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      Molecular studies on cyanobacterial diversity in lichen symbioses

      MycoKeys
      Pensoft Publishers

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          Abstract

          Symbioses between cyanobacteria and lichen-forming fungi occur worldwide in a wide range of terrestrial environments, ranging from tropical rainforests to hot and cold deserts. The evolutionary success of these symbioses is evident from the wide range of fungal groups that have established associations with cyanobacteria. The diversity of symbiotic cyanobacteria is also high, and it is obvious that symbioses between different cyanobacteria and different lichen-forming fungi have evolved on multiple occasions. From the late 1990s cyanobacterial lichens have been the subject of a steadily increasing number of molecular investigations. This chronological review examines how these studies have contributed to present knowledge and highlights some conceptual developments that have been instrumental in the process.

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          Most cited references48

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          The Guild Concept and the Structure of Ecological Communities

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            Coevolution of symbiotic mutualists and parasites in a community context.

            Recent advances in our knowledge of parasitic and mutualistic associations have confirmed the central role of coevolutionary interactions in population and community ecology. Here, we discuss the potential coevolutionary interdependence of the strength and specificity of symbiotic interactions with the complexity and productivity of their environment. We predict that interactions become less beneficial with increasing environmental quality and that the association of productivity with symbiont specificity depends on the relative strengths of tradeoffs between host range and other life-history parameters. However, as biotic complexity increases, pathogen specificity is predicted to decline, whereas mutualist specificity will increase. Testing these predictions on a geographical scale would contribute significantly to the predictive science of coevolution, and to our ability to manage biological interactions embedded in increasingly fragmented landscapes.
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              Two Trebouxia algae with different physiological performances are ever-present in lichen thalli of Ramalina farinacea. Coexistence versus competition?

              Ramalina farinacea is an epiphytic fruticose lichen that is relatively abundant in areas with Mediterranean, subtropical or temperate climates. Little is known about photobiont diversity in different lichen populations. The present study examines the phycobiont composition of several geographically distant populations of R. farinacea from the Iberian Peninsula, Canary Islands and California as well as the physiological performance of isolated phycobionts. Based on anatomical observations and molecular analyses, the coexistence of two different taxa of Trebouxia (working names, TR1 and TR9) was determined within each thallus of R. farinacea in all of the analysed populations. Examination of the effects of temperature and light on growth and photosynthesis indicated a superior performance of TR9 under relatively high temperatures and irradiances while TR1 thrived at moderate temperature and irradiance. Ramalina farinacea thalli apparently represent a specific and selective form of symbiotic association involving the same two Trebouxia phycobionts. Strict preservation of this pattern of algal coexistence is likely favoured by the different and probably complementary ecophysiological responses of each phycobiont, thus facilitating the proliferation of this lichen in a wide range of habitats and geographic areas. © 2010 Society for Applied Microbiology and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                MycoKeys
                MC
                Pensoft Publishers
                1314-4049
                1314-4057
                April 23 2013
                April 23 2013
                : 6
                :
                : 3-32
                Article
                10.3897/mycokeys.6.3869
                eb059460-10e9-4b60-a3a3-796301fbac32
                © 2013

                http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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