Institut für Pflanzenwissenschaften

The monotypic genus Culbersonia Essl. was established by Esslinger ('2000'/2001) based on the newly described taxon C. americana Essl. One year later, Esslinger (2002) uncovered the synonymy with Pyxine nubila Moberg, described by Moberg (1980), and transferred it to the new genus. Up to now Culbersonia nubila (Moberg) Essl. was known from a few localities in Peru, Kenya, Ethiopia, Tasmania, Saudi Arabia and the USA (Arizona). During studies by the first and second authors on the lichen genus Pyxine Fr. from the Tibetan region, three specimens of Culbersonia nubila from different localities (several hundred kilometres apart) were found. A search for further unpublished material, using the Global Biodiversity Information Facility website (http://www.gbif. org/), yielded additional specimens from South Africa and South America. Culbersonia nubila is a foliose, sorediate lichen (Figs 1A, 2A, 2B) with a greyish colour (often with a bluish tint), pruinose (Fig. 1B), commonly radially spreading lobes (Figs 1A, 2A), two-celled brown spores (16-20 × 5-9 µm; only two fertile specimens with one apothecium each are hitherto known), and cylindrical to weakly fusiform pycnoconidia (5-6•5 × 1 µm). It was originally placed in the genus Pyxine mainly because of the K+ purple reaction of the epithecium, which is supposed to be rather uncommon within the Physciaceae. In contrast to all other species of the genus Pyxine, Culbersonia nubila lacks any acetone-soluble lichen substances, a fact which we have confirmed by our own TLC investigations. The acetone insoluble bluishgrey cortical pigment with a K+ purple-violet

15 specimens of Buellia centralis and 106 specimens of Dimelaena oreina from Tibet and other Central Asian regions have been studied chemically. Buellia centralis contains rhizocarpic, hypoprotocetraric and nornotatic acid. Molecular analyses revealed its taxonomic position within the core group of Buellia. Except for chemotype IV (gyrophoric acid and fumarprotocetraric acid) and VI (sphaerophorin and gyrophoric acid), all hitherto known chemotypes of Dimelaena oreina are present in the study area. Due to the occurrence of hypostictic acid (accompanied by stictic acid) as a major compound in Dimelaena oreina, a new chemotype (Vb) is defined. The use of just a single areola for TLC-investigations confirmed this new chemotype as well as the existence of chemotypes IV (gyrophoric acid and fumarprotocetraric acid), chemotype VII (stictic acid and gyrophoric acid), and the newly recognised (sub-)chemotypes of chemotype II (chemotype IIa with gyrophoric acid and chemotype IIb with ovoic acid in addition to gyrophoric acid).

The crustose lichen genus Mycoblastus in the Northern Hemisphere includes eight recognized species sharing large, simple ascospores produced 1–2 per ascus in strongly pigmented biatorine apothecia. The monophyly of Mycoblastus and the relationship of its various species to Tephromelataceae have never been studied in detail. Data from ITS rDNA and the genes coding for translation elongation factor 1-α and DNA replication licensing factor mini-chromosome maintenance complex 7 support the distinctness of Mycoblastus s. str. from the core of the Tephromelataceae, but recover M. fucatus and an undescribed Asian species as strongly supported within the latter group. We propose accommodating these two species in a new genus, Violella, which is characterized by its brownish inner ascospore walls, Fucatus-violet hymenial pigment granules and secondary chemistry, and discuss the position of Violella relative to Calvitimela and Tephromela. We describe the new species Violella wangii T. Sprib. ...

The new species Miriquidica invadens Hafellner, Obermayer & Tretiach is described and reported from Austria, Bulgaria, Italy, Switzerland, France and Spain. From a morphological point of view the species belongs to the M. griseoatra group, in which it is, so far, the only constantly lichenicolous taxon. Chemically it is characterized by the regular presence of miriquidic acid, stictic acid, and constictic acid (in variable amounts). It starts its ontogenetic life cycle as an obligate youth parasite on Sporastatia, usually S. polyspora.Morpho-anatomical treatments of other species of the Miriquidica griseoatra group occurring in Europe, based on the examination of type material, are also presented. According to the characters exhibited by the lectotype of Lecidea contigua var. griseoatra Flot., M. griseoatra (Flot.) Hertel & Rambold is the correct name for a montane species with subdivided areoles and immersed, laterally adnate apothecia with a pigmented hypothecium. Specimens exhibi...

