Rusavskia elegans

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Rusavskia elegans
Xanthoria elegans 97571 wb1.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Lecanoromycetes
Order: Teloschistales
Family: Teloschistaceae
Genus: Rusavskia
Species:
R. elegans
Binomial name
Rusavskia elegans
Synonyms
Species synonymy
  • Parmelia elegans(Link) Ach. (1803)
  • Placodium elegans(Link) DC. (1805)
  • Lecanora elegans(Link) Ach. (1810)
  • Squamaria elegans(Link) Fée (1829)
  • Physcia elegans(Link) de Not. (1847)
  • Callopisma elegans(Link) Trevis. (1852)
  • Teloschistes elegans(Link) Norman (1853)
  • Amphiloma elegans(Link) Körb. (1855)
  • Caloplaca elegans(Link) Th.Fr. (1871)
  • Gasparrinia elegans(Link) Stein (1879)
Subspecies synonymy
  • Caloplaca elegans f. abbrevians (Eitner) Zahlbr. 1931
  • Caloplaca elegans f. areolata (Harm.) Mereschk. 1920
  • Caloplaca elegans f. confusa (Wedd.) Zahlbr. 1931
  • Caloplaca elegans f. crenata (Cromb.) I.M. Lamb 1939
  • Caloplaca elegans f. discretula (Müll. Arg.) Zahlbr. 1931
  • Caloplaca elegans f. elegans (Link) Th. Fr. 1871
  • Caloplaca elegans f. farcta Th. Fr. 1902
  • Caloplaca elegans f. fulva (Schaer.) Zahlbr. 1931
  • Caloplaca elegans f. orbicularis (Schaer.) Zahlbr. 1931
  • Caloplaca elegans f. prolifera Grummann 1931
  • Caloplaca elegans f. sordidescens (Vain.) Zahlbr. 1931
  • Caloplaca elegans f. subvitellina Suza 1929
  • Caloplaca elegans f. tenuis (Wahlenb.) Oxner 1937
  • Caloplaca elegans var. athallina (F. Wilson) Zahlbr. 1931
  • Caloplaca elegans var. australis (Zahlbr.) Zahlbr. 1924
  • Caloplaca elegans var. bifrons (Müll. Arg.) Zahlbr. 1931
  • Caloplaca elegans var. brachyloba Zahlbr. 1908
  • Caloplaca elegans var. caespitosa Müll. Arg. 1878
  • Caloplaca elegans var. compacta Arnold
  • Caloplaca elegans var. discopa Th. Fr. 1886
  • Caloplaca elegans var. discreta (Schaer.) Zahlbr. 1901
  • Caloplaca elegans var. ectaniza (Nyl.) Zahlbr. 1931
  • Caloplaca elegans var. elegans (Link) Th. Fr. 1871
  • Caloplaca elegans var. ferox (Müll. Arg.) Zahlbr. 1931
  • Caloplaca elegans var. gainii (Hue) Zahlbr. 1931
  • Caloplaca elegans var. granulosa (Schaer.) Th. Fr. 1871
  • Caloplaca elegans var. imbricata (Müll. Arg.) Jatta 1902
  • Caloplaca elegans var. laxa (Müll. Arg.) Jatta 1902
  • Caloplaca elegans var. lucens Nyl.
  • Caloplaca elegans var. muscicola Jatta 1910
  • Caloplaca elegans var. pertenuis (Harm.) Lettau 1918
  • Caloplaca elegans var. pulvinata (C.W. Dodge & G.E. Baker) Js. Murray 1963
  • Caloplaca elegans var. subpapillifera (Vain.) Zahlbr. 1940
  • Caloplaca elegans var. subtubulosa Th. Fr. 1873
  • Caloplaca elegans var. tenuis (Wahlenb.) Th. Fr. 1871
  • Caloplaca elegans var. trachyphylla (Tuck.) Fink 1935
  • Caloplaca elegans var. typica Th. Fr. 1871

Rusavskia elegans (formerly Xanthoria elegans), commonly known as the elegant sunburst lichen, [1] is a lichenized species of fungus in the genus Rusavskia , family Teloschistaceae. Recognized by its bright orange or red pigmentation, this species grows on rocks, often near bird or rodent perches. It has a circumpolar and alpine distribution. It was one of the first lichens to be used for the rock-face dating method known as lichenometry.

