Peltula submarginata

Last updated

Peltula submarginata
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Lichinomycetes
Order: Lichinales
Family: Peltulaceae
Genus: Peltula
Species:
P. submarginata
Binomial name
Peltula submarginata
Q.X.Yang & X.L.Wei (2022)
Peltula submarginata
Holotype: Dayangshan National Forest Park, Beijing [1]

Peltula submarginata is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), squamulose lichen in the family Peltulaceae, [2] first described in 2022. It occurs in China.

Contents

Taxonomy

Peltula submarginata was formally identified and named by Qiuxia Yang and Xinli Wei in 2022. Its species epithet suggests a close morphological similarity to Peltula marginata but with distinct differences noted in its physical and reproductive structures. The holotype was collected in Beijing's Dayangshan National Forest Park at an elevation of 390 m (1,280 ft), where it was found growing on soil on the surface of a rock. [1]

Description

The thallus of Peltula submarginata is saxicolous, meaning it grows on rocks, and has a squamulose -subfruticose form—appearing scale-like initially and developing a stalk or umbilicus -like attachment to the substrate . Lobes of the thallus are circular to elliptical, up to 2 mm in diameter, with a top that is almost flattened. The margin is entire, and the upper surface is yellowish olive with a black-brown border, smooth, and lacks a powdery covering ( epruinose ). [1]

The thallus thickness ranges between 230 and 370  micrometres (μm), without a developed cortex but featuring a protective yellowish epinecral layer . The algal layer is substantial, encircling the perimeter of the squamules, and the medulla contains sparse hyphae with significant hollow areas, providing structure and perhaps nutrient storage. [1]

Reproductive structures include apothecia (fruiting bodies), numbering 1 to 7 per lobe, immersed within the thallus and black when mature. The hymenium, or spore-producing layer, is light yellow and up to 215 μm tall, with spores being released through asci that are clavate to obclavate in shape and contain more than 100 spores each. [1]

Habitat and distribution

Peltula submarginata is typically found on sun-exposed sandstone faces, predominantly in areas where other lichens are absent, suggesting a specific ecological niche. At the time of its original publication, it was only known to occur in its type locality in China. [1]

Related Research Articles

<i>Cetradonia</i> Genus of lichens

Cetradonia is a lichen genus in the family Cladoniaceae. A monotypic genus, Cetradonia contains the single species Cetradonia linearis. The genus was circumscribed in 2002 by Jiang-Chun Wei and Teuvo Ahti. The genus was once placed in the family Cetradoniaceae until that family was subsumed into the Cladoniaceae in 2006.

<i>Placidium</i> Genus of lichens

Placidium is a genus of crustose to squamulose to almost foliose lichens. The genus is in the family Verrucariaceae. Most members grow on soil, but some grow on rock (saxicolous). The fruiting bodies are perithecia, flask-like structures immersed in the lichen body (thallus) with only the top opening visible, dotting the thallus. Lichen spot tests are all negative. Members of the genus lack rhizines, but otherwise resemble members of the genus Clavascidium.

Stromatella bermudana is a saxicolous (rock-dwelling) crustose lichen. It is the only species in Stromatella, a monotypic fungal genus in the family Lichinaceae.

<i>Peltula</i> Genus of lichen-forming fungi

Peltula is a genus of small dark brown to olive or dark grey squamulose lichens. These lichens typically grow on rocks in arid and semi-arid environments worldwide. They consist of a fungus living in symbiosis with a photosynthetic partner, specifically a cyanobacterium of the genus Chroococcidiopsis. Peltula is the only genus in the family Peltulaceae, which belongs to the Lichinomycetes, a class of fungi that form lichens. The genus includes about 50 recognised species, which exhibit a variety of growth forms ranging from flat and crust-like to more complex, leaf-like structures. Peltula lichens play important ecological roles in harsh environments, contributing to soil stability and nutrient cycling.

Acarospora flavisparsa is a species of lichen in the family Acarosporaceae. Found in Portugal and Spain, it was described as new to science in 2011. The lichen grows on acidic rock walls in inland areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crustose lichen</span> Growth form of lichen as a continuously adherent crust

Crustose lichens are lichens that form a crust which strongly adheres to the substrate, making separation from the substrate impossible without destruction. The basic structure of crustose lichens consists of a cortex layer, an algal layer, and a medulla. The upper cortex layer is differentiated and is usually pigmented. The algal layer lies beneath the cortex. The medulla fastens the lichen to the substrate and is made up of fungal hyphae. The surface of crustose lichens is characterized by branching cracks that periodically close in response to climatic variations such as alternate wetting and drying regimes.