15 specimens of Buellia centralis and 106 specimens of Dimelaena oreina from Tibet and other Central Asian regions have been studied chemically. Buellia centralis contains rhizocarpic, hypoprotocetraric and nornotatic acid. Molecular analyses revealed its taxonomic position within the core group of Buellia. Except for chemotype IV (gyrophoric acid and fumarprotocetraric acid) and VI (sphaerophorin and gyrophoric acid), all hitherto known chemotypes of Dimelaena oreina are present in the study area. Due to the occurrence of hypostictic acid (accompanied by stictic acid) as a major compound in Dimelaena oreina, a new chemotype (Vb) is defined. The use of just a single areola for TLC-investigations confirmed this new chemotype as well as the existence of chemotypes IV (gyrophoric acid and fumarprotocetraric acid), chemotype VII (stictic acid and gyrophoric acid), and the newly recognised (sub-)chemotypes of chemotype II (chemotype IIa with gyrophoric acid and chemotype IIb with ovoic acid in addition to gyrophoric acid).

In the present study, we describe the new species, Psora altotibetica, from nine localities in China (Tibetan area) and Nepal. The study includes analyses of anatomy, secondary chemistry, and DNA sequence data of P. altotibetica and presumed close relatives. Psora altotibetica resembles P. indigirkae morphologically, but is phylogenetically closer to P. tenuifolia and P. vallesiaca. It differs from P. indigirkae in the colour of the apothecia, the size of the ascospores, and in the secondary chemistry. The species is terricolous and was collected in the alpine zone of the Great Himalayas between 4230 and 5000 m altitude. Psora tenuifolia and P. vallesiaca are here reported as new to China and the Himalayas.

Imaging mass spectrometry techniques have become a powerful strategy to assess the spatial distribution of metabolites in biological systems. Based on auto-ionisability of lichen metabolites using LDI-MS, we herein image the distribution of major secondary metabolites (specialized metabolites) from the lichen Ophioparma ventosa by LDI-MSI (Mass Spectrometry Imaging). Such technologies offer tremendous opportunities to discuss the role of natural products through spatial mapping, their distribution patterns being consistent with previous chemical ecology reports. A special attention was dedicated to miriquidic acid, an unexpected molecule we first reported in Ophioparma ventosa. The analytical strategy presented herein offers new perspectives to access the sharp distribution of lichen metabolites from regular razor blade-sectioned slices.

The new depsidone 2-hydroxyvirensic acid (4-formyl-2,3,8-trihydroxy-1,6,9-trimethyl-11-oxo-11H-dibenzo[b,e][1,4]dioxepin-7-carboxylic acid) (6) has been isolated from a chemical race of the lichen Sulcaria sulcataand the structure (6) deduced from a combination of spectroscopic data.

The ‘competition-relatedness’ hypothesis postulates that co-occurring taxa should be more distantly related, because of lower competition. This hypothesis has been criticized for its dependence on untested assumptions and its exclusion of other assembly forces beyond competition and habitat filtering to explain the co-existence of closely related taxa. Here we analyzed the patterns of co-occurring individuals of lichenized fungi in the Graphis scripta complex, a monophyletic group of species occurring in temperate forests throughout the Northern Hemisphere. We generated sequences for three nuclear ribosomal and protein markers (nuLSU, RPB2, EF-1) and combined them with previously generated sequences to reconstruct an updated phylogeny for the complex. The resulting phylogeny was used to determine the patterns of co-occurrences at regional and at sample (tree) scales by calculating standard effect size of mean pairwise distance (SES.MPD) among co-occurring samples to determine whethe...

Based on the analysis of both historical and recent collections, this paper reports an annotated list of taxa which are new to the lichen biota of Italy or of its administrative regions. Specimens were identified using a dissecting and a compound microscope; routine chemical spot tests and standardized thin-layer chromatography (TLC or HPTLC). The list includes 225 records of 153 taxa. Twenty taxa are new to Italy, the others are new to one or more administrative regions, with 15 second records and 5 third records for Italy. Some of the species belong to recently-described taxa, others are poorly known, sterile or ephemeral lichens which were largely overlooked in Italy. Several species are actually rare, either because of the rarity of their habitats (e.g. old-growth forests), or because in Italy they are at the margins of their bioclimatic distribution. The picture of the lichen biota of Italy has now new pixels, but its grain is still coarse. Further analysis of historical collec...

