Reichlingia (lichen)

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Reichlingia
Reichlingia leopoldii 01 at lichenology info.jpg
Reichlingia leopoldii
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Arthoniomycetes
Order: Arthoniales
Family: Arthoniaceae
Genus: Reichlingia
Diederich & Scheid. (1996)
Type species
Reichlingia leopoldii
Diederich & Scheid. (1996)
Species

R. americana
R. anombrophila
R. dendritica
R. leopoldii
R. syncesioides
R. virginea
R. zwackhii

Contents

Reichlingia is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Arthoniaceae. It has seven species. [1] The genus was originally circumscribed by Paul Diederich and Christoph Scheidegger in 1996, with Reichlingia leopoldii as the type, and at that time, only species. [2] The fungus was at first thought to be a lichenicolous (lichen-dwelling) fungus, but is now considered a lichenised hyphomycete. [3]

Description

The thallus of Reichlingia lichens range in colour from white and pale grey to a greyish green. This main body of the lichen is usually compact, felt-like, and sometimes appears byssoid (resembling fine fibres) or granular in texture. Around the edges, a faint, whitish, hair-like prothallus may be visible, although when it encounters other lichens, a darker brown boundary line often forms. [4]

The lichen's photosynthetic partner ( photobiont ) belongs to Trentepohlia , a genus of green algae. Its reproductive structures, the apothecia, vary in shape—from round and polygonal to short and slit-like ( lirelliform )—and may form small, lobed clusters or irregular, star-like patterns. These structures lie either flush with the thallus or sit atop it, and they are often partly covered by a thin, whitish powder ( pruina ). The apothecia lack a clearly defined thalline margin , or if present, it is patchy and thin. Beneath the pruina, the tissue can be pale to mid-brown, and the supportive " true exciple " (the boundary around the apothecium) often narrows near the base. In some species, pale granular crystals are present within this exciple, while in others they are absent. [4]

Just below the surface, the epithecium (the top layer of the spore-producing region) may appear greyish due to the presence of pale crystals, or it can be dark brown. This layer consists mainly of densely branched, interwoven, thread-like structures ( paraphysoids ) that are largely free at their tips. The main spore-bearing layer (the hymenium) is generally colourless, supported by a hypothecium that can range from colourless to slightly brownish. The paraphysoids themselves branch loosely and are connected in a gelatinous matrix, with their tips occasionally darkened by brown pigments. The asci (spore-producing cells) are club-shaped and resemble those found in the Arthonia group. They typically contain eight spores and do not show a strong blue reaction with iodine-based staining (KI+). [4]

As the ascospores mature, they remain colourless or may turn pale brown. They are generally cylindrical or slightly egg-shaped, divided into three to five segments by internal walls, sometimes with larger end segments, or are partially subdivided into multiple small chambers ( submuriform ). The gelatinous matrix of the hymenium changes colour when tested with iodine solutions, typically turning deep blue or, less frequently, pale yellowish-brown to pale blue. [4]

So far, no pycnidia (another type of spore-producing structure) have been observed in Reichlingia. However, the type species (R. leopoldii) forms sporodochia —reddish to dark chocolate-brown spore-producing patches that can merge into large, irregular areas. Within these, the conidiophores (specialised spore-producing filaments) are dark brown with thick, warty walls. The resulting conidia (asexual spores) are also dark brown, irregularly branched, and have a warty surface, often visibly pinched at their internal divisions. [4]

Species

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthoniales</span> Order of fungi

The Arthoniales is the second largest order of mainly crustose lichens, but fruticose lichens are present as well. The order contains around 1500 species, while the largest order with lichenized fungi, the Lecanorales, contains more than 14000 species.

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

The Arthoniaceae are a family of lichenized, lichenicolous and saprobic fungi in the order Arthoniales. The Arthoniaceae is the largest family of Arthoniales, with around 800 species. Most species in Arthoniaceae belong in Arthonia which is the largest genus with 500 species. The second and third largest genus is Arthothelium with 80 species, and Cryptothecia with 60 species.

<i>Buellia</i> Genus of lichens

Buellia is a genus of mostly lichen-forming fungi in the family Caliciaceae. The fungi are usually part of a crustose lichen. In this case, the lichen species is given the same name as the fungus. But members may also grow as parasites on lichens (lichenicolous). The algae in the lichen is always a member of the genus Trebouxia.

Stirtonia is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Arthoniaceae. It contains 22 species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) crustose lichens found primarily in tropical regions. The genus was circumscribed by the British lichenologist Annie Lorrain Smith in 1926, with Stirtonia obvallata assigned as the type species. The species epithet honours the Scottish lichenologist James Stirton.

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

Arthothelium is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Arthoniaceae.

<i>Arthonia</i> Genus of lichens

Arthonia is a genus of lichens in the family Arthoniaceae. It was circumscribed by Swedish botanist Erik Acharius in 1806.

<i>Felipes</i> Genus of lichen

Felipes is a genus of lichenized fungi in the order Arthoniales. Circumscribed by Andreas Frisch and Göran Thor in 2014, it contains the single species Felipes leucopellaeus. Genetic analysis shows that the genus falls into the order Arthoniales, but its familial placement is uncertain. Felipes leucopellaeus is found across Europe and North America in temperate and boreal regions, typically in old-growth forest or wooded mires. It is crustose and corticolous.

<i>Tylophoron</i> Genus of lichens

Tylophoron is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Arthoniaceae. It comprises seven species of crustose lichens, most of which occur in tropical regions.

