Lichens redefined as complex ecosystems

Hawksworth, David L.; Grube, Martín

doi:10.1111/nph.16630

Cited by 202 publications

(129 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…A smaller number of lichen-forming fungi are also members of the Basidiomycota. As lichens are selfsustaining ecosystems and may contain one or more photosynthetic partners and an indeterminate number of other microscopic organisms (including other fungi and bacteria), a more appropriate term of "lichen microbiome" has been coined (Cernava et al 2017;Hawksworth and Grube 2020). Participants in the lichen consortium may adopt different lifestyles and diverse degrees of interrelationships; it has been proposed that an endolichenic lifestyle might represent an intermediate step between saprotrophic and endophytic lifestyles (Arnold et al 2009; Naranjo-Ortiz and Gabaldón 2019).…”

Section: Adaptation Of Lichens To Endolithic Nichementioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond the extremes: Rocks as ultimate refuge for fungi in drylands

et al. 2020

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In an era of rapid climate change and expansion of desertification, the extremely harsh conditions of drylands are a true challenge for microbial life. Under drought conditions, where most life forms cannot survive, rocks represent the main refuge for life. Indeed, the endolithic habitat provides thermal buffering, physical stability, and protection against incident ultraviolet (UV) radiation and solar radiation and, to some extent, ensures water retention to microorganisms. The study of these highly specialized extreme-tolerant and extremophiles may provide tools for understanding microbial interactions and processes that allow them to keep their metabolic machinery active under conditions of dryness and oligotrophy that are typically incompatible with active life, up to the dry limits for life. Despite lithobiontic communities being studied all over the world, a comprehensive understanding of their ecology, evolution, and adaptation is still nascent. Herein, we survey the fungal component of these microbial ecosystems. We first provide an overview of the main defined groups (i.e., lichen-forming fungi, black fungi, and yeasts) of the most known and studied Antarctic endolithic communities that are almost the only life forms ensuring ecosystem functionality in the ice-free areas of the continent. For each group, we discuss their main traits and their diversity. Then, we focus on the fungal taxonomy and ecology of other worldwide endolithic communities. Finally, we highlight the utmost importance of a global rock survey in order to have a comprehensive view of the diversity, distribution, and functionality of these fungi in drylands, to obtain tools in desert area management, and as early alarm systems to climate change.

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Section: Adaptation Of Lichens To Endolithic Nichementioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond the extremes: Rocks as ultimate refuge for fungi in drylands

et al. 2020

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“…Although this study focused mainly on lichens, algae and fungi it should be stressed that they are by far not the only active microorganisms in this system. Even a single lichen nowadays needs to be understood as a self-sustaining ecosystem formed by the interaction of an exhabitant fungus and an extracellular arrangement of one or more photosynthetic partners and an indeterminate number of other microscopic organisms ( Hawksworth and Grube, 2020 ). Nevertheless we tried to assign specific bioweathering processes to single types of organisms because there are always surprises: recently, the extreme thermoacidophile Metallosphaera sedula , a metallophilic archaeon, was found to thrive on meteorite minerals ( Milojevic et al., 2019 ) and other examples are Manganitrophus noduliformans and Ramlibacter lithotrophicus that were the first organisms that helped to untangle the mechanisms behind chemolithoautotrophy via manganese oxidation ( Yu and Leadbetter, 2020 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lichens Bite the Dust – A Bioweathering Scenario in the Atacama Desert

et al. 2020

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Summary Bioweathering mediated by microorganisms plays a significant role in biogeochemical cycles on global scales over geological timescales. Single processes induced by specific taxa have been described but could rarely be demonstrated for complex communities that dominate whole landscapes. The recently discovered grit crust of the coastal Atacama Desert, which is a transitional community between a cryptogamic ground cover and a rock-bound lithic assemblage, offers the unique chance to elucidate various bioweathering processes that occur simultaneously. Here, we present a bioweathering scenario of this biocenosis including processes such as penetration of the lithomatrix, microbial responses to wet-dry cycles, alkalinolysis, enzyme activity, and mineral re-localization. Frequently occurring fog, for example, led to a volume increase of microorganisms and the lithomatrix. This, together with pH shifts and dust accumulation, consequently results in biophysical breakdown and the formation of a terrestrial protopedon , an initial stage of pedogenesis fueled by the grit crust .

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“…Stocker-Wörgötter and Türk 1988, Stocker-Wörgötter 1995, Zorer et al 1997, Trembley et al 2002. It might, however, be expected that besides airborne and laboratory contaminants, fungi associated with lichen thalli (Hawksworth and Grube 2020) are co-dispersed with soredia, as has already been shown for bacteria (Aschenbrenner et al 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Some are symptomless stages of strictly lichenassociated (lichenicolous) fungi (Oberwinkler 2017;Tuovinen et al 2019) or other fungi with multiple ecological niches (Honegger 2012;Selosse et al 2018). Others may be just inactive diaspores accidentally trapped within the thallus (Hawksworth and Grube 2020). For the latter two groups, vegetative propagules may be the only means of leaving the thallus and proceeding with their life cycle.…”

Section: Soredia-associated Fungimentioning

confidence: 99%

Lessons from culturing lichen soredia

Černajová

Škaloud

2020

Symbiosis

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Vegetative propagules play various important roles in lichen biology. We cultured soredia of Cladonia lichens in vitro and obtained three noteworthy results. Firstly, soredia are a beneficial source for the isolation of lichen symbionts. The mycobiont was obtained from 66% and the photobiont from 67% of the cultured soredia that were not contaminated. Secondly, the development of soredia followed a previously recognized pattern, arachnoid stagesoredium fieldprimordium, but a thalline structure was not achieved. We suggest that thallus formation in vitro is a question of favourable environmental factors, not partners compatibility. Finally, we discovered that fungi, other than the mycobiont, as well as airborne contaminants are dispersed together with lichen soredia. This is the first-ever report of such a phenomenon. The possible ecological consequences are discussed. Cystobasidiomycete yeasts were found among these fungi. We isolated representatives of three different lineages from a single thallus suggesting a low specificity for this association.

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Lichens redefined as complex ecosystems

Cited by 202 publications

References 28 publications

Beyond the extremes: Rocks as ultimate refuge for fungi in drylands

Beyond the extremes: Rocks as ultimate refuge for fungi in drylands

Lichens Bite the Dust – A Bioweathering Scenario in the Atacama Desert

Lessons from culturing lichen soredia

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