title: New insights into diversity and selectivity of trentepohlialean lichen photobionts from the extratropics.
abstract: Aerial green algae of Trentepohliaceae can form conspicuous free-living colonies, be parasites of plants or photobionts of lichen-forming ascomycetes. So far, their diversity in temperate regions is still poorly known as it has been mostly studied by phenotypic approaches only. We present new insights in the phylogenetic relationships of lichenized representatives from temperate and Mediterranean parts of Europe by analysis of 18S rRNA andrbcL gene fragments, and nuclear ITS sequence data. For this purpose we isolated the trentepohlialean photobionts from lichens representing different genera. Algal cultures from lichenized and free-living Trentepohliaceae were used to design new primers for amplification of the marker loci. We constructed a phylogenetic hypothesis to reveal the phylogenetic placements of lichenized lineages with 18S rRNA andrbcL sequences. ITS variation among the clades was substantial and did not allow including them in the general phylogenetic assessment, yet ITS appears to be a promising marker for DNA-barcoding approaches. Specific algae were found in particular lichen but the overall diversity of photobionts was limited. The multilocus tree does not support the current morphological classification of genera in Trentepohliaceae, suggesting that morphology is more variable than previously thought in this group of algae.
authors: Department of Organismic Biology, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunnerstraße 34, 5020 Salzburg, Austria.
authors: Christina
authors: C
authors: Hametner
authors: Department of Organismic Biology, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunnerstraße 34, 5020 Salzburg, Austria.
authors: Elfriede
authors: E
authors: Stocker-Wörgötter
authors: Department of Plant Science, Karl-Franzens-University of Graz, Holteigasse 6, 8010 Graz, Austria.
authors: Martin
authors: M
authors: Grube
keywords: ITS region; Lichen symbioses; Photobionts; Phylogeny; Temperate regions; Trentepohliaceae