A new genus and species of foliicolous lichen in a new family of Strigulales (Ascomycota: Dothideomycetes) reveals remarkable class-level homoplasy

Shu Hua Jiang; David L Hawksworth; Robert Lücking; Jiang Chun Wei

doi:10.1186/s43008-019-0026-2

A new genus and species of foliicolous lichen in a new family of Strigulales (Ascomycota: Dothideomycetes) reveals remarkable class-level homoplasy

IMA Fungus. 2020 Feb 5:11:1. doi: 10.1186/s43008-019-0026-2. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Shu Hua Jiang¹, David L Hawksworth^{2

3

4}, Robert Lücking⁵, Jiang Chun Wei^{1

6}

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
² Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD UK.
³ Comparative Plant and Fungal Biology, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Surrey, TW9 3DS UK.
⁴ Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, 130118 Jilin Province China.
⁵ Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Straße 6-8, 14195 Berlin, Germany.
⁶ University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.

Abstract

Phylogenetic analysis of some foliicolous lichens collected in Hainan Province, China, revealed a new lineage morphologically similar to Porina but phylogenetically related to Strigulaceae (Dothideomycetes), differing from the latter in ascus type. The monospecific genus Tenuitholiascus gen. nov. is introduced for the single species, T. porinoides sp. nov., which is placed in the new, monogeneric family Tenuitholiascaceae, sister to Strigulaceae in Strigulales. The new taxon closely resembles the genus Porina in external morphology and ascospore type, as well as the thin-walled asci and unbranched paraphyses. Yet, it is entirely unrelated to the latter, which belongs in class Lecanoromycetes in the order Gyalectales.

Keywords: Phylloblastia; Phyllocratera; Phylloporis.