15 specimens of Buellia centralis and 106 specimens of Dimelaena oreina from Tibet and other Central Asian regions have been studied chemically. Buellia centralis contains rhizo-carpic, hypoprotocetraric and nornotatic acid. Molecular analyses revealed its taxonomic posi-tion within the core group of Buellia. Except for chemotype IV (gyrophoric acid and fumar-protocetraric acid) and VI (sphaerophorin and gyrophoric acid), all hitherto known chemo-types of Dimelaena oreina are present in the study area. Due to the occurrence of hypostictic acid (accompanied by stictic acid) as a major compound in Dimelaena oreina, a new chemo-type (Vb) is defined. The use of just a single areola for TLC-investigations confirmed this new chemotype as well as the existence of chemotypes IV (gyrophoric acid and fumarprotocetraric acid), chemotype VII (stictic acid and gyrophoric acid), and the newly recognised (sub-)chem-otypes of chemotype II (chemotype IIa with gyrophoric acid and chemotype IIb with o...

Obermayer W., Witzmann M. & McCune B. 2018: Hypogymnia caperatica, a new species from the Hengduan Shan area (easternmost Tibetan region), with notes on some rare taxa from the greater Tibetan region and Bhutan.-Herzogia 31: 677-694. Hypogymnia caperatica, which contains caperatic acid as a major lichen substance in the medulla, is described as new from the Hengduan Shan area (southeasternmost boundaries of the Tibetan plateau). The aliphatic acid caperatic acid is reported for the first time from the genus Hypogymnia. The occurrence of fatty acids in the genus Hypogymnia is generally discussed. The very rare lichen Hypogymnia sikkimensis, hitherto only known from two localities in Sikkim, as well as Hypogymnia diffractaica and H. hengduanensis are reported as new for the Kingdom of Bhutan. Hypogymnia capitata, known from the type and paratype specimens only, is reported from three further localities in the East Tibetan region.

A floristic survey of the yellow cetrarioid lichens containing usnic acid (fam. Parmeliaceae, lichenized Ascomycota) which are found in Tibet and neighbouring areas is presented. Typical characters, chemical constituents and distribution data are reported for all 26 species from seven genera (Allocetraria, Cetraria, Cetreliopsis, Flavocetraria, Nephromopsis, Tuckneraria and Vulpicida). Complete descriptions are provided for several taxa which have not been included in recent reviews of the cetrarioid genera. Two identification keys for taxa - both at generic and species level - have been compiled. Worldwide distribution maps are presented for the first time for some Allocetraria, Cetraria, Cetreliopsis and Tuckneraria species.

Hafellner, J. & Obermayer, W. 2009. The role of Paranectria oropensis in community dynamics of epiphyte synusia on roadside trees. - Herzogia 22: 177-190. It is documented from a study site in the city of Graz (Austria, Styria) that beside the corticioid basidiomycete Athelia arachnoidea, the lichenicolous hypocrealean pyrenomycete Paranectria oropensis can play a comparably important role in opening lichen synusia on bark. Shortly after the death and the splitting off of the remnants of lichen thalli caused by an invasion with Paranectria oropensis, a recolonisation of the bare bark areas can be observed. Zusammenfassung: Hafellner, J. & Obermayer, W. 2009. Die Rolle von Paranectria oropensis in der Gesellschaftsdynamik von Epiphytensynusien an Alleebaumen. - Herzogia 22: 177-190. In einer in Graz (Osterreich, Steiermark) durchgefuhrten Studie wird gezeigt, dass der hypocreale Pyrenomyzet Paranectria oropensis bei der Offnung von borkenbewohnenden Flechtensynusien eine ahnlich bede...

