Search

Parmelioid lichens form the largest monophyletic group within the Parmeliaceae, a family distributed worldwide. The genus Parmelina was described by Hale (1976a) accommodating species from both hemispheres. We have employed parsimony, Bayesian and maximum likelihood analyses of a combined data set of nu ITS, LSU and mt SSU rDNA sequences to (1) test the monophyly of Parmelina and (2) to elucidate the generic status and phylogenetic position of the Australasian species. Twenty-one new sequences were generated in this study. Our results provide evidence that Parmelina is polyphyletic and the species fall into two major well-supported groups (Groups I and II). The Australasian species of Parmelina and two species of Canoparmelia (C. pruinata and C. macrospora) form Group I, which is nested within the parmotremoid genera of Parmeliaceae, Parmelina species from the northern hemisphere including those from western North America and the Mediterranean basin form a monophyletic group (Group II), which is sister to the East Asian temperate genus Myelochroa. Morphological and chemical features were reevaluated considering this observed phylogeny. Some morphological features like lobe morphology, several traits in the excipulum and geography are useful in characterizing the monophyletic lineage of the Australasian Parmelina/Canoparmelina species. This lineage is described as the new genus Austroparmelina. Thirteen new combinations in the new genus are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In traditional morphology-based concepts many species of lichenized fungi have world-wide distributions. Molecular data have revolutionized the species delimitation in lichens and have demonstrated that we underestimated the diversity of these organisms. The aim of this study is to explore the phylogeography and the evolutionary patterns of the Xanthoparmelia pulla group, a widespread group of one of largest genera of macrolichens. We used a dated phylogeny based on nuITS and nuLSU rDNA sequences and performed an ancestral range reconstruction to understand the processes and explain their current distribution, dating the divergence of the major lineages in the group. An inferred age of radiation of parmelioid lichens and the age of a Parmelia fossil were used as the calibration points for the phylogeny. The results show that many species of the X. pulla group as currently delimited are polyphyletic and five major lineages correlate with their geographical distribution and the biosynthetic pathways of secondary metabolites. South Africa is the area where the X. pulla group radiated during the Miocene times, and currently is the region with the highest genetic, morphological and chemical diversity. From this center of radiation the different lineages migrated by long-distance dispersal to others areas, where secondary radiations developed. The ancestral range reconstruction also detected that a secondary lineage migrated from Australia to South America via long-distance dispersal and subsequent continental radiation.