Message - 7th IAL Symposium

4A-O
Lichen: from genome to ecosystem in a changing world
(4A-O2) Submission ID: IAL0110-00001
PHYLOGENY AND TAXONOMY OF THE TELOSCHISTACEAE (ASCOMYCOTA):
IMPORTANCE OF MONOPHYLETIC GROUPS
Kondratyuk S. Y. 1 , Kärnefelt I. 2 , Elix J. A. 3 , Hur J. 4 , Thell A. 2
1 Lichenology and Bryology, M.H. Kholodny Institute of Botany, Kiev, Ukraine
2 Lund University, The Biological Museums, Lund, Sweden
3 Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
4 Sunchon National University, Korean Lichen Research Institute, Sunchon, Korea
The molecular phylogeny of the Parmeliaceae, Physciaceae, Caliciaceae and other families of lichenforming
fungi is based on polyphasic approach using up to six or seven different genes of nuclear and mitochondrial
DNA. As a consequence the taxonomy of these families is now built upon correlation analysis of molecular
data with morphological, anatomical, and chemical characters of robust monophyletic groups of species as well
as on revision of species composition, ecological and geographical features of such monophyletic groups. Unfortunately,
monophyletic groups of the Teloschistaceae are hitherto neglected. Their analysis is rather limited.
So, the majority of phylogenetic analyses of the Teloschistaceae deal with small species groups (especially of
Caloplaca) and based only on ITS1/ITS2 sequences of nuclear DNA as the main molecular tool. There are few
reports of polyphasic molecular data having been used in such phylogenetic analyses. Such investigations have
indicated that the currently accepted genera Caloplaca, Fulgensia, Xanthoria, and Teloschistes are polyphyletic
and the delineation of Caloplaca and Xanthoria and of Caloplaca and Fulgensia is problematic. The main purpose
of the present study was the comparative analysis of molecular data with morphological, anatomical, and
chemical characters of selected monophyletic groups of the Teloschistaceae. Well defined monophyletic groups
within species groups like those of Caloplaca cerina, C. saxicola, C. regalis, C. ferruginea, C. variabilis and Fulgensia
fulgens [some of which are type species of different genera proposed in ‘premolecular time’] are found to
be distributed among other monophyletic branches of the xanthorioid lichens following analysis of nuclear and
mitochondrial molecular data. As a consequence generic names proposed for the above species groups can
be used together with Caloplaca s.str., Teloschistes, Seirophora and Fulgensia. However, following molecular
analysis such groups/genera as Blastenia, Pyrenodesmia and the Caloplaca saxicola- group include far fewer
species than was proposed from morphological segregation in the ‘premolecular’ period. Alternatively, molecular
data confirms that the morphological defined groups (i.e. Blastenia, Pyrenodesmia, Thamnonoma etc.) are just
as polyphyletic as the genera Teloschistes, Seirophora and Fulgensia.
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