title: Introduction of saxicolous lichens distributed in coastal rocks of U-do islet in Jeju, Korea.
abstract: This study reports, for the first time, the investigation of the distribution of Korean saxicolous lichens in the coastal rocks of U-do islet, which is known as an unpolluted zone in Jeju. More than thirty lichens were obtained and investigated from the coastal rocks frequently contacted by seawater. A molecular analysis using PCR amplification of the rRNA ITS regions revealed the coastal rock lichens could be placed into 8 families and 14 genera, Ramalinaceae (Bacidia, Ramalina), Physciaceae (Buellia, Dirinaria, Phaeophyscia, Physcia, Pyxine), Lecanoraceae (Candelaria, Lecanora), Parmeliaceae (Xanthoparmelia), Graphidaceae (Graphis), Pertusariaceae (Pertusaria), Rhizocarpaceae (Rhizocarpon), and Teloschistaceae (Caloplaca), showing a diversity of lichens, with foliose (flat leaf-like), crustose (crust-like), and fruticose (miniature shrub-like) life forms might be distributed in the coastal rocks. These findings suggested the possibility that the lichens identified in the present work might be resistant to a salty environment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Education, Sunchon National University, 315 Maegok-dong, Suncheon 540-742, Republic of Korea. kahng@sunchon.ac.kr
authors.forename: Hyung-Yeel
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Kahng
authors.forename: Byoung-Jun
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.forename: Sung-Hyun
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Duck-Ja
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Jae-Seoun
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Hur
authors.forename: Hyun-Woo
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Eui-Sung
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Kye-Heon
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Young Jin
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Koh
mesh_terms: D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000032:analysis / Q000382:microbiology*; D007723:Korea; D008011:Lichens / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012623:Seawater