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We present the first broad molecular-phylogenetic revision of the lichenized family Gomphillaceae, based on 408 newly generated sequences of the mitochondrial SSU rDNA and nuclear LSU rDNA, representing 342 OTUs. The phylogenetic analysis of 20 out of the 28 currently accepted genera resulted in 48 clades. Twelve genera were resolved as monophyletic: Actinoplaca, Arthotheliopsis, Bullatina, Caleniopsis, Corticifraga, Gomphillus, Gyalectidium, Gyalidea, Jamesiella, Rolueckia, Rubrotricha, and Taitaia. Two genera resulted paraphyletic, namely Aulaxina (including Caleniopsis) and Asterothyrium (including Linhartia). Six genera were in part highly polyphyletic: Aderkomyces, Calenia, Echinoplaca, Gyalideopsis, Psorotheciopsis, and Tricharia. While ascoma morphology and anatomy has traditionally been considered as main character complex to distinguish genera, our study supported the notion that the characteristic asexual anamorph of Gomphillaceae, the so-called hyphophores, are diagnostic for most of the newly recognized clades. As a result, we recognize 26 new genus-level clades, three of which have names available (Microxyphiomyces, Psathyromyces, Spinomyces) and 23 that will require formal description as new genera. We also tested monophyly for 53 species-level names for which two or more specimens were sequenced: 27 were supported as monophyletic and representing a single species, 13 as monophyletic but with an internal topology suggesting cryptic speciation, four as paraphyletic, and nine as polyphyletic. These data suggest that species richness in the family is higher than indicated by the number of accepted names (currently 425); they also confirm that recently refined species concepts reflect species richness better than the broad concepts applied in Santesson's monograph. A divergence time analysis revealed that foliicolous Gomphillaceae diversified after the K-Pg-boundary and largely during the Miocene, a notion supported by limited data available for other common foliicolous lineages such as Chroodiscus (Graphidaceae), Pilocarpaceae, and Porinaceae. This contradicts recent studies suggesting that only macrofoliose Lecanoromycetes exhibit increased diversification rates in the Cenozoic., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Recent studies have uncovered remarkable diversity in Dictyonema s.lat. basidiolichens, here recognized as subtribe Dictyonemateae. This group includes five genera and 148 species, but hundreds more await description. The photobionts of these lichens belong to Rhizonema, a recently resurrected cyanobacterial genus known by a single species. To further investigate photobiont diversity within Dictyonemateae, we generated 765 new cyanobacterial sequences from 635 specimens collected from 18 countries. The ITS barcoding locus supported the recognition of 200 mycobiont (fungal) species among these samples, but the photobiont diversity was comparatively low. Our analyses revealed three main divisions of Rhizonema, with two repeatedly recovered as monophyletic (proposed as new species), and the third mostly paraphyletic. The paraphyletic lineage corresponds to R. interruptum and partnered with mycobionts from all five genera in Dictyonemateae. There was no evidence of photobiont-mycobiont co-speciation, but one of the monophyletic lineages of Rhizonema appears to partner predominantly with one of the two major clades of Cora (mycobiont) with samples collected largely from the northern Andes. Molecular clock estimations indicate the Rhizonema species are much older than the fungal species in the Dictyonemateae, suggesting that these basidiolichens obtained their photobionts from older ascolichen lineages and the photobiont variation in extant lineages of Dictyonemateae is the result of multiple photobiont switches. These results support the hypothesis of lichens representing "fungal farmers," in which diverse mycobiont lineages associate with a substantially lower diversity of photobionts by sharing those photobionts best suited for the lichen symbiosis among multiple and often unrelated mycobiont lineages., (© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Members of the poorly investigated family Teloschistaceae in South America, mostly from Bolivia and Peru, were examined using molecular and morphological data here for the first time. In recent phylogenetic reclassifications of Teloschistaceae, South American representatives were poorly represented but shown to belong to subfamilies Teloschistoideae and Xanthorioideae. In this study, we expanded the sampling of South American taxa and investigated mainly the lobate, sublobate, and squamulose members of Caloplaca s.l., using morphological characters and a molecular phylogeny based on a combined three-locus data set (one mitochondrial and two nuclear loci). Building upon new phylogenies at the family and subfamily levels (Teloschistoideae), we propose here three new genera: Andina, Aridoplaca , and Cinnabaria , with the type species Andina citrinoides, Aridoplaca peltata , and Cinnabaria boliviana . We also propose to reduce Tarasginia to synonymy with Sirenophila and Tayloriellina to synonymy with Villophora and introduce three new combinations: Dufourea ottolangei, D. volkmarwirthii , and Villophora erythrosticta. Scutaria andina is reported as new to Bolivia. A critical revision of the subfamily Brownlielloideae confirmed recent findings that it is an artifactual taxon based on a "chimeric" data set, with the type genus being part of Teloschistoideae.