Placidium nigrum is a species of squamulose (scaley), ground-dwelling lichen in the family Verrucariaceae. It is found in Northwest China and the Tibetan Plateau, where it grows on sandy soil surfaces in semi-arid and arid regions.

Placolecis kunmingensis is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Catillariaceae. It is found in Yunnan, China. The lichen is characterised by a thallus that is areolate to squamulose in its centre, forming irregular patches or clumps 10–50 mm wide, as well as its ellipsoid or spherical ascospores with slightly thickened wall.

Placolecis sublaevis is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Catillariaceae. It is found in Yunnan and Sichuan, China. The crust-like, radiating body of the lichen forms irregular patches or clumps and includes numerous false conidiomata, a type of asexual reproductive structure, within its thallus. Its lobes, dark brown and slightly flattened at the top, form larger groups at the edges and contain an upper layer composed of loosely interwoven cells and a lower inner tissue that varies from reddish-orange to white.

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.

Harusavskia is single-species fungal genus in the family Teloschistaceae. It contains the little-known species Harusavskia elenkinianoides, a saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen. This species is known only from its original collection site near the Laguna del Maule in Chile.

<i>Gallowayella borealis</i> Species of lichen

Gallowayella borealis is a species of saxicolous and muscicolous, lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. The lichen is characterized by a foliose (leafy) thallus that forms small, cushion-like clusters, with lobes that are often convex and have a distinctive orange colour with a reddish tint, occasionally covered in pruina. It reproduces vegetatively through abundant soralia producing rounded, granule-like soredia. Chemically, it contains high levels of parietin among other lichen products. Gallowayella borealis thrives on both horizontal and vertical rock surfaces, often enriched by guano, and is particularly abundant in continental Antarctica, co-existing with Polycauliona candelaria near penguin rookeries. It has a bipolar distribution, found in the Arctic and boreal forests of the Northern Hemisphere as well as in ice-free zones of continental Antarctica.

<i>Romjularia</i> Single-species lichen genus

Romjularia is a fungal genus in the family Lecideaceae, containing the single species Romjularia lurida, a saxicolous and terricolous squamulose lichen.

Boreoplaca is a fungal genus in the family Ophioparmaceae. It comprises the single species Boreoplaca ultrafrigida, a saxicolous (rock-dwelling), squamulose lichen. Both the genus and species were described in 1994 by the Norwegian lichenologist Einar Timdal. The lichen is found in Eastern Siberia, the Russian Far East as well as in adjacent territories of north-east China, and in South Korea. The main characteristics of the lichen are its squamulose thallus, black lecideine apothecia, and Fuscidea-type asci.

<i>Callome</i> Single-species lichen genus

Callome is a fungal genus in the family Collemataceae. It consists of the single species Callome multipartita, a saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen found in Northern Africa, Europe, and North America.

Peltula lobulata is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), squamulose lichen that belongs to the family Peltulaceae. This species was first described in 2019 following its discovery in Beijing, China.

Peltula polycarpa is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), squamulose lichen in the family Peltulaceae. First described in 2022, it is endemic to Beijing's Mentougou District in China.

Peltula polyphylla is a ground-dwelling, squamulose lichen species in the family Peltulaceae, characterised by its distinctive multi-lobed structure. Found in China, it was described as a new species in 2022.

Peltula pseudoboletiformis is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), squamulose lichen lichen in the family Peltulaceae, described in 2022. It is noted for its resemblance in thallus structure to the mushroom-forming fungal genus Boletus, which is reflected in its name.

<i>Usnocetraria oakesiana</i> Species of lichen

Usnocetraria oakesiana, commonly known as the yellow ribbon lichen, or the yellow-green ribbon lichen, is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It occurs in Asia, Europe, the north-eastern United States, and eastern Canada.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Yang, Qiuxia; Cheng, Xiangmin; Zhang, Tinting; Liu, Xinzhan; Wei, Xinli (2022). "Five new species of the lichen-forming fungal genus Peltula from China". Journal of Fungi. 8 (2): e134. doi: 10.3390/jof8020134 . PMC   8878757 .
  2. "Peltula submarginata Q.X. Yang & X.L. Wei". Catalogue of Life . Species 2000: Leiden, the Netherlands. Retrieved 25 October 2024.