Malmographina

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Malmographina
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Lecanoromycetes
Order: Graphidales
Family: Graphidaceae
Genus: Malmographina
M.Cáceres, Rivas Plata & Lücking (2011)
Species:
M. plicosa
Binomial name
Malmographina plicosa
(C.F.W.Meissn.) M.Cáceres, Rivas Plata & Lücking (2011)
Synonyms [1]
  • Opegrapha plicosaC.F.W.Meissn. (1855) [2]
  • Hemithecium plicosum(C.F.W.Meissn.) Lücking & Aptroot (2008) [3]

Malmographina is a fungal genus in the family Graphidaceae. [4] The genus is monotypic, containing the single species Malmographina plicosa, a script lichen found in South America. Genus Malmographina is characterised by its smooth, olive-green thallus, erumpent to prominent lirellae (fruiting bodies) with orange to cinnabar-red pigment, a clear hymenium, and hyaline, non-amyloid ascospores.

Contents

Taxonomy

The genus Malmographina, with its single species Malmographina plicosa, was circumscribed to address phylogenetic discrepancies in the family Graphidaceae. Historically, genera within Graphidaceae with lirellate ascomata were classified based on spore pigmentation and septation (internal partitioning), as well as the organisation of the ascomata. This resulted in the recognition of eight genera, including Graphis , Phaeographis , Graphina , Phaeographina , Glyphis , Medusulina , Sarcographa , and Sarcographina . [5] However, this classification was highly artificial and was challenged by Bettina Staiger in 2002, [6] who proposed new genus circumscriptions based on a combination of morphological, anatomical, and chemical features, expanding the classification to 22 genera. [5]

Molecular studies conducted by various researchers in the years following were used to further refine the genus circumscriptions. These studies confirmed some of Staiger's taxa but also revealed that certain genera, like Graphis and Hemithecium, were polyphyletic and contained multiple unrelated lineages. [5]

Hemithecium plicosum, a species with uncertain phylogenetic affinities, did not cluster with either Graphis or Hemithecium in phylogenetic analyses. Instead, it fell within the clade containing Phaeographis and other grey-brown-spored genera, despite having persistently hyaline ascospores. This justified the creation of the new genus Malmographina to accommodate this taxon. [5]

The genus Malmographina is characterised by its smooth, olive-green thallus, erumpent to prominent lirellae (fruiting bodies) with orange to cinnabar-red pigment, a clear hymenium, and hyaline, non-amyloid ascospores. It differs from other genera in Graphidaceae by the combination of Hemithecium-like lirellae and the presence of anthraquinone pigments in the lirellae. The type species, Malmographina plicosa, shows unique features that support its placement in a separate genus, including the absence of lichen substances in the thallus, the presence of anthraquinones in the lirellae, and the distinctive morphology of its ascomata and ascospores. [5]

Description

Malmographina plicosa is characterised by its smooth, olive-green thallus, which can turn yellowish when preserved in a herbarium. The thallus has a dense outer layer and an irregular photobiont layer interspersed with clusters of calcium oxalate crystals. [5]

The apothecia, known as lirellae , are erumpent to prominent and have a finely but distinctly striated surface, with an orange to cinnabar-red pigment. The disc of the apothecia is hidden, and the excipulum (the outer rim of the apothecium) is distinctly scalloped and ranges in colour from orange-brown to dark brown or carbonised in the inner parts. Over time, the old, compressed layers of hymenia between the excipular striations also turn dark brown to nearly carbonised. The hymenium (spore-producing layer) is clear, while the epithecium , the uppermost layer of the hymenium, contains clusters of dark brown to blackish granules . The ascospores are muriform (divided into multiple chambers), hyaline (translucent), and do not stain with iodine. [5]

No lichen substances have been detected in the thallus of Malmographina plicosa, but the lirellae contain anthraquinones, specifically tetrahydroxyanthraquinone (1,3,6,8) and other pigments. [5]

Habitat and distribution

Malmographina plicosa is primarily found in the Amazon basin. Its known range includes Suriname, where the type specimen of Opegrapha plicosa was collected, and various locations in the Peruvian Amazonia, particularly in the Department of Madre de Dios. Additionally, it has been recorded in Amazonian Brazil, with several collections from Rondônia, and in the adjacent state of Mato Grosso, where the type of Graphina malmei was found. [5]

This lichen species grows in partially exposed to sully sun-exposed microsites, predominantly on the bark of large trees. In these habitats, it is commonly associated with other lichens that share similar ecological preferences, such as species of Glyphis, Phaeographis, and other members of the Graphidaceae. [5]

Related Research Articles

Allographa pedunculata is a species of script lichen in the family Graphidaceae, discovered in the Galápagos Islands. The species is characterized by its distinctly stalked lirellae and contains norstictic acid. It is similar to other species in the Graphis nuda species complex but has the longest ascospores in the group.

Phaeographis striata is a species of script lichen in the family Graphidaceae, endemic to the Galápagos Islands. It is characterized by its inconspicuous thallus and striate (grooved) thalline margins of the lirellae. The species is found in the lower transition zone, growing on columnar cacti and other plants native to the region.

Fissurina sporolata is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Graphidaceae. Found in India, it was formally described as a new species in 2012 by Bharati Sharma, Pradnya Khadilkar, and Urmila Makhija. The type specimen was collected from Hebri (Karnataka), where it was found growing on a roadside tree trunk near a humid deciduous forest. This lichen has a brown, glossy, warty thallus that is finely cracked and rough. The lirellate ascomata are simple to rarely branched, immersed, the same colour as the thallus, and terminally acute, with a narrow disc that lacks pruina. The ascospores are 8-spored, hyaline, muriform, and ellipsoidal, multilocular, measuring 42–57 by 17–25 μm, with a 5–7 μm-thick halo. The hymenium is clear and hyaline, 225–250 μm high, and the hypothecium is hyaline and 20–25 μm high. No lichen products were detected in collected specimens.

