Diorygma microsporum

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Diorygma microsporum
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Lecanoromycetes
Order: Graphidales
Family: Graphidaceae
Genus: Diorygma
Species:
D. microsporum
Binomial name
Diorygma microsporum
M.Cáceres & Lücking (2011)

Diorygma microsporum is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) crustose lichen in the family Graphidaceae. [1] It was described as new to science in 2011. It has a neotropical distribution, and has been collected in Florida, Colombia, Brazil, and India. Notable for its small ascospores, this lichen thrives in undisturbed rainforests and serves as an indicator of forest health.

Contents

Taxonomy

Diorygma microsporum was first described by lichenologists Marcela Cáceres and Robert Lücking as a new species in 2011. The species epithet microsporum highlights its quite small ascospores , which are the smallest known in the genus Diorygma . The type specimen was discovered by the authors in the Charles Darwin Ecological Refuge in Igarassu, Pernambuco, Brazil. [2]

Initially, the newly discovered species was identified as Anomomorpha aggregans due to its small ascospores and norstictic acid chemistry. However, further examination and DNA sequencing of a Florida collection revealed a lack of hymenial inspersion , a key character in Anomomorpha . The morphology of D. microsporum is more reminiscent of species within the genus Diorygma, confirming its placement within the genus and setting it apart from similar species. [2]

Description

Diorygma microsporum has a crustose thallus that can reach up to 5 cm (2 in) in diameter and has a thickness of 50–120  μm. Its surface is smooth to uneven and has a light greyish-green colour. The lichen features dense clusters of stellately (star-like) branched lirellae , measuring 1–5 mm long, 0.15–0.25 mm wide, and 0.1 mm high. The disc is partly exposed, with a flesh-coloured to light red-brown hue and covered in white pruina . Its excipulum is orange-brown and 15–25 μm thick. The ascospores are ellipsoid, measure 12–15 by 6–7 μm in size, and strongly iodine-reactive. It contains norstictic acid as its sole lichen product. [2]

Similar species

Diorygma microsporum shares some similarities with D. poitaei in appearance; however, it is distinguished by its smaller ascospores and the presence of norstictic acid in its thallus. [2] Another one of the few species with small spores, Diorygma cameroonense , is distinguished from D. microsporum by its chemistry, as it contains stictic acid and constictic acid as major lichen products. [3]

Habitat and distribution

Diorygma microsporum has a relatively broad neotropical distribution, as evidenced by collections from northeastern Brazil, Colombia, and Florida. It has also been recorded in Tamil Nadu, India. [4] This lichen species is typically found on tree trunks in the shady understory of undisturbed lowland and lower montane rainforests, making it a bioindicator of forest health. [2]

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.

Aderkomyces thailandicus is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Gomphillaceae. Found in the lower montane rainforests of Thailand, it was described as new to science in 2011.

Diorygma sticticum is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) script lichen in the family Graphidaceae. It was described as new to science in 2011. It is found in lowland rainforests in Thailand, and in southwestern India.

Anomomorpha lecanorina is a rare species of script lichen in the family Graphidaceae. Found in the montane forests of southern Ecuador, where it grows in montane forest at altitudes of 2,000–2,500 metres (6,600–8,200 ft), it was described as new to science in 2011. The specific epithet lecanorina denotes the resemblance of its fruit bodies to those of the genus Lecanora.

Anomomorpha tuberculata is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) crustose lichen in the family Graphidaceae. Found in rare cerrado vegetation in southern Costa Rica, it was described as new to science in 2011. It is characterised by its its conspicuous tubercles on the thallus and sessile lirellae.

Acanthothecis latispora 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 Shirley Cunha Feuerstein and André da Silveira. The type specimen was collected by the first author from Turvo State Park. Here the lichen was growing on branches in open areas of the Atlantic Forest. It has a whitish to greenish thallus with a black prothallus. Its asci contain a single ascospore; the spores are densely muriform and measure 82–100 by 27–35 μm. The specific epithet refers to the wide spores. Acanthothecis latispora contains norstictic and stictic acids; these are lichen products that are detectable using thin-layer chromatography.

Acanthothecis megalospora 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 Shirley Cunha Feuerstein and Robert Lücking. The type specimen was collected from a São Paulo farm near Itaguatins (Tocantins); here it was found growing on tree bark in cerrado. The lichen has a whitish grey thallus. Its asci contain a single, more or less rectangular ascospore with 15 to 17 transverse septa. The specific epithet refers to these large spores. Acanthothecis megalospora contains norstictic acid, connorstictic acid, and protocetraric acid, which are lichen products than can be detected using thin-layer chromatography.