Symbioses are evolutionarily pervasive and play fundamental roles in structuring ecosystems, yet our understanding of their macroevolutionary origins, persistence, and consequences is incomplete. We traced the macroevolutionary history of symbiotic and phenotypic diversification in an iconic symbiosis, lichens. By inferring the most comprehensive time-scaled phylogeny of lichen-forming fungi (LFF) to date (over 3,300 species), we identified shifts among symbiont classes that broadly coincided with the convergent evolution of phylogenetically or functionally similar associations in diverse lineages (plants, fungi, bacteria). While a relatively recent loss of lichenization in Lecanoromycetes was previously identified, our work instead suggests lichenization was abandoned far earlier, interrupting what had previously been considered a direct switch between trebouxiophycean and trentepohlialean algal symbionts. Consequently, some of the most diverse clades of LFF are instead derived from nonlichenized ancestors and re-evolved lichenization with Trentepohliales algae, a clade that also facilitated lichenization in unrelated lineages of LFF. Furthermore, while symbiont identity and symbiotic phenotype influence the ecology and physiology of lichens, they are not correlated with rates of lineage birth and death, suggesting more complex dynamics underly lichen diversification. Finally, diversification patterns of LFF differed from those of wood-rotting and ectomycorrhizal taxa, likely reflecting contrasts in their fundamental biological properties. Together, our work provides a timeline for the ecological contributions of lichens, and reshapes our understanding of symbiotic persistence in a classic model of symbiosis., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interest.

The early-successional status of lichens in modern terrestrial ecosystems, together with the role lichen-mediated weathering plays in the carbon cycle, have contributed to the long and widely held assumption that lichens occupied early terrestrial ecosystems prior to the evolution of vascular plants and drove global change during this time. Their poor preservation potential and the classification of ambiguous fossils as lichens or other fungal-algal associations have further reinforced this view. As unambiguous fossil data are lacking to demonstrate the presence of lichens prior to vascular plants, we utilize an alternate approach to assess their historic presence in early terrestrial ecosystems. Here, we analyze new time-calibrated phylogenies of ascomycete fungi and chlorophytan algae, that intensively sample lineages with lichen symbionts. Age estimates for several interacting clades show broad congruence and demonstrate that fungal origins of lichenization postdate the earliest tracheophytes. Coupled with the absence of unambiguous fossil data, our work finds no support for lichens having mediated global change during the Neoproterozoic-early Paleozoic prior to vascular plants. We conclude by discussing our findings in the context of Neoproterozoic-Paleozoic terrestrial ecosystem evolution and the paleoecological context in which vascular plants evolved., (© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

While analytical techniques in natural products research massively shifted to liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, lichen chemistry remains reliant on limited analytical methods, Thin Layer Chromatography being the gold standard. To meet the modern standards of metabolomics within lichenochemistry, we announce the publication of an open access MS/MS library with 250 metabolites, coined LDB for Lichen DataBase, providing a comprehensive coverage of lichen chemodiversity. These were donated by the Berlin Garden and Botanical Museum from the collection of Siegfried Huneck to be analyzed by LC-MS/MS. Spectra at individual collision energies were submitted to MetaboLights (https://www.ebi.ac.uk/metabolights/MTBLS999) while merged spectra were uploaded to the GNPS platform (CCMSLIB00004751209 to CCMSLIB00004751517). Technical validation was achieved by dereplicating three lichen extracts using a Molecular Networking approach, revealing the detection of eleven unique molecules that would have been missed without LDB implementation to the GNPS. From a chemist's viewpoint, this database should help streamlining the isolation of formerly unreported metabolites. From a taxonomist perspective, the LDB offers a versatile tool for the chemical profiling of newly reported species.

