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The Lichen Connections of Black Fungi

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Abstract

Many black meristematic fungi persist on rock surfaces—hostile and exposed habitats where high doses of radiation and periods of desiccation alternate with rain and temperature extremes. To cope with these extremes, rock-inhabiting black fungi show phenotypic plasticity and produce melanin as cell wall pigments. The rather slow growth rate seems to be an additional prerequisite to oligotrophic conditions. At least some of these fungi can undergo facultative, lichen-like associations with photoautotrophs. Certain genera presenting different lifestyles are phylogenetic related among the superclass Dothideomyceta. In this paper, we focus on the genus Lichenothelia, which includes border-line lichens, that is, associations of melanised fungi with algae without forming proper lichen thalli. We provide a first phylogenetic hypothesis to show that Lichenothelia belongs to the superclass Dothideomyceta. Further, culture experiments revealed the presence of co-occurring fungi in Lichenothelia thalli. These fungi are related to plant pathogenic fungi (Mycosphaerellaceae) and to other rock-inhabiting lineages (Teratosphaeriaceae). The Lichenothelia thallus-forming fungi represent therefore consortia of different black fungal strains. Our results suggest a common link between rock-inhabiting meristematic and lichen-forming lifestyles of ascomycetous fungi.

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Acknowledgments

LM and MG are grateful to the Austrian Science Foundation for financial support (FWF P24114). We thank Cene Gostinčar and Josef Hafellner for constructive discussions and Jana Kocourková for field co-work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Plant Sciences, Karl-Franzens-University Graz, Holteigasse 6, 8010, Graz, Austria

    Lucia Muggia & Martin Grube

  2. Department of Life Science, University of Trieste, Via L. Giorgieri 10, Trieste, Italy

    Lucia Muggia

  3. Department of Life Science, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, SW7 5BD, London, UK

    Cecile Gueidan

  4. The Herbarium, Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA

    Kerry Knudsen

  5. UNC Herbarium, North Carolina Botanical Garden, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-3280, USA

    Gary Perlmutter

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  1. Lucia Muggia
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  5. Martin Grube
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Correspondence to Lucia Muggia.

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Muggia, L., Gueidan, C., Knudsen, K. et al. The Lichen Connections of Black Fungi. Mycopathologia 175, 523–535 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-012-9598-8

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