Remarkable cases of parallel evolution of the placodioid thallus growth form in theLecanographaceae(Arthoniales) with the description of a new species ofAlyxoriafrom Mexico

Abstract

The new species Alyxoria sierramadrensis is described from Mexico where it inhabits limestone rocks. The lichen developing from this fungus is characterized by a placodioid to subfoliose thallus with a white pruinose surface; rounded to shortly elongated ascomata with a black epruinose margin and a widely exposed, white pruinose hymenial disc; hyaline, 3-septate ascospores, 17–25 × 7–9 μm; the presence of anthraquinones rendering the medulla orange. Phylogenetic analyses of nuLSU, mtSSU and RPB2 sequences place this species in the genus Alyxoria (Lecanographaceae). This generic affiliation is surprising because all known Alyxoria species have a crustose thallus. Lecanographaceae mainly includes species without a thallus (lichenicolous taxa) or with a thin crustose thallus, the only exception being Simonyella variegata with a fruticose thallus. The new species belongs to the Alyxoria ochrocheila subgroup, which includes lichens also frequently known to have anthraquinones, white pruinose hymenial discs and 3-septate ascospores. Phylogenetic analyses further determined the systematic position of the monotypic genus Phoebus. This genus, considered as an Arthoniales of uncertain family affiliation, is shown to belong to the Lecanographaceae. With its placodioid thallus, it is another example of a lichenized fungus with a deviating morphology in thallus structure for the family, increasing the number of remarkable cases of parallel evolution of lichen growth forms within the Arthoniales. Phoebus hydrophobius is newly recorded for Mexico.

Múltiples registros nuevos de hongos liquenizados para Aguascalientes, con la evaluación del estado de conservación de dos especies endémicas de México

“…Después de este trabajo, se pueden encontrar algunas contribuciones importantes al conocimiento de los hongos liquenizados, como la revisión de la familia Parmeliaceae que actualiza los registros y la distribución de las especies presentes en México (Herrera-Campos et al 2016). Más adelante se da a conocer la publicación de especies nuevas dentro de los géneros Cora (Lücking et al 2016, Moncada et al 2019, Gymnographopsis, Redonographa (Miranda-González et al 2020) y Alyxoria (Ertz et al 2020) a partir de material recolectado en diferentes estados del país.…”