Foliicolous lichens are formed by diverse, highly specialized fungi that establish themselves and complete their life cycle within the brief duration of their leaf substratum. Over half of these lichen-forming fungi are members of either the Gomphillaceae or Pilocarpaceae, and associate with Trebouxia-like green algae whose identities have never been positively determined. We investigated the phylogenetic affinities of these photobionts to better understand their role in lichen establishment on an ephemeral surface. Thallus samples of Gomphillaceae and Pilocarpaceae were collected from foliicolous communities in southwest Florida and processed for sequencing of photobiont marker genes, algal cultivation and/or TEM. Additional specimens from these families and also from Aspidothelium (Thelenellaceae) were collected from a variety of substrates globally. Sequences from rbcL and nuSSU regions were obtained and subjected to Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian analyses. Analysis of 37 rbcL and 7 nuSSU algal sequences placed all photobionts studied within the provisional trebouxiophycean assemblage known as the Watanabea clade. All but three of the sequences showed affinities within Heveochlorella, a genus recently described from tree trunks in East Asia. The photobiont chloroplast showed multiple thylakoid stacks penetrating the pyrenoid centripetally as tubules lined with pyrenoglobuli, similar to the two described species of Heveochlorella. We conclude that Heveochlorella includes algae of potentially major importance as lichen photobionts, particularly within (but not limited to) foliicolous communities in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. The ease with which they may be cultivated on minimal media suggests their potential to thrive free-living as well as in lichen symbiosis., (© 2016 Phycological Society of America.)

We present a taxonomic revision of the lichenized basidiomycete genus Acantholichen, species of which produce a characteristic blue-gray, microsquamulose thallus with spiny apical hyphal cells known as acanthohyphidia. Since its discovery, the genus was thought to be monospecific, only including the generic type, A. pannarioides. However, a detailed morphological and anatomical study of recently collected specimens from the Galápagos, Costa Rica, Brazil and Colombia, combined with a molecular phylogenetic analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2) region and 28S of the nuc rDNA and RPB2 sequences, revealed a much more diverse and widespread species assemblage. Based on the results of these analyses, we describe five new species in the genus: A. albomarginatus, A. campestris, A. galapagoensis, A. sorediatus and A. variabilis. We also provide an identification key to all species, anatomical and morphological descriptions, photographs and a table comparing main characters of each species., (© 2016 by The Mycological Society of America.)

Renewed interests in macroevolutionary dynamics have led to the proliferation of studies on diversification processes in large taxonomic groups, such as angiosperms, mammals, and birds. However, such a study has yet to be conducted in lichenized fungi--an extremely successful and diverse group of fungi. Analysing the most comprehensive time-calibrated phylogenies with a new analytical method, we illustrated drastically different diversification dynamics between two hyper-diverse families of lichenized fungi, Graphidaceae and Parmeliaceae, which represent more than a fourth of the total species diversity of lichenized fungi. Despite adopting a similar nutrition mode and having a similar number of species, Graphidaceae exhibited a lower speciation rate, while Parmeliaceae showed a sharp increase in speciation rate that corresponded with the aridification during the Oligocene-Miocene transition, suggesting their adaptive radiation into a novel arid habitat.

