Megalospora

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Megalospora
Megalospora porphyritis - Flickr - pellaea (1).jpg
Megalospora porphyritis on red maple
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Lecanoromycetes
Order: Teloschistales
Family: Megalosporaceae
Genus: Megalospora
Meyen (1843)
Type species
Megalospora sulphurata
Meyen (1843)
Synonyms [1]

Megalospora is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Megalosporaceae. [2]

Contents

Taxonomy

The genus was circumscribed in 1843 by Prussian botanist Franz Meyen, with Megalospora sulphurata assigned as the type, and at that time, only species. The genus was then largely defined on the basis of the structure of the apothecia. [3]

In 2012, Gintaras Kantvilas and H. Thorsten Lumbsch synonymized the genus Austroblastenia (which contained two species) with Megalospora, based on both morphology and molecular phylogeny. [4]

Description

Megalospora is characterised by its large, bicellar ascospores. Other features include the crustose thallus, the lecideine apothecia, and the presence of oil droplets in the hymenium. [5] The photobiont partner is a member of the green algal genus Dictyochloropsis . Megalospora species are usually distinguished based on the type of ascospore, thallus chemistry, and the presence or absence of reproductive propagules such as isidia and soralia. [4]

Species

As of December 2021, Species Fungorum accepts 22 species of Megalospora. [6]

Related Research Articles

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<i>Schaereria</i> Genus of lichen

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Megalospora austropacifica is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Megalosporaceae. It is found on the islands of Taveuni and Viti Levu in Fiji. It has a yellowish grey to whitish grey, glossy thallus that is thick and may appear slightly wrinkled or smooth, often with irregular cracks and small papillae containing conidiomata, but lacking isidia and soredia. Its apothecia are circular, up to 4.5 mm in diameter, with the disc evolving from concave to slightly convex and coloured from orange-brown to red-brown, surrounded by a thick, prominent margin.

Megaloblastenia is a genus of crustose lichen-forming fungi in the family Megalosporaceae, comprising three species. Proposed by Dutch lichenologist Harrie Sipman in 1983, the genus is characterised by its thick, ecorticate thallus ranging from pale whitish-grey to yellowish, and its disc-like fruiting bodies (apothecia) that can be biatorine or lecideine. Megaloblastenia lichens form a symbiotic relationship with Dictyochloropsis algae, produce hyaline, bicellular ascospores with polaribilocular structure, and contain chemical compounds such as zeorin, pannarin, or usnic acid. Found in Australasia and South America, these lichens typically grow as epiphytes on trees in moist forests within temperate to tropical oceanic climates.

References

  1. "Synonymy: Megalospora Meyen, in Meyen & Flotow, Nova Acta Phys.-Med. Acad. Caes. Leop.-Carol. Nat. Cur., Suppl. 1 19: 228 (1843)". Species Fungorum . Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  2. Wijayawardene, Nalin; Hyde, Kevin; Al-Ani, Laith Khalil Tawfeeq; Somayeh, Dolatabadi; Stadler, Marc; Haelewaters, Danny; et al. (2020). "Outline of Fungi and fungus-like taxa". Mycosphere. 11: 1060–1456. doi: 10.5943/mycosphere/11/1/8 . hdl: 10481/61998 .
  3. Meyen, J.; Flotow, J. (1843). "Observationes Botanicas in itinere circum terram institutas (1830–1832): Lichenes". Nova Acta Academiae Caesareae Leopoldino-Carolinae Germanicae Naturae Curiosorum (in Latin). 19 (Suppl. 1): 209–232.
  4. 1 2 Kantvilas, Gintaras; Lumbsch, H. Thorsten (2012). "Reappraisal of the genera of Megalosporaceae (Teloschistales, Ascomycota)". Australian Systematic Botany. 25 (3): 210–216. doi:10.1071/SB11040. S2CID   84245560.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Untari, Ludmilla Fitri (2006). "The lichen genus Megalospora in Java". Mycotaxon. 97: 129–143.
  6. Source dataset. Species Fungorum Plus: Species Fungorum for CoL+. "Megalospora". Catalog of Life Version 2021-12-18. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  7. 1 2 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". Phytotaxa. 18 (1). Magnolia Press: 83. doi: 10.11646/phytotaxa.18.1.1 . hdl: 11336/4198 .
  8. 1 2 Lücking, R. (2007). "Megalospora imshaugii sp. nov. and M. caraibica sp. nov. from Jamaica (Ascomycota: Teloschistales: Megalosporaceae) increase the number of American Megalospora species to ten". Fungal Diversity. 27: 103–110.
  9. Kantvilas, Gintaras (2018). "A new species of Megalospora Meyen (lichenised Ascomycetes) from Tasmania". Cryptogam Biodiversity and Assessment (1): 6–10. doi:10.21756/cab.v3i01.esp2 (inactive 2024-11-05).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link)
  10. Sipman, H. (1986). "Additional notes on the lichen family Megalosporaceae". Willdenowia. 15: 557–564.
  11. 1 2 Sipman, H.J.M. (1983). A Monograph of the Lichen Family Megalosporaceae. Bibliotheca Lichenologica. Vol. 18. Strauss & Kramer GmbH. pp. 1–241. ISBN   978-3-7682-1354-7.
  12. 1 2 Kantvilas, Gintaras (1994). "Additions to the family Megalosporaceae in Tasmania and mainland Australia". The Lichenologist. 26 (4): 349–366. Bibcode:1994ThLic..26..349K. doi:10.1006/lich.1994.1029. S2CID   84768080.