Contents

Taxonomy

Rusavskia elegans was first formally described by Johann Heinrich Friedrich Link as Lichen elegans in 1791, [2] and transferred to the genus Xanthoria by Theodor Magnus Fries (son of Elias Magnus Fries) in 1860. [3] In 2003, Sergey Kondratyuk and Ingvar Kärnefelt transferred the taxon to their newly circumscribed genus Rusavskia , in which it is the type species. [4] Although the new genus was not initially widely accepted, subsequent molecular phylogenetic studies showed the validity of the new classification. [5] [6] [7]

Its photosynbioant belongs to genus Trebouxia . [8]

Description

The thallus of this lichen is described as foliose, having the aspect of leaves, although the central portions of the thallus may appear nearly crustose. It is small, typically less than 5 cm (2 in) wide, with lobes less than 2 mm (0.08 in) broad, appressed to loosely appressed. The upper surface is some shade of orange while the lower surface is white, corticate , with short, sparse hapters (an attachment structure produced by some lichens). The vegetative propagules called soredia and isidia are absent, although apothecia are common. [9] It has been described as possessing swollen, orange-yellow thalli (in streams), compact orange thalli (on boulders) or dark orange-red thalli on the driest rock faces. [10]

The variety R. elegans var. granulifera, characterized by having isidia-like vegetative propagules, has been reported from Greenland and Spitsbergen. [11]

Herbarium specimen of R. elegans, showing the lobes at 40X magnification Xanthoria elegans-4.jpg
Herbarium specimen of R. elegans, showing the lobes at 40X magnification
R. elegans on the rock's surface Bazaikhskii razrez, Xanthoria elegans.jpg
R. elegans on the rock's surface
R. elegans on rocky islet in Gaspereau Lake Orangerock.jpg
R. elegans on rocky islet in Gaspereau Lake

Growth rate

Rusavskia elegans was one of the first species used for lichenometry, [12] a technique of estimating the age of rock faces by measuring the diameter of the lichen thalli growing on them. After an initial period of one or two decades to establish growth (the ecesis interval), R. elegans grows at a rate of 0.5 mm per year for the first century, before slowing down somewhat. [13] [14]

Habitat and distribution

This species grows on rock, both calcareous and siliceous, occasionally overgrowing moss or litter or rock. It is often found on exposed to somewhat sheltered sites, often near bird or small-mammal droppings. [9] It has also adapted successfully to growth on man-made and natural growing surfaces from the sea-water spray zone to the boreal forest and in the grasslands of the continental interior. [15] [16] [17] It can thrive in areas having less than 6 centimetres (2.4 in) annual precipitation and can survive submerged in streams for much of the growing season. [10]

Rusavskia elegans has an extremely broad circumpolar and alpine distribution, and is found on all continents except Australia. [18] It is widespread in Antarctic regions. [19]

The lichen is used as a model system to study the potential to resist extreme environments of outer space. Out of various lichens tested, it showed the ability to recover from space-simulating situations, including exposure to 16 hours of vacuum at 10−3  Pa and UV radiation at wavelengths less than 160  nm or greater than 400 nm. [20] R. elegans has survived an 18-month exposure to solar UV radiation, cosmic rays, vacuum and varying temperatures in an experiment performed by the ESA outside of the ISS. [21]

Bioactive compounds

Various anthraquinone compounds have been identified in R. elegans, including allacinal, physcion, teloschistin, [22] xanthorin, [23] and erythoglaucin, [24] murolic acid and a glycoside derivative of murolic acid ((18R)-18-O-β-D-apiofuranosyl-(1-2)-β-D-glucopyranoside). [25] The algae symbioant produces a cyclopeptide, cyclo-(L-tryptophyl-L-tryptophyl). [8]

Carotenoids

Carotenoids have a number of physiological functions in lichens, such as enhancing the availability of light energy for photosynthesis, and protecting the organism from the photooxidizing action of UV light. [26] In R. elegans, like many Rusavskia species, specimens growing in areas with intense UV radiation contain more carotenoids than those grown in more shaded areas. The biosynthesis of carotenoids is also dependent on the season of the year, as was shown in a study of R. elegans in Antarctica. [27] The predominant carotenoid in R. elegans, responsible for the orange-yellow color, is mutatoxanthin. [26]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teloschistaceae</span> Family of lichen-forming fungi