The number of Fungi is estimated at between 1.5 and 3 million. Lichenized species are thought to make up a comparatively small portion of this figure, with unrecognized species richness hidden among little-studied, tropical microlichens. Recent findings, however, suggest that some macrolichens contain a large number of unrecognized taxa, increasing known species richness by an order of magnitude or more. Here we report the existence of at least 126 species in what until recently was believed to be a single taxon: the basidiolichen fungus Dictyonema glabratum, also known as Cora pavonia. Notably, these species are not cryptic but morphologically distinct. A predictive model suggests an even larger number, with more than 400 species. These results call into question species concepts in presumably well-known macrolichens and demonstrate the need for accurately documenting such species richness, given the importance of these lichens in endangered ecosystems such as paramos and the alarming potential for species losses throughout the tropics.

Lichenized fungi or lichens are organisms that have been little studied in the tropics and which distribution is affected by microenvironmental factors and substrate characteristics. The present study aimed to identify phorophyte specificity and microenvironmental preferences of corticolous lichens in five phorophyte species from premontane forest of the farm Finca Zingara in Cali, Colombia. For this, five individuals were selected from five tree species (phorophytes). Lichen species present in a 0.50x0.20m2 quadrant located in the trunk of each tree at a height of 1.3m were identified. Substrate parameters such as bark pH, Diameter Breast Height (DBH) and bark structure were measured. Also, microenvironmental factors including temperature, humidity and irradiance were determined. In order to detect phorophyte preferences, a non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMS) and indicator species analysis were made. Spearman correlation analysis was used to assert the relationship between environmental variables and groupings found in the NMS. A total of 69 species of lichens were found, of which 37 were identified to species, 18 to genera and 14 were not determined because they were sterile or had no spores. NMS showed that some individuals of the same tree species were grouped alongside the analysis dimensions, and they were related with the factors of light intensity, temperature and DBH. Only three lichens with preference for certain tree species were found (Arthonia microsperma by Meriania sp., Cladonia ceratophylla and sorediado 8 by Clusia sp.), suggesting absence of phorophyte preferences. Thus, it can be concluded that lichens from the study area do not show phorophyte preference, but their distribution is affected by light, temperature and DBH.

The Agaricales is the largest and most diverse order of mushroom-forming Basidiomycota, with over 100 natural groups recognized in recent Fungal Tree of Life studies. Most agarics are either saprotrophic or ectomycorrhizal fungi, but the family Hygrophoraceae is in part characterized by a unique and remarkable diversity of lichenized forms. The most familiar of these is the chlorolichen genus Lichenomphalia, whose phylogenetic position in the Agaricales has been established. Recent limited evidence suggested that Hygrophoraceae also contains cyanolichens in the genus Dictyonema, which indicates a remarkable concentration and diversity of lichen-formers in a single family of agarics. To demonstrate the relationships of lichen-formers to other fungi in the family, we assembled ribosomal sequences from 52 species representing recognized groups within the Hygrophoraceae, among them new sequences representing Acantholichen and most species and forms of Dictyonema. The molecular data were evaluated using parsimony, likelihood, Bayesian, and distance analyses, including coding of ambiguous regions by means of INAASE and ARC, all of which indicate that Dictyonema and Acantholichen form a monophyletic clade derived from the primarily bryophilous genus Arrhenia and sister to the enigmatic Athelia pyriformis, a species unrelated to the Atheliales for which we are proposing a new genus name Eonema. The chlorolichen genus Lichenomphalia may be polyphyletic. Fungi in the Dictyonema-Acantholichen clade are typically tropical, entirely lichenized, and associate with cyanobacterial photobionts. Our data indicate a transition from agaricoid-omphalinoid basidiomes observed in Arrhenia to stereoid-corticioid forms in Dictyonema, and also support a previous suggestion of a connection between loss of clamp connections and lichenization. The diverse basidiome and thallus morphologies and nutritional ecologies of these fungi indicate a remarkable evolutionary flexibility that appears to have developed in part as a consequence of symbiosis.

