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[Display omitted] • The eco-evolutionary history of insular Caribbean Sticta was explored. • Species assemblages date back to the early Miocene and show strong biogeographic links to South America. • Colonization of the islands did not increase diversification rates. • Environmental variation most strongly explains taxonomic and phylogenetic turnover between island-level communities. Phylogenetic approaches to macroevolution have provided unique insight into evolutionary relationships, ancestral ranges, and diversification patterns for many taxa. Similar frameworks have also been developed to assess how environmental and/or spatial variables shape species diversity and distribution patterns at different spatial/temporal scales, but studies implementing these are still scarce for many groups, including lichens. Here, we combine phylogeny-based ancestral range reconstruction and diversification analysis with community phylogenetics to reconstruct evolutionary origins and assess patterns of taxonomic and phylogenetic relatedness between island communities of the lichenized fungal genus Sticta in the Caribbean. Sampling was carried out in the Greater Antilles (Cuba, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico) and Lesser Antilles (Dominica, Guadeloupe, and Martinique). Data for six molecular loci were obtained for 64 candidate Caribbean species and used to perform both macroevolutionary phylogenetics, which also included worldwide taxa, and phylobetadiversity analyses, which emphasized island-level communities. Our work uncovered high levels of island endemism (∼59%) in Caribbean Sticta. We estimate initial colonization of the region occurred about 19 Mya from a South American ancestor. Reverse migration events by Caribbean lineages to South America were also inferred. We found no evidence for increased diversification rates associated with range expansion into the Caribbean. Taxonomic and phylogenetic turnover between island-level communities was most strongly correlated with environmental variation rather than with geographic distance. We observed less dissimilarity among communities from the Dominican Republic and Jamaica than between these islands and the Lesser Antilles/Puerto Rico. High levels of hidden diversity and endemism in Caribbean Sticta reaffirm that islands are crucial for the maintenance of global biodiversity of lichenized fungi. Altogether, our findings suggest that strong evolutionary links exist between Caribbean and South American biotas but at regional scales, species assemblages exhibit complex taxonomic and phylogenetic relationships that are determined by local environments and shared evolutionary histories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We explored cophylogenetic patterns of fungal and algal partners in the genus Sticta. • Sticta associates with green algae from five genera in Trebouxiophyceae. • Sticta are selective towards their algal symbionts. • Photosymbiodemes with green algae evolved multiple times in Sticta. Species in the fungal genus Sticta form symbiotic associations primarily with either green algae or cyanobacteria, but tripartite associations or photosymbiodemes involving both types of photobionts occur in some species. Sticta is known to associate with green algae in the genus Symbiochloris. However, previous studies have shown that algae from other genera, such as Heveochlorella , may also be suitable partners for Sticta. We examined the diversity of green algal partners in the genus Sticta and assessed the patterns of association between the host fungus and its algal symbiont. We used multi-locus sequence data from multiple individuals collected in Australia, Cuba, Madagascar, Mauritius, New Zealand, Reunion and South America to infer phylogenies for fungal and algal partners and performed tests of congruence to assess coevolution between the partners. In addition, event-based methods were implemented to examine which cophylogenetic processes have led to the observed association patterns in Sticta and its green algal symbionts. Our results show that in addition to Symbiochloris , Sticta associates with green algae from the genera Chloroidium , Coccomyxa , Elliptochloris and Heveochlorella , the latter being the most common algal symbiont associated with Sticta in this study. Geography plays a strong role in shaping fungal-algal association patterns in Sticta as mycobionts associate with different algal lineages in different geographic locations. While fungal and algal phylogenies were mostly congruent, event-based methods did not find any evidence for cospeciation between the partners. Instead, the association patterns observed in Sticta and associated algae, were largely explained by other cophylogenetic events such as host-switches, losses of symbiont and failure of the symbiont to diverge with its host. Our results also show that tripartite associations with green algae evolved multiple times in Sticta. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The resolution of the phylogenetic relationships within the order Teloschistales (Ascomycota, lichen-forming-fungi), with nearly 2000 known species and outstanding phenotypic diversity, has been hindered by the limitation in the resolving power that single-locus or two-locus phylogenetic studies have provided to date. In this context, an extensive taxon sampling within the Teloschistales with more loci (especially nuclear protein-coding genes) was needed to confront the current taxonomic delimitations and to understand evolutionary trends within this order. Comprehensive maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses were performed based on seven loci using a cumulative supermatrix approach, including protein-coding genes RPB1 and RPB2 in addition to nuclear and mitochondrial ribosomal RNA-coding genes. We included 167 taxa representing 12 of the 15 genera recognized within the currently accepted Teloschistineae, 22 of the 43 genera within the Physciineae, 49 genera of the closely related orders Lecanorales, Lecideales, and Peltigerales, and the dubiously placed family Brigantiaeaceae and genus Sipmaniella. Although the progressive addition of taxa (cumulative supermatrix approach) with increasing amounts of missing data did not dramatically affect the loss of support and resolution, the monophyly of the Teloschistales in the current sense was inconsistent, depending on the loci-taxa combination analyzed. Therefore, we propose a new, but provisional, classification for the re-circumscribed orders Caliciales and Teloschistales (previously referred to as Physciineae and Teloschistineae, respectively). We report here that the family Brigantiaeaceae, previously regarded as incertae sedis within the subclass Lecanoromycetidae, and Sipmaniella, are members of the Teloschistales in a strict sense. Within this order, one lineage led to the diversification of the mostly epiphytic crustose Brigantiaeaceae and Letrouitiaceae, with a circumpacific center of diversity and found mostly in the tropics. The other main lineage led to another epiphytic crustose family, mostly tropical, and with an Australasian center of diversity – the Megalosporaceae – which is sister to the mainly rock-inhabiting, cosmopolitan, and species rich Teloschistaceae, with a diversity of growth habits ranging from crustose to fruticose. Our results confirm the use of a cumulative supermatrix approach as a viable method to generate comprehensive phylogenies summarizing relationships of taxa with multi-locus to single locus data. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]