Biology:Verseghya
Verseghya is a small genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Pertusariaceae. It has two species.[1] The genus was established in 2016 and named after the Hungarian lichenologist Klára Verseghy for her contributions to lichen science. These rock-dwelling lichens form thin grey to greenish crusts that start as scattered granules before developing into smooth continuous sheets, sometimes with small bumps or wart-like formations.
Taxonomy
The genus was circumscribed in 2016 by lichenologists Sergey Kondratyuk, Laszlo Lőkös, and Jae-Seoun Hur, with Verseghya klarae assigned as the type species. Both the genus name and species epithet of the type honour Hungarian lichenologist Klára Verseghy (1930–2020), who, according to the authors, "has made important contributions to our knowledge on species diversity of the genus Ochrolechia".[2]
Molecular phylogenetic analysis showed that Verseghya klarae occupied a separate phylogenetic branch in the Pertusariaceae, situated between the genera Ochrolechia and Pertusaria and the Lecanora subcarnea species complex.[2] Verseghya thysanophora was transferred to the genus (from Lecanora) in 2019.[3]
Description
Verseghya lichens begin as a barely visible film of scattered [[Glossary of lichen terms#{{biology:{1}}}|{{Biology:{1}}}]] that soon coalesce into a smooth, continuous crust (thallus) hugging the rock surface. Around the margin the thallus remains paper-thin, but towards the centre it thickens and develops gentle undulations or wart-like bumps, sometimes breaking into pseudo-[[Glossary of lichen terms#{{biology:{1}}}|{{Biology:{1}}}]] (small cracked islands). Unlike many related genera the surface lacks a protective outer skin or [[Glossary of lichen terms#{{biology:{1}}}|{{Biology:{1}}}]] (it is [[Glossary of lichen terms#{{biology:{1}}}|{{Biology:{1}}}]]) and never produces powdery soredia for vegetative spread ([[Glossary of lichen terms#{{biology:{1}}}|{{Biology:{1}}}]]). Colours range from grey to greenish, bluish, or whitish grey. A white, cobweb-like [[Glossary of lichen terms#{{biology:{1}}}|{{Biology:{1}}}]] often extends beyond the main body and may be interrupted by faint blackish rings. Sexual fruit-bodies (apothecia) are usually sparse and extremely variable in shape. Each has a [[Glossary of lichen terms#{{biology:{1}}}|thallus-derived rim]] (lecanorine margin) that becomes irregularly wavy, enclosing a pale brown to dull pinkish-brown [[Glossary of lichen terms#{{biology:{1}}}|{{Biology:{1}}}]] that is initially concave, later flattening out and often dusted with a fine white bloom ([[Glossary of lichen terms#{{biology:{1}}}|{{Biology:{1}}}]]).[2]
In section the apothecial rim shows a dark cortical layer that lightens when treated with potassium hydroxide solution, while the [[Glossary of lichen terms#{{biology:{1}}}|{{Biology:{1}}}]] beneath is thin and almost indistinct. The spore-bearing tissue (hymenium) contains loosely arranged, gel-sheathed paraphyses and club-shaped asci of the Pertusaria type, each normally with eight ascospores but frequently found empty or with collapsed spores. The ascospores are large for the family, hyaline, ellipsoid, and usually divided into unequal cells by one or two septa; they may house a single large oil droplet and have walls up to 1 μm thick. Asexual reproduction occurs in immersed pycnidia that release long, thread-like ([[Glossary of lichen terms#{{biology:{1}}}|{{Biology:{1}}}]]) curved conidia. Chemically the genus is characterised by usnic acid, which lends a yellow-green tinge, and zeorine, both detectable by thin-layer chromatography.[2]
Habitat and distribution
The type species, V. klarae, is found in South Korea, where it grows on the bark of a wide variety of both deciduous and coniferous trees.[2] Verseghya thysanophora is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere.[3]
Species interactions
Nectriopsis verseghyae-klarae is a lichenicolous fungus that parasitises Verseghya klarae.[4]
Species
- Verseghya klarae S.Y.Kondr., Lőkös & Hur (2016) – South Korea
- Verseghya thysanophora (R.C.Harris) S.Y.Kondr., Lőkös, Farkas & Hur (2019) – widespread in Northern Hemisphere
References
- ↑ "Verseghya". Species 2000: Leiden, the Netherlands. https://www.catalogueoflife.org/data/taxon/86G3.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Kondratyuk, S.Y.; Lőkös, L.; Halda, J.P.; Haji Moniri, M.; Farkas, E.; Park, J.S.; Lee, B.G.; Oh, S.O. et al. (2016). "New and noteworthy lichen-forming and lichenicolous fungi 4". Acta Botanica Hungarica 58 (1–2): 75–136. doi:10.1556/034.58.2016.1-2.4. http://real.mtak.hu/35666/1/034.58.2016.1-2.4.pdf.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Kondratyuk, S. Y.; Lőkös, L.; Jang, S.-H.; Hur, J.-S.; Farkas, E. (2019). "Phylogeny and taxonomy of Polyozosia, Sedelnikovaea and Verseghya of the Lecanoraceae (Lecanorales, lichen-forming Ascomycota)". Acta Botanica Hungarica 61 (1–2): 137–184. doi:10.1556/034.61.2019.1-2.9. http://real.mtak.hu/93957/1/034.61.2019.1-2.9.pdf.
- ↑ Diederich, Paul; Lawrey, James D.; Ertz, Damien (2018). "The 2018 classification and checklist of lichenicolous fungi, with 2000 non-lichenized, obligately lichenicolous taxa". The Bryologist 121 (3): 340–425 [382]. doi:10.1639/0007-2745-121.3.340. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328374342.
Wikidata ☰ Q115804402 entry
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