Obligately lichen-associated fungi in the lichen microbiome: How did they get there and what are they doing?
J. LAWREY (1), R. Lücking (2). (1) George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, U.S.A.; (2) Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL, U.S.A.
Approximately 20% of described fungi are lichen-forming, including nearly half of the Ascomycota. Recent studies indicate that lichens harbor complex microbiomes composed of an astounding diversity of prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms, some of which appear to be obligately lichen-associated. Lichenicolous fungi are obligate fungal parasites of lichens that have been collected and described since the 1700s. Over 1800 species have been described throughout the Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, but their overall species diversity remains uncharted territory. They are broadly distributed phylogenetically in fungal clades with and without present-day lichens, representing seven classes and twenty orders in the Ascomycota and four classes and eight orders in the Basidiomycota. Species include both phycoparasites and mycoparasites that vary in virulence; they may or may not exhibit obvious symptoms. In some cases, they appear to represent transitional forms intermediate between mutualistic and parasitic/other modes of nutrition. Recent studies have begun to elucidate the direction, tempo and mode of these transitions and the evolutionary processes that drive them.
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