The Teloschistaceae are a large family of mostly lichen-forming fungi belonging to the class Lecanoromycetes in the division Ascomycota. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, although its members occur predominantly in temperate regions. Most members are lichens that either live on rock or on bark, but about 40 species are lichenicolous – meaning they are non-lichenised fungi that live on other lichens. Many members of the Teloschistaceae are readily identifiable by their vibrant orange to yellow hue, a result of their frequent anthraquinone content. The presence of these anthraquinone pigments, which confer protection from ultraviolet light, enabled this group to expand from shaded forest habitats to harsher environmental conditions of sunny and arid ecosystems during the Late Cretaceous.

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

Gallowayella is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Teloschistaceae. It has 15 species. The genus was circumscribed in 2012 by Sergey Kondratyuk, Natalya Fedorenko, Soili Stenroos, Ingvar Kärnefelt, Jack Elix, and Arne Thell, with Gallowayella coppinsii assigned as the type species. The generic name honours New Zealand lichenologist David John Galloway (1942–2014).

Ovealmbornia is a monotypic genus of mostly foliose lichen species in the subfamily Xanthorioideae of the family Teloschistaceae. It now only contains one known species, Ovealmbornia reginae as others were classed as synonyms of other species in the same family.

Kaernefia is a genus of crustose lichens in the family Teloschistaceae. It has three species, found in Australia or South Africa.

Gallowayella aphrodites is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), foliose (leafy) lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It is found in the Mediterranean countries Greece, Cyprus, and Italy. Characteristics of the lichen include its small thallus, the disposition of the rhizines on the thallus undersurface, and the lack of vegetative propagules.

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

Gallowayella hasseana, the poplar sunburst lichen, is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It occurs in North America.

Jackelixia whinrayi is a lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It was first described in 2007 by Sergey Kondratyuk and Ingvar Kärnefelt as Xanthoria whinrayi, but was transferred to the genus Jackelixia in 2009 by Kondratyuk, Natalya M. Fedorenko, Soili Kristina Stenroos, Kärnefelt, and Arne Thell.

<i>Rusavskia</i> Genus of lichens

Rusavskia is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Teloschistaceae. It has 12 species. It is a member of the subfamily Xanthorioideae. The thallus of Rusavskia is characterized by its foliose (leaf-like) structure with distinct and typically narrow lobes that curve outwards.

<i>Martinjahnsia</i> Species of lichen

Martinjahnsia is a single-species fungal genus in the family Teloschistaceae. It contains the sole species Martinjahnsia resendei, a saxicolous (rock-dwelling) crustose lichen.

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

Gallowayella fulva is a species of foliose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It was first scientifically described in 1796 by German lichenologist Georg Franz Hoffmann, who classified it as a member of genus Lobaria. It has also been classified in the genera Oxneria, Xanthomendoza and Xanthoria in its taxonomic history. Sergey Kondratyuk and colleagues transferred the taxon to the genus Gallowayella in 2012, based on a molecular phylogenetics-based restructuring of some genera in the subfamily Xanthorioideae of family Teloschistaceae. In North America, one vernacular name for the species is the bare-bottomed sunburst lichen.

Xanthoria yorkensis is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. Found in South Australia, it was formally described as a new species in 2009 by lichenologists Sergey Kondratyuk and Ingvar Kärnefelt. The type specimen, collected along the Maitland road in Yorke Peninsula, was found growing on Melaleuca trees in mallee scrub. The species epithet refers to its type locality, the only place the lichen is known to occur. Kondratyuk and colleagues proposed to transfer the taxon to the newly circumscribed Jackelixia in 2009, but this genus has not been widely accepted by other authorities.

Xanthoria kangarooensis is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. Found in Australia, it was formally described as a new species in 2009 by lichenologists Sergey Kondratyuk and Ingvar Kärnefelt. The type specimen was collected from East Kangaroo Island, where it was found growing on dead Lycium ferocissimum shrubs. Other associated lichens include species of Pyxine, Ramalina, and Rinodina. The species epithet kangarooensis refers to its type locality, the only place the lichen is known to occur. Kondratyuk and colleagues proposed to transfer the taxon to the newly circumscribed Jackelixia in 2009, but this genus has not been widely accepted by other authorities.