Zusammenfassung: Die Arten der Gattung Arthrorhaphis Th. Fr. werden für Europa und Gränland revidiert. Es werden fünf auf Artniveau stehende Sippen anerkannt: Arthrorhaphis a/pina (Schaerer) R. Santesson in D. Hawksworth, P . James & Coppins, A . citrinella (Acharius) Poelt, A . grisea Th. Fries, A . muddii W. Obermayer und A. vacillans Th. Fries & Almquist ex Th. Fries. Arthrorhaphis juscoreagens (Vainio) Poelt wird mit A. grisea synonymisiert, Arthrorhaphis muddii W. Obermayer (bisher häufig als A. juscoreagens bestimmt) wird als eine auf Dibaeis baeomyces (Syn.: Baeomyces roseus} wachsende Sippe neu beschrieben . Von Arthrorhaphis a/pina, A . citrinella und A . grisea werden Lectotypen ausgewählt. Das Auftreten von Calcium-Oxalat-Kristallen in der Medulla erweist sich als ein wichtiges diagnostisches Differentialmerkmal, das auch sterile Lager von Arthrorhaphis alpina und A. cacillans (mit Kristallen) gegen A. citrinella-Thalli (ohne Medullarkristalle) abgrenzen läßt. -Der Befall...

15 specimens of Buellia centralis and 106 specimens of Dimelaena oreina from Tibet and other Central Asian regions have been studied chemically. Buellia centralis contains rhizocarpic, hypoprotocetraric and nornotatic acid. Molecular analyses revealed its taxonomic position within the core group of Buellia. Except for chemotype IV (gyrophoric acid and fumarprotocetraric acid) and VI (sphaerophorin and gyrophoric acid), all hitherto known chemotypes of Dimelaena oreina are present in the study area. Due to the occurrence of hypostictic acid (accompanied by stictic acid) as a major compound in Dimelaena oreina, a new chemotype (Vb) is defined. The use of just a single areola for TLC-investigations confirmed this new chemotype as well as the existence of chemotypes IV (gyrophoric acid and fumarprotocetraric acid), chemotype VII (stictic acid and gyrophoric acid), and the newly recognised (sub-)chemotypes of chemotype II (chemotype IIa with gyrophoric acid and chemotype IIb with ovoic a...

ABSlRACT: Sb!: species of the genus Rinodina with thali andIOf discs PO+ orange due to the presence of pannarin are hlf1eIto recognized in Eurasia. Ooe is saxicolous, R. sarfloOO9nsis, and live are corticolous, R. datnatica, R. eftIot'escens, R. &Xt:tBSCenS, R. granuIans and R. pnMeIJa. Notes on lhe IIDCOI'lomy 01 R. granulans are pf"O'llkKld. Descriptions and illustrations of this species and lhe also poor1y oodemood R. BXCr6SC6f1S are included. A key 10 the treated species is given. Other known specles contalning pannarin are briefIy discussed.

OBERMAYER, W. & KANTVILAS, G. 2003. The identity of the lichens Siphula himalayensis and Lecanora teretiuscula. - Herzogia 16: 27-34. The lichens Siphula himalayensis (Rasanen) Kantvilas and Lecanora teretiuscula Zahlbr., both recorded from the southeastern Himalayas and adjacent Tibetan regions, are regarded as conspecific with the widespread Arctic-alpine species Lecanora geophila (Th.Fr.) Poelt. The chemical constituents of this lichen include usnic acid, zeorin, traces of methylplacodiolic acid, some fatty acids and, frequently in Asian specimens, porphyrilic acid. The development of a fruticose habit by normally crustose genera and species growing under extreme environmental conditions is discussed briefly. Zusammenfassung: OBERMAYER, W. & KANTVILAS, G. 2003. Die Identitat der Flechten Siphula himalayensis und Lecanora teretiuscula. - Herzogia 16: 27-34. Die Flechtentaxa Siphula himalayensis (Rasanen) Kantvilas und Lecanora teretiuscula Zahlbr., die beide aus dem Sudost-Himalay...

More than 200 thalli of Sulcaria sulcata (lichenized Ascomycotina) from southeastern Tibet and adjacent regions have been analyzed chemically. Six major chemical races were detected, characterized by the occurrence of the following major compounds: psoromic acid (chemical race 1a), 2-methoxypsoromic acid (2a), 2-hydroxyvirensic acid (3a; often in combination with 2-hydroxyconvirensic acid), virensic acid (3b), and vulpinic acid, the latter in combination with either psoromic acid (1b) or 2-methoxypsoromic acid (2b).