The phylogenetic position of Trypetheliaceae was studied using partial sequences of the mtSSU and nuLSU rDNA of 100 and 110 ascomycetes, respectively, including 48 newly obtained sequences. Our analysis confirms Trypetheliaceae as monophyletic and places the family in Dothideomycetes. Pyrenulaceae, which were previously classified with Trypetheliaceae in Pyrenulales or Melanommatales, are supported as belonging to Chaetothyriomycetes. Monophyly of Pyrenulales, including Trypetheliaceae is rejected using three independent test methods. Monophyly of Arthopyreniaceae plus Trypetheliaceae, the two families including lichen-forming fungi in Dothideomycetes, is also rejected, as well as a placement of Trypetheliaceae in Pleosporales (incl. Melanommatales).

Pyrenothrix mexicana Herrera-Campos, Huhndorf & Lücking spec. nova is described from leaves in the upper montane rainforest of Oaxaca State, Mexico. It is the second species in the genus Pyrenothrix Riddle, established at the beginning of the twentieth century for the single species, P. nigra Riddle, a corticolous lichen restricted to southeastern United States. Both taxa have the same thallus and perithecial morphology and anatomy, but P. mexicana differs by its longer, transversally septate ascospores. The perithecial anatomy of Pyrenothrix is documented and its systematic affinities are discussed, and we conclude that the family Pyrenothrichaceae Zahlbr. should be placed in the order Chaetothyriales.

A survey of corticolous crustose lichen collections in connection with the Flora Neotropica project revealed a number of undescribed species of Trichothelium. While a few typically foliicolous taxa may occasionally be found on bark, five species seem to be exclusively corticolous, all with a Trentepohlia photobiont. Three of them are new species: T. angustisporum, T. caudatum, and T. kalbii spp. nov. A key is provided to all five corticolous species, accompanied by data on their distribution and ecology. A considerable range extension is reported for T. horridulum, with new collections from Costa Rica and north-eastern Brazil.

Four species of the genus Sticta are described as new from Bolivia, based on morphological examination and phylogenetic analysis of the fungal ITS barcoding marker. Additionally, two species are reported as new to Bolivia (their identification confirmed by molecular data) and one previously reported species is confirmed by molecular data for the first time. Detailed morphological and anatomical descriptions are provided for all new species. Two of the new species, S. isidiolobulata Ossowska, B. Moncada, Lücking & Kukwa and S. madidiensis Ossowska, B. Moncada, Lücking & Kukwa belong to clade I, as defined in previous studies. In contrast, S. montepunkuensis Ossowska, B. Moncada, Lücking & Kukwa and S. macrolobata Ossowska, B. Moncada, Lücking & Kukwa, also described here as new to science, belong to clade III. Sticta isidiolobulata has an irregular to suborbicular thallus of medium size, with isidia developing into spathulate lobules, cyanobacterial photobiont and apothecia with entire to weakly-crenate margins. The large irregular thallus of the cyanobacteria-associated S. macrolobata has broad lobes, apothecia with verrucous to tomentose margins and cyphellae with raised margins, whereas S. madidiensis has a medium-sized, palmate to irregular thallus with a stipe, but without vegetative propagules and apothecia. Sticta montepunkuensis has large and irregular thalli with green algae as photobiont, apothecia with crenate to verrucous margins and urceolate cyphellae with a wide pore and a scabrid basal membrane. Two species, S. beauvoisii Delise and S. riparia Merc.-Díaz are reported as new to Bolivia (the latter also as new to South America) and belong to clade III. Sticta tomentosa (Sw.) Ach., species confirmed from Bolivia by molecular data, belongs to clade II. Sticta beauvoisii is characterised by a smooth yellowish-brown upper surface with darker apices and abundant, marginal isidia and a brown lower surface with golden-chocolate brown primary tomentum and sparse, golden-brown rhizines. Sticta riparia has a strongly branched thallus, with undulate lobes and abundant, marginal, palmate, grey to dark brown phyllidia and greyish-brown lower surface with the primary tomentum absent towards the margins. Sticta tomentosa has palmate, bluish thalli with white cilia