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

Gallowayella montana is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It occurs in North America.

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

Gallowayella weberi is a species of corticolous and saxicolous, foliose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. Found in the eastern United States, it is a small lichen with a smooth yellow to orange upper surface and a contrasting white lower surface.

<i>Xanthomendoza oregana</i> Species of lichen

Xanthomendoza oregana is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), foliose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It forms an orange to bright-yellow thallus with ascending lobes that gives it the overall appearance of a tuft. The lichen occurs in western Europe and western North America.

Honeggeria is a single-species fungal genus in the family Teloschistaceae. It contains the species Honeggeria rosmarieae, a corticolous (bark-dwelling), foliose lichen found in the United States. Characteristic features of the lichen include its isidia-like soredia, rhizines that are relatively broad and short, slender ascospores, and a rudimentary true exciple with a textura intricata tissue structure.

<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.

Gallowayella galericulata is a species of corticolous and lignicolous lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. This species has small, orange, foliose (leafy), loosely adnate thalli that form either compact colonies or spread extensively. The lobes of the thallus are typically curved inward, and often form a characteristic helmet- or hood-like shape. Found in dry regions of the western United States, it colonises bark and wood, particularly favouring dry twigs of various shrubs and trees.

<i>Rusavskia sorediata</i> Species of lichen

Rusavskia sorediata is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere.

Elenkiniana is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Teloschistaceae. It has three species, all of which occur in Eurasia.