Asteristion is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Graphidaceae. It has seven species. Previously considered a synonym of either Phaeotrema or Thelotrema, molecular evidence led to its resurrection as a distinct genus. Asteristion lichens are corticolous (bark-dwelling), featuring a continuous thallus with a loose to hardened cortex and a photobiont layer containing calcium oxalate crystals. The ascomata, or fruiting bodies, are characterized by their large, often chroodiscoid appearance and the presence of distinct periphysoids. The secondary chemistry of these lichens includes major concentrations of stictic acid and minor to trace amounts of associated substances.

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.

Acanthothecis collateralis is a rare endemic species of script lichen in the family Graphidaceae. Found in the Andaman Islands of India, it was formally described as a new species in 2007 by Urmila Makhija and Bharati Adawadkar. It is distinguished from other Acanthothecis species by its specific arrangement of ascomata and distinct chemical composition.

Fissurina capsulata is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) script lichen in the family Graphidaceae. Found in India, it was formally described as a new species in 2007 by Urmila Makhija and Bharati Adawadkar. The lichen is native to Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu, where it was first identified near Daisy Bank in 1975.

Fissurina coarctata is a species of script lichen in the family Graphidaceae. It is found in India, where it grows in tropical rainforests and moist deciduous forests. This corticolous (bark-dwelling) lichen is primarily found on exposed tree trunks along roadsides. Its thallus has a yellowish-brown to olive-green colour and has a thick, verrucose texture. The species was formally described as new to science in 2007 by Urmila Makhija and Bharati Adawadkar.

Fissurina longiramea is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) script lichen in the family Graphidaceae. It is found in various locations across India, including the Andaman Islands, Karnataka, and the Nicobar Islands, where it grows in tropical rainforests. The lichen was formally described as a new species in 2007 by Urmila Makhija and Bharati Adawadkar.

Allographa grandis is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) lichen in the family Graphidaceae. Found in Cameroon, it is characterised its large ascomata and ascospores, and an inspersed hymenium.

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.

Glyphis frischiana is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) script lichen in the family Graphidaceae. It is distinguished by its large ascospores, single-spored asci, and the presence of stictic acid as a major metabolite. Found on the trunk of Eucalyptus trees in Cameroon, it is similar in appearance to Glyphis atrofusca but can be distinguished by these key characteristics.

Fissurina elixii is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), script lichen in the family Graphidaceae. It is found in New South Wales and Tasmania in Australia.

Allographa anguilliradians is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Graphidaceae. It has been found in Trinidad and Tobago and Central-West Brazil. Its thallus covers an area of 3 to 7 cm in diameter with a slim profile and a variable surface texture, with a distinct metallic pale grey-olive colour without a prothallus. Its reproductive structures, known as lirellae, form a star-like pattern with black, carbonised outer layers and clear, colourless hymenium, while its ascospores are oblong and segmented, reacting violet-blue to iodine-based stains.

Graphis paraschiffneri is a little-known species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) script lichen in the family Graphidaceae. It is only known to occur in Nicaragua. Closely related to Graphis schiffneri, the lichen is distinguished from this lookalike by its longer ascospores with more septa and extended lirellae.

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

Crutarndina is a monotypic fungal genus in the family Graphidaceae. It contains the single species Crutarndina petractoides, a corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichen.

<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.

Melanotopelia is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Graphidaceae. It has four species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichens. This genus includes species characterised by dark pigmentation in their exciple, non-amyloid ascospores, and specific secondary metabolites.

Corticorygma is a monotypic fungal genus in the subfamily Graphidoideae of the family Graphidaceae. 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.

References

  1. ↑ "GSD Species Synonymy. Current Name: Malmographina plicosa (C.F.W. Meissn.) M. Cáceres, Rivas Plata & Lücking, Lichenologist 44(1): 118 (2011)". Species Fungorum . Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  2. ↑ Meissner, W. (1855). "Lichenum tres novae species". Botanische Zeitung. 13: 421–422.
  3. ↑ Lücking, Robert; Chaves, José Luis; Sipman, Harrie J.M.; Umaña, Loengrin; Aptroot, André (2008). "A first assessment of the ticolichen biodiversity inventory in Costa Rica: The genus Graphis, with notes on the genus Hemithecium (Ascomycota: Ostropales: Graphidaceae)". Fieldiana Botany. 46: 65. doi:10.3158/0015-0746(2008)46[1:afaott]2.0.co;2.
  4. ↑ "Malmographina". Catalogue of Life . Species 2000: Leiden, the Netherlands. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Cáceres, Marcela Eugenia da Silva; Rivas Plata, Eimy; Lücking, Robert (2012). "Malmographina, a new genus for Graphina malmei (Ascomycota: Ostropales: Graphidaceae)". The Lichenologist. 44 (1): 115–120. doi:10.1017/S0024282911000697.
  6. ↑ Staiger; B. (2002). Die Flechtenfamilie Graphidaceae: Studien in Richtung einer natürlichen Gliederung[The lichen family Graphidaceae: studies towards a natural organization]. Bibliotheca Lichenologica (in German). Vol. 85. Berlin/Stuttgart: J. Cramer. ISBN   978-3-443-58064-3.
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