and abundant, submarginal apothecia and creamy-white lower surface with a sparse, white primary tomentum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The foliicolous lichen Gallaicolichen pacificus exhibits unique goniocystangia-like structures named peltidiangia and peltidia. Its taxonomic classification within the Ascomycota has been unclear due to the absence of ascomata and lack of molecular data. Here we clarify the phylogenetic affinities of Gallaicolichen pacificus by analyzing mitochondrial small subunit ribosomal RNA (mtSSU) sequences obtained from specimens collected in New Caledonia. Ascomata and ascospores of G. pacificus , previously unknown, are described and illustrated for the first time. The results from the molecular and morphological analyses clearly indicate that Gallaicolichen pacificus belongs to the Porinaceae and is closely related to Porina guianensis. This is a remarkable extension of the already known, wide morphological diversity of thalli and diaspores produced within this family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe 43 new lichen species in the family Graphidaceae, mainly from the Amazon basin: Fissurina bispora, F. diamantica, F. endothallina, F. lirelloreagens, F. reticulolirellina, Graphis inspersonorstictica, G. polystriatosubmuriformis, G. viridithallina, Heiomasia hypostictica, Leucodecton aurantiacum, Mangoldia thallolomoides, Myriochapsa negativa, M. triseptata, Myriotrema inspersosticticum, M. reticulatum, M. roseum, M. xanthonicum, Ocellularia coronatoverrucosa, O. griseosorediata, O. inspersomuriformis, O. inspersulascens, O. microschizidiata, O. norsorediata, O. pallidocolumellata, O. pedicellata, O. pertusella, O. pseudocyphellata, O. psorinspersa, O. psorsorediata, O. roseoisidiata, O. sorediopseudochapsa, O. verruciinspersa, O. vulcanica, O. wirthiotremoides, Phaeographis aureopruinosa, P. coccinea, P. fuscobilabiata, P. macrocephalica, P. norscalpturata, P. pallidoxanthonica, Rhabdodiscus lineatus, Stegobolus negativus, and Thalloloma xanthohypoleptum (the last species also from Puerto Rico). Relatively many are fertile but also form vegetative propagules. A few of the species contain no mature ascospores, but are so deviating from any other described species that we decided to describe them nonetheless. Also, we propose the following 22 new combinations for species of Graphidaceae that were previously described from Brazil and currently are accepted species but were so far assigned to the other genera: Allographa basaltica (≡ Graphis basaltica Kremp.), A. brevissima (≡ Graphis brevissima Fée), A. byrsonimae (≡ Graphina byrsonimae Redinger), A. heteroplaca (≡ Graphina heteroplaca Müll.Arg.), A. platypoda (≡ Phaeographina platypoda Zahlbr.), A. pseudoserpens (≡ Graphis pseudoserpens Chaves & Lücking), A. subargentata (≡ Graphis subargentata S.C.Feuerst., Dal Forno & Eliasaro), A. tricolorata (≡ Graphina tricolorata Redinger), Diorygma album (≡ Graphina alba Müll.Arg.), Fissurina adscripturiens (≡ Graphis adscripturiens Nyl.), F. egenella (≡ Graphina egenella Müll.Arg.), Graphis fasciata (≡ Ustalia fasciata Eschw.), Mangoldia lecideicarpa (≡ Graphina lecideicarpa Zahlbr.), O. endocrocea (≡ O. cinchonarum var. endocrocea Müll.Arg.), O. minarum (≡ Thelotrema minarum Vain.), Phaeographis atrolabiata (≡ Phaeographina atrolabiata Redinger), Phaeographis cheilomegas (≡ Graphis cheilomegas Fée), P. coriaria (≡ Phaeographina coriaria M.Wirth & Hale), P. crassa (≡ Platygramme crassa Fée), P. oxalifera (≡ Phaeographina oxalifera Redinger), P. scriptitata (≡ Phaeographina scriptitata C.W.Dodge), and Stegobolus trachodes (≡ Thelotrema trachodes Nyl.). Finally, we report several species new to Brazil or to one of the states: Allographa pitmanii new to Amapá, Cryptoschizotrema minus new to Alagoas, Glaucotrema glaucophaenum new to Amapá, Graphis pyrrhocheiloides new to Amapá, Graphis subserpentina new to Pará, Melanotrema astrolucens new to Brazil in Amazonas and Pará, Myriotrema hartii new to Amazonas, O. bullata new to Brazil in Pará, O. inspersipallens new to Brazil in Rondônia, O. jutaratiae new to Amapá, O. parvidisca new to Brazil in Amapá, O. rondoniana new to Alagoas, and Thelotrema wilsoniorum new to Brazil in Amapá. