title: Expansion of the Stictidaceae by the addition of the saxicolous lichen-forming genus Ingvariella.
abstract: The monotypic, lichen-forming genus Ingvariella originally was segregated from Diploschistes and placed within the Thelotremataceae (Ostropales) based on aspects of exciple morphology. However, the I+ hymenium and amyloid ascus wall suggest affinities to families other than the Thelotremataceae. To assess the identity of Ingvariella and to investigate its placement within the Ostropales, we inferred phylogenetic relationships of I. bispora by comparison of mtSSU rDNA and nuLSU rDNA sequences for 59 species encompassing a broad array of ostropalean fungi by means of Bayesian, maximum likelihood and weighted maximum parsimony methods. Here we report that Ingvariella is a member of the Stictidaceae, sister to the mainly saprotrophic genus Cryptodiscus. The inclusion of the first saxicolous lichen-forming fungus within this family expands the broad ecological diversity of the Stictidaceae, where saprotrophic fungi, corticicolous lichen-forming fungi and lichenized and non-lichenized conspecific taxa have been described previously. We also present new insights into the relationships among other families within the Ostropales.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology (Botany Unit), Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Avenida Diagonal 645, 08028 Barcelona, Spain. sfernandezbrime@ub.edu
authors.forename: Samantha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fernández-Brime
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Llimona
authors.forename: Katalin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Molnar
authors.forename: Soili
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stenroos
authors.forename: Filip
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Högnabba
authors.forename: Curtis
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Björk
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lutzoni
authors.forename: Ester
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gaya
mesh_terms: D001203:Ascomycota / Q000145:classification* / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000235:genetics; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D008011:Lichens / Q000145:classification* / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004271:DNA, Fungal; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal