphidaceae in the Amazon rain forest of Rondônia, Brazil". Phytotaxa. 189 (1): 87–136 [92]. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.189.1.8.
  2. ↑ "Corticorygma". Catalogue of Life . Species 2000: Leiden, the Netherlands. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  3. ↑ Lumbsch, H. Thorsten; Kraichak, Ekaphan; Parnmen, Sittiporn; Plata, Eimy Rivas; Aptroot, André; Cáceres, Marcela E.S.; Ertz, Damien; Feuerstein, Shirley Cunha; Mercado-Díaz, Joel A.; Staiger, Bettina; Broeck, Dries van den; Lücking, Robert (2014). "New higher taxa in the lichen family Graphidaceae (lichenized Ascomycota: Ostropales) based on a three-gene skeleton phylogeny". Phytotaxa. 189 (1): 39–51. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.189.1.5.
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