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The genus Coenogonium, the only genus in the family Coenogoniaceae, is mostly found in tropical and subtropical regions. Approximately 100 species of Coenogonium are known worldwide, and about 52 species have been previously recorded from Brazil. Here, we describe four species as new to science from the Atlantic Forest in the states of Bahia, Minas Gerais, and Sergipe, and present a few new state records. The new species are C. carassense, C. itabaianense, C. pilosum, and C. subtomentosum. An annotated checklist of the species of Coenogonium from Brazil is also included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a novel identification tool called PhyloKey , based on the method of morphology-based, phylogenetic binning developed within the software package RAxML. This method takes a reference data set of species for which both molecular and morphological data are available, computes a molecular reference tree, maps the morphological characters on the tree, and computes weights based on their level of consistency versus homoplasy using maximum likelihood (ML) and maximum parsimony (MP). Additional units for which only morphological data are known are then binned onto the reference tree, calculating bootstrap support values for alternative placements. This approach is modified here to work as an identification tool which uses the same character coding approach as interactive keys. However, rather than identifying individual samples through a progressive filtering process when entering or selecting characters, query samples are binned in batch mode to all possible alternative species in the tree, with each placement receiving a bootstrap support adding to 100% for all alternative placements. In addition to the fact that, after scoring a character matrix, a large number of specimens can be identified at once in short time, all possible alternative identifications are immediately apparent and can be evaluated based on their bootstrap support values. We illustrate this approach using the basidiolichen genus Cora , which was recently shown to contain hundreds of species. We also demonstrate how the PhyloKey approach can aid the restudying of herbarium samples, adding further value to these collections and contributing with large quantitative data matrices to 'non-molecular museomics'. Our analysis showed that PhyloKey identifies species correctly with as low as 50% of the characters sampled, depending on the nature of the reference tree and the character weighting scheme. Overall, a molecular reference tree worked best, but a randomized reference tree gave more consistent results, whereas a morphological reference tree performed less well. Surprisingly, even character weighting gave the best results, followed by parsimony weighting and then maximum likelihood weighting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A survey of the lichen family Graphidaceae in Macaronesia (Madeira, the Canary Islands, and the Azores) is presented, with detailed treatments for the genera Allographa, Fissurina, and Graphis. All other species are listed and new records provided. A key to all Graphicacy known from Macaronesia, except the thelotremoid species, is presented. The following species are newly described: Fissurina azorica, Fissurina elaiocarpoides, Fissurina nigrolabiata, and Topeliopsis juniperina. Many species are newly recorded for one or more islands of the three archipelagos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In this study, we revised the lichen collection at the Herbario Amazonico Colombiano (coah) in Bogotá, Colombia. The collection has a total of nearly 2,400 specimens, with some duplicates in the Herbario Nacional (col) and in the herbarium of the Botanic Garden in Berlin (b). The revision of 1,861 specimens revealed 574 species in 142 genera and 44 families, among which there are 28 species new to science and seven new combinations. Previously, 324 species had been reported from the Colombian Amazon, and our revision resulted in a new total of 666 species, more than doubling the previous number. All 666 species are enumerated here in the first comprehensive checklist of lichens from the Colombian Amazon. A total of 157 new country records (53 already reported in the new Catalogue of Fungi of Colombia) increase the number of lichens known from Colombia to 2,827. The following species are described as new: Allographa exuens, differing from A. argentata by the lirellae with the corticiform layer soon flaking off and