Austroparmelina, a new Australasian lineage in parmelioid lichens (Parmeliaceae, Ascomycota)

Abstract

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.

Key words:

• Ascomycota
• Austroparmelina
• cryptic variation
• excipulum as a taxonomic character
• ITS
• molecular phylogeny
• mt SSU
• multiple loci
• new genus
• nu LSU
• Parmeliaceae

Acknowledgements

The authors thank two anonymous referees for improving the manuscript. This work was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (CGL 2007-64652/BOS, CGL2008-01125-E/BOS), Ramon y Cajal grant (RYC02007-01576) to PKD and FPU grant to ZF. DNA extraction and PCR amplification was performed in SYSTEMOL lab (UCM Madrid). Sequencing was carried out in the Centro de Genómica y Proteómica del Parque Científico de Madrid and M. Isabel García Saez is especially thanked.