Phylogenetic revision of South American Teloschistaceae (lichenized Ascomycota, Teloschistales) reveals three new genera and species

ABSTRACT

Members of the poorly investigated family Teloschistaceae in South America, mostly from Bolivia and Peru, were examined using molecular and morphological data here for the first time. In recent phylogenetic reclassifications of Teloschistaceae, South American representatives were poorly represented but shown to belong to subfamilies Teloschistoideae and Xanthorioideae. In this study, we expanded the sampling of South American taxa and investigated mainly the lobate, sublobate, and squamulose members of Caloplaca s.l., using morphological characters and a molecular phylogeny based on a combined three-locus data set (one mitochondrial and two nuclear loci). Building upon new phylogenies at the family and subfamily levels (Teloschistoideae), we propose here three new genera: Andina, Aridoplaca, and Cinnabaria, with the type species Andina citrinoides, Aridoplaca peltata, and Cinnabaria boliviana. We also propose to reduce Tarasginia to synonymy with Sirenophila and Tayloriellina to synonymy with Villophora and introduce three new combinations: Dufourea ottolangei, D. volkmarwirthii, and Villophora erythrosticta. Scutaria andina is reported as new to Bolivia. A critical revision of the subfamily Brownlielloideae confirmed recent findings that it is an artifactual taxon based on a “chimeric” data set, with the type genus being part of Teloschistoideae.

KEYWORDS:

• Bolivia
• ITS
• lichenized fungi
• molecular phylogeny
• mtSSU
• nuclear 28S
• Peru
• ribosomal DNA
• South America
• Teloschistoideae
• 9 new taxa

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The reviewers are acknowledged for constructive suggestions on the manuscript. We thank the curators of herbaria: B, BM, C, E, F, G, LD, M, MEL, MIN, S, and UPS, who sent large quantities of specimens on loan. A. Flakus (IB PAS, Krakow) is acknowledged for providing his valuable tropical Caloplaca s.l. collection for our investigation and sequencing. L. Śliwa (IB PAS, Krakow) is thanked for her first reading and valuable comments on the manuscript. K.W. is also grateful to M. Kościelniak-Owczarek, P. Rodriguez Flakus (IB PAS, Krakow), and R. Hill (RBG, Kew) for their generous help during training in molecular taxonomy. N. Matura (IB PAS, Krakow) is thanked for her help during verification of DNA sequences. We thank the staff of the Herbario Nacional de Bolivia, Universidad Mayor de San Andrés (LPB), for collaboration and invaluable help during field work.

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Funding

Financial support was provided to K.W. by the National Science Centre (NCN, grant no. N N303 821740) and statutory funds by the W. Szafer Institute of Botany, Polish Academy of Sciences.