Gyalideopsis

Gyalideopsis
Gyalideopsis buckii
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Lecanoromycetes
Order: Graphidales
Family: Gomphillaceae
Genus: Gyalideopsis
Vèzda (1972)
Type species
Gyalideopsis peruviana
G.Merr. ex Vězda (1972)
Synonyms[1]

Gyalideopsis is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Gomphillaceae. Gyalideopsis species form delicate, film-like crusts on a wide variety of surfaces including tree bark, rocks, and mosses, often in tropical and temperate forests worldwide. Species in the genus produce distinctive small, scale-like structures called hyphophores, which are thought to aid in asexual reproduction where ascospore-producing structures are absent or uncommon. Members of this genus lack the distinctive chemical compounds found in many other lichens, making them reliant on microscopic features and spore characteristics for scientific identification.

Taxonomy

Gyalideopsis was erected by the Czech lichenologist Antonín Vězda in 1972, during work towards a revision of the Gyalectaceae and other groups with "gyalectoid" (gyalectacean-like) apothecia (disc-shaped fruiting bodies). Vězda had found two poorly placed species (then known as Gyalecta peruviana and Lecidea athalloides) that resembled Gyalidea in general form and many anatomical traits, but differed in having a dense network of branched, interconnected paraphysoids (sterile filaments in the spore-bearing layer) rather than the unbranched, septate paraphyses typical of Gyalidea. When similar material reached him from Peter W. James in 1970, a comparative study of four taxa led Vězda to treat them as all in the same genus and to publish the new genus Gyalideopsis for them.[3]

In the protologue, Vězda characterised Gyalideopsis as a crustose lichen with a thin, usually unbordered thallus containing a green Trebouxia photobiont, and dark apothecia with a persistent margin. Microscopically, both the apothecial margin (excipulum) and the hymenium are composed of slender hyphae that branch and anastomose in abundant gelatin; the asci have an apical apparatus of the "nasse" type; and the colourless spores are transversely septate or muriform (divided into many small compartments), often slightly constricted at their septa. Vězda designated Gyalideopsis peruviana as the type species.[3]

On the basis of these characters, Vězda proposed placing the genus in the family Asterothyriaceae (as proposed by Rolf Santesson), a group then best known from foliicolous (leaf-dwelling) lichens. He considered Gyalideopsis closest to the asterothyriacean genera Tricharia and Calenia: compared with Tricharia, Gyalideopsis lacks thallus hairs and is not obligatorily leaf-dwelling, while Calenia differs in having apothecia covered by thallus tissue. In its original circumscription, Gyalideopsis contained four species: G. peruviana, G. anastomosans, and G. muscicola (all described as new) and G. athalloides (a new combination).[3]

Description

Gyalideopsis species have a thin, crust-like thallus that often forms a delicate, almost film-like layer over the substrate. The surface is usually smooth, only rarely becoming finely warted, and the thallus tends to spread diffusely rather than forming discrete rosettes. Many species produce distinctive hyphophores—small, erect, scale-like outgrowths thought to function in asexual reproduction where pycnidia are absent. The photosynthetic partner is a trebouxioid green alga (i.e. minute, single-celled algae of the genus Trebouxia or similar).[4]

The sexual reproductive structures are apothecia, typically round and red-brown to almost black. When wetted they swell and become somewhat translucent, and they show a raised rim formed by fungal tissue; there is no thalline margin (the thallus does not wrap around the disc). Internally, both the apothecial rim (true exciple) and the spore-bearing layer (hymenium) are built from a loose, net-like mesh of very fine, branching hyphae embedded in a jelly-like matrix. The asci contain two to eight ascospores, range from cylindrical-club-shaped to egg-shaped, and have a thickened tip; their contents stain wine red in the K/I iodine test (potassium hydroxide pretreatment followed by iodine).[4]

The ascospores are colourless and vary from simply cross-walled to densely muriform, meaning they are divided by many transverse and longitudinal septa into a brick-like pattern. Around each spore there is a perispore (an outer coat) that can be thin or relatively thick. No secondary metabolites have been detected by thin-layer chromatography, so there are no known diagnostic lichen substances in this genus.[4]

Species

As of March 2025, Species Fungorum (in the Catalogue of Life) accepts 52 species of Gyalideopsis.[5]