Acanthothecis subfarinosa 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 Shirley Cunha Feuerstein. The type specimen was collected from remnant cerrado in Campo Mourão (Paraná). The lichen has a greenish, cracked thallus lacking a cortex and lacking a prothallus. The asci contain 8 spores; the ascospores are hyaline, measuring 22–30 by 5 μm with 6 to 8 transverse septa. Acanthothecis subfarinosa contains norstictic acid, a lichen product that is detectable using thin-layer chromatography.

Pseudochapsa aptrootiana is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) in the family Graphidaceae. Found in Brazil, it was formally described as a new species in 2018 by Marcela Eugenia da Silva Cáceres, Thamires Almeida Pereira, and Robert Lücking. The type specimen was collected from Mata do Cipó at an elevation of 80–100 m (260–330 ft); here, in an Atlantic Rainforest remnant, it was found in the forest understory. It has a light grey thallus lacking a prothallus and a cortex. Its ascospores, which number eight per ascus, are oblong to spindle-shaped (fusiform) with between 11 and 15 septa and measure 30–35 by 7–8 μm. Lichen products that occur in Pseudochapsa aptrootiana include stictic and constictic acid as major or submajor metabolites, and minor to trace amounts of cryptostictic, hypostictic, and acetylhypoconstictic acids. The species epithet honours Dutch lichenologist André Aptroot, "for his invaluable contributions to tropical lichenology".

Diorygma pauciseptatum is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) lichen in the family Graphidaceae. Found in Brazil, it was formally described as new to science in 2014 as a collaborative effort by several lichenologists: Shirley Feuerstein, Iane Cunha, André Aptroot, and Marcela Cáceres. The type specimen was collected by the first author from Fazenda São Paulo, where it was found growing on tree bark. The lichen has an opaque, irregular, yellowish-green thallus that lacks soredia and isidia. It is characterised from other Diorygma species by its ascospores, which measure 28–32 by 7 μm and have from 7 to 9 transverse septa; this species has ascospores with the fewest septa in the genus. Additionally, this species contains norstictic and connorstictic acids, which are lichen products that can be detected using thin-layer chromatography.

Myriochapsa is a genus of corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichens in the subfamily Graphidoidae of the family Graphidaceae. It has three species. The genus was circumscribed in 2013 by Marcela Cáceres, Robert Lücking, and H. Thorsten Lumbsch, with the Brazilian Myriochapsa psoromica assigned as the type species. The generic name combines Myriotrema and Chapsa, referring to the two Graphidaceae genera that it resembles. The main distinguishing characteristics of the new genus are its densely corticate thallus, and the presence of the lichen product psoromic acid. Additionally, its apothecia have wider pores, with differently textured margins. Although originally created as a monotypic genus, Harrie Sipman added two South American species in 2014.

Pseudochapsa lueckingii is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Graphidaceae. It is known only from a single collection in São Paulo, Brazil.

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.

Diorygma cameroonense is a little-known species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) script lichen in the family Graphidaceae. It is found in the pristine rainforests of eastern Cameroon. This lichen is distinct due to its larger ascospores with more septa compared to the closely related Diorygma sticticum.

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.

Phlyctis communis is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) crustose lichen in the family Phlyctidaceae. Found in the Maharashtra state of India, it grows on the bark of tree trunks in semi-evergreen to dry deciduous forests. Described as a new species in 2012, the lichen is characterised by its greyish or greenish-white crustose thallus and numerous ascomata, ascospores that have between 7 and 14 transverse septa, and the presence of corstictic and salazinic acids.

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.

References

  1. "Diorygma microsporum M. Cáceres & Lücking". Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life . Species 2000: Naturalis, Leiden, the Netherlands. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Lumbsch, H.T.; Ahti, T.; Altermann, S.; De Paz, G.A.; Aptroot, A.; Arup, U.; et al. (2011). "One hundred new species of lichenized fungi: a signature of undiscovered global diversity" (PDF). Phytotaxa. 18 (1): 27–28. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.18.1.1.
  3. Kalb, K. (2020). "New or otherwise interesting lichens. VII, including a world key to the lichen genus Heiomasia" (PDF). Archive for Lichenology. 15: 1–18.
  4. Singh, Pushpi; Singh, K. (2016). "Three new records of lichens in the family graphidoid Graphidaceae for India". Indian Journal of Forestry. 39 (2): 147–149. doi:10.54207/bsmps1000-2016-2682fe.