Acanthothecis submuriformis

Acanthothecis submuriformis is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) lichen in the family Graphidaceae. Found in Brazil, it was formally described as a new species in 2022 by André Aptroot, Robert Lücking, and Marcela Eugenia da Silva M.Cáceres. The type specimen was collected from the Parque Natural Municipal (Porto Velho, Rondônia); here the lichen was found growing on tree bark in primary rainforest.

Acanthothecis submuriformis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Lecanoromycetes
Order: Graphidales
Family: Graphidaceae
Genus: Acanthothecis
Species:
A. submuriformis
Binomial name
Acanthothecis submuriformis
Aptroot, Lücking & M.Cáceres (2022)

It has a smooth, ochraceous white thallus lacking a cortex and lacking a prothallus. Its asci are 8-spored, and its ascospores are hyaline, measuring 29–31 by 6–8 μm. The specific epithet refers to the submuriform (somewhat chambered) spores; all spores have between 7 and 9 transverse septa, but of the 8 spores in the ascus, only about 2 have a longitudinal septum.[1]

Acanthothecis submuriformis contains lichexanthone, a lichen product that causes the thallus and ascomata margins to fluoresce yellow when lit with a long-wavelength UV light. This species and Acanthothecis tetraphora are the only species in genus Acanthothecis known to produce lichexanthone.[1]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b Feuerstein, Shirley Cunha; Aptroot, André; da Silveira, Rosa Mara Borges; Lücking, Robert; Cáceres, Marcela Eugenia da Silva (2022). "An updated world key to the species of Acanthothecis s. lat. (Ascomycota: Graphidaceae), with ten new species from Brazil". The Lichenologist. 54 (2): 87–99. doi:10.1017/s0024282922000019. S2CID 247795096.