exposing the black labia, the only finely inspersed hymenium, and the narrower ascospores; A. guainiae, differing from Graphis syzygii in the prominent ascomata with lateral thalline margin and whitish thallus remnants between the striae; A. labiata, differing from A. immersa in the prominent lirellae with conspicuous, entire, exposed labia, an inspersed hymenium, longer ascospores, and stictic acid as secondary compound; A. lichexanthonica, differing from A. sitiana in producing lichexanthone; A. sessilis, differing from A. contortuplicata in the muriform ascospores; A. suprainspersata, differing from A. angustata in the very thin thalline cover of the ascomata and the apically inspersed hymenium; Astrothelium bireagens, differing from A. cinnamomeum by the broader, apically flattened perithecia covered by a thin, ferruginous-red, K+ deep purple pruina and internally with an ochraceous-yellow, K+ deep yellow pigment; A. stromatolucidum, differing from A. neovariolosum in the distinctly pseudostromatic ascomata; Carbacanthographis submultiseptata, differing from C. multiseptata in the narrower ascospores and the indistinct periphysoids; Chapsa inconspicua, differing from C. angustispora in the smooth to uneven versus farinose thallus and in the much shorter ascospores; Coenogonium velutinellum, differing from C. pineti in the finely velvety, rather thick thallus composed of irregular to erect, densely packed algal threads covered by a thin pseudocortex; Fellhanera naevioides, differing from F. naevia in the finely dispersed, minutely crenulate thallus and the blackish apothecia; Fissurina sipmanii, differing from F. amazonica in the shorter and broader, slightly gaping, somewhat chroodiscoid ascomata, and the amyloid ascospores; Glyphis lirellizans, differing from Glyphis substriatula in the erumpent vs. prominent lirellae with lateral thalline margin and the exposed disc; Graphis papillifera, differing from G. stellata in the lirellae lacking a thalline margin, very elongate and irregularly to radiately branched and not in stellate clusters, and in the 5-septate ascospores; G. pseudoglyphis, differing from Graphis stellata in the non-verrucose thallus, the branched lirellae which do not, however, form stellate clusters, and the shorter ascospores; Malmidea flavimarginata, differing from M. bacidinoides in the pale yellow, K+ deep yellow medulla and yellow, K+ deep yellow excipular crystals, as well as the smaller ascospores; M. isidiopiperina, differing from M. taytayensis in the smaller ascospores; M. papillitrailiana, differing from M. trailiana in the papillose apothecial margins; Myriotrema araracuarense, differing from Myriotrema muluense in the non-annulate pores of the apothecia and in the longer ascospores; Ocellularia areolata, differing from Ocellularia rhicnoporoides in the pigmented medulla and the larger, more prominent apothecia with completely carbonized excipulum; O. caquetensis, differing from Ocellularia rotundifumosa in the absence of a columella; O. inspersipallens, differing from O. viridipallens in the inspersed hymenium and the 5–7-septate ascospores; O. rufocinctoides, differing from O. rufocincta in the thallus lacking large and irregular crystal clusters, in the more prominent apothecia and in the smaller ascospores; O. sipmanii, differing from Ocellularia abbayesiana in the smaller, 3-septate ascospores; Pseudopyrenula daironii, differing from all other species of the genus in the aggregate perithecia with shared ostiole and the internal orange-red pigment granules lining the perithecial wall; Pyrenula asymmetrica, differing from Pyrenula papilligera in the longer, almost rectangular ascospores; and Redingeria pseudostromatica, differing from other species in the genus in the pseudostromatic ascomata with small, rounded apothecia, in combination with 1-septate ascospores. In addition, the following seven new combinations are proposed: Bacidina cyanophila (≡ Bacidina simplex var. cyanophila), Malmidea sorediifera (≡ Lecanora sorediifera), Ocellularia fuscescens (≡ Thelotrema fuscescens), Phaeographis cymbegrapha (≡ Graphis cymbegrapha; = Phaeographis amazonica Staiger], Polyblastidium flavosquamosum (≡ Heterodermia flavosquamosa), Polyblastidium lamelligerum (≡ Parmelia lamelligera), and Polyblastidium rottboellii (≡ Anaptychia hypoleuca var. rottboellii). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]