References

  1. ^ "Synonymy: Gyalideopsis Vězda". Species Fungorum. CAB International. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
  2. ^ Vainio, E.A. "Lichenes Africani Novi" [New African lichens]. Annales Universitatis Fennicae Aboënsis (in Latin). 2 (3 (series A)): 1–33.
  3. ^ a b c d e Vězda, A. (1972). "Flechtensystematische Studien VII. Gyalideopsis, sine neue Flechtengattung" [Lichen systematic studies VII: Gyalideopsis, a new lichen genus]. Folia Geobotanica et Phytotaxonomica (in German). 7 (2): 203–215. doi:10.1007/BF02852033.
  4. ^ a b c Cannon, P.; Coppins, B.; Aptroot, A.; Sanderson, A.; Simkin, J. (2024). "Ostropales genera I, including Absconditella, Belonia, Clathroporinopsis, Corticifraga, Cryptodiscus, Cryptolechia, Francisrosea, Gomphillus, Gyalecta, Gyalidea, Gyalideopsis, Jamesiella, Karstenia, Nanostictis, Neopetractis, Pachyphiale, Petractis, Phialopsis, Phlyctis, Ramonia, Sagiolechia, Secoliga, Sphaeropezia, Spirographa, Stictis, Thelopsis, Thrombium and Xerotrema". Revisions of British and Irish Lichens (PDF). Vol. 38. pp. 8–9.
  5. ^ "Gyalideopsis". Catalogue of Life. Species 2000: Leiden, the Netherlands. Retrieved 10 March 2025.
  6. ^ a b c d Lücking, R.; Aptroot, A.; Umaña, L.; Chaves, J.L.; Sipman, H.J.M.; Nelsen, M. (2006). "A first assessment of the Ticolichen biodiversity inventory in Costa Rica: the genus Gyalideopsis and its segregates (Ostropales: Gomphillaceae), with a world‑wide key and name status checklist". The Lichenologist. 38 (2): 131–160. doi:10.1017/S0024282905005657.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Lücking, R.; Buck, W.R.; Rivas Plata, E. (2007). "The lichen family Gomphillaceae (Ostropales) in eastern North America, with notes on hyphophore development in Gomphillus and Gyalideopsis". The Bryologist. 110 (4): 622–672. doi:10.1639/0007-2745(2007)110[622:TLFGOI]2.0.CO;2.
  8. ^ Herrera‑Campos, M.; Lücking, R. (2003). "The foliicolous lichen flora of Mexico II. New species from the montane forest in Oaxaca and Puebla". The Bryologist. 106 (1): 1–8. doi:10.1639/0007-2745(2003)106[0001:TFLFOM]2.0.CO;2.
  9. ^ a b Xavier-Leite, A.B.; Cáceres, M.E.S.; Goto, B.T.; Lücking, R. (2018). "The genus Gyalideopsis (lichenized Ascomycota: Gomphillaceae) in Brazil: updated checklist, key to species, and two novel taxa with unique hyphophores". The Bryologist. 121 (1): 32–40. doi:10.1639/0007-2745-121.1.032.
  10. ^ a b c Lücking, R. (2008). Foliicolous lichenized fungi. Flora Neotropica. Vol. 103. pp. 1–867.
  11. ^ Lendemer, J.C. (2017). "Revision of Gyalideopsis ozarkensis and G. subaequatoriana (Gomphillaceae; lichenized Ascomycetes), leads to the description of an overlooked new species". The Bryologist. 120 (3): 274–286. doi:10.1639/0007-2745-120.3.274.
  12. ^ Herrera‑Campos, M.A.; Barcenas‑Peña, A.; Miranda‑González, R.; Altamirano Mejía, M.; Bautista González, J.A.; Martínez Colín, P.; Sánchez Téllez, N.; Lücking, R. (2019). "New lichenized Arthoniales and Ostropales from Mexican seasonally dry tropical forest". The Bryologist. 122 (1): 62–83. doi:10.1639/0007-2745-122.1.062.
  13. ^ Harada, H. (2008). "Gyalideopsis chibaensis (lichenized Ascomycota, Gomphillaceae), a new gyalectoid lichen from central Japan". Lichenology. 7 (1): 25–29.
  14. ^ Lücking, R.; Wirth, V.; Ferraro, L.I.; Cáceres, M.E.S. (2003). "Foliicolous lichens from Valdivian temperate rainforest of Chile and Argentina: evidence of an austral element, with the description of seven new taxa". Global Ecology and Biogeography. 12 (1): 21–36. doi:10.1046/j.1466-822X.2003.00319.x.
  15. ^ Coppins, B.J.; Aptroot, A. (2008). "New species and combinations in The Lichens of the British Isles". The Lichenologist. 40 (5): 363–374. doi:10.1017/S0024282908008165.
  16. ^ a b c Lücking, R.; Sérusiaux, E.; Vězda, A. (2005). "Phylogeny and systematics of the lichen family Gomphillaceae (Ostropales) inferred from cladistic analysis of phenotype data". The Lichenologist. 37 (2): 123–170. doi:10.1017/S0024282905014660.
  17. ^ a b Vězda, A. (2004). "Neue foliicole Flechten III" [New foliicolous lichens III]. Acta Musei Richnoviensis. 11 (2): 57–72.