Synarthonia is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the order Arthoniales. The genus has not been placed into a family. Synarthonia was circumscribed by Swiss lichenologist Johannes Müller Argoviensis in 1891.

Briancoppinsia is a fungal genus in the family Arthoniaceae. It is monotypic, containing the single species Briancoppinsia cytospora, a lichenicolous fungus that parasitises parmelioid lichens, as well as Cladonia, Lepra, and Lecanora conizaeoides, among others. The species was first described scientifically by Léon Vouaux in 1914 as Phyllosticta cytospora.

Inoderma is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Arthoniaceae. It was resurrected for use in 2015 for a small group of species with the following features: elevated, white pruinose pycnidia, immersed to adnate white pruinose apothecia, and a weakly gelatinized hymenium. Inoderma byssaceum was assigned as the type species for the genus.

<i>Bryostigma</i> Genus of lichens

Bryostigma is a genus of fungi of uncertain familial placement in the order Arthoniales. The genus is characterised by its thin, patchy growth that either partially embeds into its growing surface or forms an irregular, granular surface, with distinctive red or blue iodine staining of its hyphae and very small fruiting bodies. Most Bryostigma species are parasitic (lichenicolous), growing on other lichens, though a few species like B. lapidicola grow independently on stone or moss. While the genus was initially established with a single species growing on moss, it was significantly expanded in 2020 when several species were transferred from the related genus Arthonia based on DNA analysis, though this taxonomic reclassification has been subject to some scientific dispute. As of 2024, the genus includes seventeen species – thirteen parasitic and four independent lichen species.

<i>Coniocarpon</i> Genus of lichens

Coniocarpon is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Arthoniaceae. It has eight species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) lichens. This genus is distinct for its crystalline orange, red, and purple quinoid pigments in the ascomata that turn purple in potassium hydroxide solution, its colourless, transversely septate ascospores with large apical cells, and its rounded to lirellate ascomata.

<i>Glaucomaria carpinea</i> Species of lichen

Glaucomaria carpinea is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Lecanoraceae. It is a widely distributed species.

Arthonia toensbergii is a species of lichenicolous (lichen-dwelling) fungus in the family Arthoniaceae. It occurs in old-growth boreal rainforests in Norway, where it parasitises the lichen Mycoblastus affinis growing on trunks and branches of Norway spruce.

Sparria is a small genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Opegraphaceae.

<i>Leprantha</i> Genus of lichens

Leprantha is a fungal genus in the family Arthoniaceae. It comprises a single species, Leprantha cinereopruinosa, a corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichen.

<i>Arthonia radiata</i> Species of lichen

Arthonia radiata, the asterisk lichen, is a common and widepspread species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Arthoniaceae.

Reichlingia americana is a white crustose lichen that grows on rocks and was first observed in the United States in the Osage Wildlife Management Area of Oklahoma in 2018.

References

  1. ↑ Wijayawardene, N.N.; Hyde, K.D.; Dai, D.Q.; Sánchez-García, M.; Goto, B.T.; Saxena, R.K.; et al. (2022). "Outline of Fungi and fungus-like taxa – 2021". Mycosphere. 13 (1): 53–453. doi: 10.5943/mycosphere/13/1/2 . hdl: 10481/76378 .
  2. 1 2 Diederich, P.; Scheidegger, C. (1996). "Reichlingia leopoldii gen. et sp. nov., a new lichenicolous hyphomycete from Central Europe". Bulletin de la Société des Naturalistes Luxembourgeois. 97: 3–8.
  3. ↑ Diederich, P.; Coppins, B.J. (2009). "Reichlingia Diederich & Scheid.". In Smith, CW; Aptroot, A.; Coppins, B.J.; Fletcher, A.; Gilbert, O.L.; James, P.W.; Wolseley, P.A. (eds.). The Lichens of Great Britain and Ireland. London: British Lichen Society. pp. 790–791.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Cannon, P.; Ertz, D.; Frisch, A.; Aptroot, A.; Chambers, S.; Coppins, B.; Sanderson, N.; Simkin, J.; Wolselsey, P. (2020). Arthoniales: Arthoniaceae, including the genera Arthonia, Arthothelium, Briancoppinsia, Bryostigma, Coniocarpon, Diarthonis, Inoderma, Naevia, Pachnolepia, Reichlingia, Snippocia, Sporodophoron, Synarthonia and Tylophoron. Revisions of British and Irish Lichens. Vol. 1. pp. 37–38. doi: 10.34885/173 .
  5. ↑ Morse, Caleb A.; Ladd, Douglas (2021). "A new species of Reichlingia (Arthoniaceae) from the grasslands of central North America". The Bryologist. 124 (1): 33–38. doi:10.1639/0007-2745-124.1.033.
  6. ↑ Frisch, A.; Klepsland, J.; Palice, Z.; Bendiksby, M.; Tønsberg, T.; Holien, H. (2020). "New and noteworthy lichens and lichenicolous fungi from Norway". Graphis Scripta. 32 (1): 15.
  7. ↑ Ertz, Damien; Aptroot, André; Sanderson, Neil; Coppins, Brian; Van den Broeck, Dries; Diederich, Paul (2020). "A new species of Synarthonia from Luxembourg, and a new combination in the genus Reichlingia (Arthoniaceae)". The Lichenologist. 52 (4): 261–266. doi:10.1017/s0024282920000274.
  8. 1 2 Frisch, A.; Thor, G.; Sheil, D. (2014). "Four new Arthoniomycetes from Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda". Nova Hedwigia. 98: 295–312. doi:10.1127/0029-5035/2013/0155.
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