References

  1. ↑ "Botany Photo of the Day: Xanthoria elegans". 9 November 2005. Retrieved 2009-02-26.
  2. ↑ Link JHF. (1971). The Genera of Fungi. Vol. 1. p. 37.
  3. ↑ Fries TM. (1860). Lichenes Arctoi Europae Groenlandiaeque hactenus cogniti (in Latin). p. 69.
  4. ↑ Kondratyuk, S.Y.; Kärnefelt, I. (2003). "Revision of three natural groups of xanthorioid lichens (Teloschistaceae, Ascomycota)". Ukrainskiy Botanichnyi Zhurnal. 60 (4): 427–437.
  5. ↑ Fedorenko, Natalya M.; Stenroos, Soili; Thell, Arne; Kärnefelt, Ingvar; Kondratyuk, Sergey Y. (2009). "A phylogenetic analysis of xanthorioid lichens (Teloschistaceae, Ascomycota) based on ITS and mtSSU sequences". In Thell, Arne; Seaward, Mark; Feuerer, Tassilo (eds.). Diversity of Lichenology – Anniversary Volume. Bibliotheca Lichenologica. Vol. 100. J. Cramer in der Gebrüder Borntraeger Verlagsbuchhandlung. pp. 49–84. ISBN   978-3-443-58079-7.
  6. ↑ Fedorenko, Natalya M.; Stenroos, Soili; Thell, Arne; Kärnefelt, Ingvar; Elix, John A.; Hur, Jae-Seoun; Kondratyuk, Sergij Y. (2012). "Molecular phylogeny of xanthorioid lichens (Teloschistaceae, Ascomycota), with notes on their morphology". In Kärnefelt, Ingvar; Seaward, Mark R.D.; Thell, Arne (eds.). Systematics, biodiversity and ecology of lichens. Bibliotheca Lichenologica. Vol. 108. pp. 45–64. ISBN   978-3-443-58087-2.
  7. ↑ Gaya, Ester; Högnabba, Filip; Holguin, Ángela; Molnar, Katalin; Fernández-Brime, Samantha; Stenroos, Soili; Arup, Ulf; Søchting, Ulrik; Boom, Pieter Van den; Lücking, Robert; Sipman, Harrie J.M.; Lutzoni, François (2012). "Implementing a cumulative supermatrix approach for a comprehensive phylogenetic study of the Teloschistales (Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 63 (2): 374–387. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2012.01.012. PMID   22306043.
  8. 1 2 Pichler, Gregor; Muggia, Lucia; Carniel, Fabio Candotto; Grube, Martin; Kranner, Ilse (May 2023). "How to build a lichen: from metabolite release to symbiotic interplay". New Phytologist. 238 (4): 1362–1378. doi:10.1111/nph.18780.
  9. 1 2 Geiser L, McCune B (1997). Macrolichens of the Pacific Northwest. Corvallis, Oregon: Oregon State University Press. ISBN   978-0-87071-394-1.
  10. 1 2 Fahselt D, Krol M (1989). "Biochemical comparisons of two ecologically distinctive forms of Xantharia elegans in the Canadian High Arctic". The Lichenologist. 21 (2): 135–45. doi:10.1017/S0024282989000253. S2CID   86595226.
  11. ↑ Giralt M, Nimis PL, Poelt J (1993). "Studies on some species of the lichen genus Xanthoria with isidia-like vegetative propagules". Journal of the Hattori Botanical Laboratory. 74: 271–85.
  12. ↑ Beschel RE. (1954). "Eine Flechte als Niederschlagsmesser". Wetter and Leven (in German). 6–7: 56–60.
  13. ↑ Osborn G, Taylor J (1975). "Lichenometry on calcareous substrates in the Canadian Rockies". Quaternary Research. 5 (1): 111–20. Bibcode:1975QuRes...5..111O. doi:10.1016/0033-5894(75)90051-4. S2CID   129448919.
  14. ↑ McCarthy DP, Smith DJ (1995). "Growth curves for calcium-tolerant lichens in the Canadian Rocky mountains" (PDF). Arctic and Alpine Research. 27 (3): 290–97. doi:10.2307/1551960. JSTOR   1551960.
  15. ↑ Hill DH. (1984). The Lichen-Forming Fungi. London, UK: Blackie. p. 115. ISBN   978-0-216-91633-3.
  16. ↑ Hinds JW. (1995). "Marine influence on the distribution of Xanthoria parietina, X. elegans, and X. ulophyllodes on marble gravestones in Maine". Bryologist. 98 (3): 402–10. doi:10.2307/3243380. JSTOR   3243380.
  17. ↑ Hinds JW, Hinds PL (1993). "The lichen genus Xanthora in Maine". Maine Naturalist. 1 (1): 1–16. doi:10.2307/3858193. JSTOR   3858193.
  18. ↑ Almborn O. (1987). "Lichens at high altitudes in Southern Africa". Bibliotheca Lichenologica. 25: 401–17.
  19. ↑ Castello M. (1995). "The lichen genus Xanthoria in Antarctica". Cryptogamie, Bryologie, Lichénologie. 16 (2): 79–87.
  20. ↑ de Vera JP, Horneck G, Rettberg P, Ott S (2004). "The potential of the lichen symbiosis to cope with the extreme conditions of outer space II: germination capacity of lichen ascospores in response to simulated space conditions". Advances in Space Research. 33 (8): 1236–43. Bibcode:2004AdSpR..33.1236D. doi:10.1016/j.asr.2003.10.035. PMID   15806704.
  21. ↑ "Live long and prosper, Xanthoria elegans". The European Space Agency. 1 February 2010.
  22. ↑ Khanna RN, Seshadri TR (1968). "Chemical components of Xanthoria elegans". Current Science. 37 (3): 72–3.
  23. ↑ Steglich W, Losel W, Reininger W (1967). "Xanthorin, an anthraquinone pigment from Xanthoria elegans". Tetrahedron Letters. 8 (47): 4719–21. doi:10.1016/s0040-4039(01)89589-7.
  24. ↑ Steglich W, Reininge W (1969). "Erythroglaucin and other anthraquinone pigments from Xanthoria elegans (link) Th Fr". Zeitschrift für Naturforschung B. 24 (9): 1196. doi: 10.1515/znb-1969-0927 . S2CID   84995672.
  25. ↑ Rezenka T, Guschina IA (2000). "Glycosidic compounds of murolic, protoconstipatic and allo-murolic acids from lichens of Central Asia". Phytochemistry. 54 (6): 635–45. Bibcode:2000PChem..54..635R. doi:10.1016/S0031-9422(00)00147-3. PMID   10963458.
  26. 1 2 Czeczuga B. (1983). "Mutatoxanthin, the dominant carotenoid in lichens of Xanthoria genus". Biochemical Systematics and Ecology. 11 (4): 329–31. Bibcode:1983BioSE..11..329C. doi:10.1016/0305-1978(83)90032-7.
  27. ↑ Galun M. (1988). CRC Handbook of Lichenology. Vol. III. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC. p. 29. ISBN   978-0-8493-3583-9.
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