  18. ^ Aptroot, A.; Schumm, F. (2011). Fruticose Roccellaceae, an anatomical‑microscopical atlas and guide with a worldwide key and further notes on some crustose Roccellaceae or similar lichens. pp. 1–380.
  19. ^ Kantvilas, G.; Vězda, A. (1992). "Additions to the lichen flora of Tasmania". Telopea. 4 (4): 661–670. doi:10.7751/telopea19814953.
  20. ^ McCarthy, P.M.; Elix, J.A. (2014). "Two new lichens from Mount Canobolas, New South Wales". Telopea. 16: 119–125. doi:10.7751/telopea20147757.
  21. ^ Øvstedal, D.O.; Gremmen, N.J.M. (2008). "Additions and corrections to the lichens of Heard Island". The Lichenologist. 40 (3): 233–242. doi:10.1017/S002428290800741X.
  22. ^ van den Boom, P.P.G.; Vězda, A. (2000). "Gyalideopsis helvetica, a new lichen species from Central Europe". Österreichische Zeitschrift für Pilzkunde. 9: 27–30.
  23. ^ Harada, H.; Vězda, A. (2000). "Gyalideopsis japonica (lichenized Ascomycota, Gomphillaceae), a new gyalectoid lichen from Japan". Natural History Research. 6 (1): 5–8.
  24. ^ a b Vězda, A. (1979). "Flechtensystematische Studien XI. Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Familie Asterothyriaceae (Discolichenes)" [Lichen systematic studies XI: Contributions to the knowledge of the family Asterothyriaceae (Discolichenes)]. Folia Geobotanica et Phytotaxonomica. 14 (1): 43–94. doi:10.1007/BF02856321.
  25. ^ Harada, H.; Kawakami, S. (2011). "Gyalideopsis lunata sp. nov. (lichenized Ascomycota, Gomphillaceae) with rudimentary hyphophores, from Gifuken, central Japan". Lichenology. 10 (1): 23–28.
  26. ^ Lendemer, J.C.; Lücking, R. (2004). "Gyalideopsis moodyae (Ostropales: Gomphillaceae), a new lichen species from eastern North America". The Bryologist. 107 (2): 234–236. doi:10.1639/0007-2745(2004)107[0234:GMOGAN]2.0.CO;2.
  27. ^ Vězda, A. (2007). "Gyalideopsis pandani (licheniserte Ascomycota, Gomphillaceae), eineneue Art aus Papua New Guinea" [Gyalideopsis pandani (lichenized Ascomycota, Gomphillaceae), a new species from Papua New Guinea]. Bibliotheca Lichenologica. 96: 305–309.
  28. ^ Lücking, R.; Tønsberg, T. (2016). "Gyalideopsis pusilla (Gomphillaceae, lichenized Ascomycetes), a new species from southeastern North America". North American Fungi. 11 (7): 1–4.
  29. ^ Vězda, A.; Hafellner, J. (1988). "Zwei neue Gyalideopsis-Arten aus den Regenwäldern Australiens: G. perlucida und Gyalideopsis rogersii (lichenisiert Ascomycetes, Gomphillaceae)" [Two new Gyalideopsis species from the rainforests of Australia: G. perlucida and Gyalideopsis rogersii (lichenized Ascomycetes, Gomphillaceae)]. Preslia (Praha). 60: 239–243.
  30. ^ James, P.W. (1975). "The genus Gyalideopsis Vezda in Britain". The Lichenologist. 7 (2): 155–161. doi:10.1017/S0024282975000217.
  31. ^ Sanders, William B.; Lücking, Robert (2015). "Three new species of foliicolous Gomphillaceae (lichen-forming ascomycetes) from southern Florida". The Bryologist. 118 (2): 170–177. doi:10.1639/0007-2745-118.2.170.
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  33. ^ Etayo, Javier (2017). "Hongos liquenícolas de Ecuador" [Lichenicolous fungi of Ecuador]. Opera Lilloana (in Spanish). 50: 202.
  34. ^ Kalb, Klaus; Vězda, Antonín (1988). Neue oder bemerkenswerte Arten der Flechten-familie Gomphillaceae in der Neotropis [`New or otherwise interesting species of the family Gomphillaceae (Lichenes) in the Neotropics]. Bibliotheca Lichenologica (in German). Vol. 29. Berlin/Stuttgart: J. Cramer. pp. 1–80 [51]. ISBN 978-3-443-58008-7.
  35. ^ Vězda, A.; Hafellner, J. (1991). "Beiträge zur Kenntnis der foliikolen Flechten australischer Regenwälder II" [Contributions to the knowledge of foliicolous lichens in Australian rainforests II]. Nova Hedwigia. 52: 73–80.
  36. ^ Lücking, R. (1997). "Additions and corrections to the knowledge of the foliicolous lichen flora of Costa Rica. The family Gomphillaceae". Bibliotheca Lichenologica. 65: 1–109 [75].
  37. ^ a b Kalb, K.; Vězda, A. (1994). "Neue Arten der Flechtengattung Gyalideopsis Vězda (Gomphillaceae)" [New species of the lichen genus Gyalideopsis Vězda (Gomphillaceae)]. Nova Hedwigia. 58: 511–528.