Molecular data support Pseudoparmelia as a distinct lineage related to Relicina and Relicinopsis (Ascomycota, Lecanorales)

Abstract

The phylogenetic position of the genus Pseudoparmelia was addressed using molecular data from five loci (mtSSU, nuLSU, ITS, Mcm7, RPB1), generated from three species and aligned with sequences from 293 samples representing all major clades of Parmeliaceae. Pseudoparmelia species form a well-supported monophyletic group that is the sister group of a clade consisting of the genera Relicina and Relicinopsis. These three genera share a thallus with a pored epicortex, isolichenan as cell wall polysaccharide, and relatively small ascospores. Morphological and chemical characters that distinguish Pseudoparmelia from the closely related Relicina and Relicinopsis are discussed. To further elucidate the relationships of these three genera, we assembled a second dataset including 15 additional samples of Relicina and Relicinopsis using three loci (mtSSU, nuLSU, ITS). All three genera are monophyletic but monophyly of Relicina lacks support and, in the mtSSU single locus tree, the genus is paraphyletic with Relicinopsis nested within. Additional studies including more Relicina species are necessary to test delimitation of the genera Relicina and Relicinopsis.

The monotypic genus Bulborrhizina belongs to Bulbothrix sensu lato (Parmeliaceae, Ascomycota)

“…This is remarkable given that the generic classification of parmelioid lichens has been vigorously debated (Hale 1984;Hawksworth 1994;Nimis 1998;Rambold & Triebel 1999 (Buaruang et al 2015).…”

Molecular insights into the lichen genusAlectoria(Parmeliaceae) in North America

“…Parmeliaceae (Crespo et al 2010a,b;Buaruang et al 2015;de Paz et al 2010a,b;Del-Prado et al 2010Divakar et al 2010Divakar et al , 2013Elix et al 2010;Lendemer and Hodkinson 2010;Leavitt et al 2014;Lendemer and Ruiz 2015;Mark et al 2012;Nelson et al 2012;Nelsen et al 2013;Saag et al 2014), and more specifically the related fruticose genus Bryoria (Myllys et al 2014;Velmala et al 2014), Alectoria has not been the direct subject of such a study. Nonetheless, recent molecular studies of Bryoria and Parmeliaceae have included samples of Alectoria and recovered results that strongly suggested further study was needed (Myllys et al 2014;Halonen et al 2009).…”

The genus Relicinopsis is nested within Relicina (Parmeliaceae, Ascomycota)

“…We assembled a multilocus DNA matrix comprised of nuLSU, ITS and mtSSU rDNA to infer evolutionary relationships. The multilocus data set included 74 sequences from a previous study (Buaruang et al 2015) and 14 sequences generated for this study. Three species of Notoparmelia were used as the outgroup since the genus has been shown to be closely related to Relicina (Crespo et al 2010; Buaruang et al 2015).…”

“…The multilocus data set included 74 sequences from a previous study (Buaruang et al 2015) and 14 sequences generated for this study. Three species of Notoparmelia were used as the outgroup since the genus has been shown to be closely related to Relicina (Crespo et al 2010;Buaruang et al 2015). Information on material studied, including GenBank Accession numbers, is reported in Table 1.…”

“…This genus includes c. 54 species (Thell et al 2012) with a centre of distribution in South-East Asia and Australasia (Hale 1975;Elix 1993). In a recent study, Relicina and Relicinopsis formed a well-supported sister-group relationship, although the taxon sampling was limited and monophyly was not supported in an mtSSU single locus phylogeny (Buaruang et al 2015). Moreover, the distinction of the two genera was supported in the '1GENE' data analysis by Crespo et al (2010).…”