Astrothelium lucidostromum is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) lichen in the family Trypetheliaceae.[1] Found in Guyana, it was formally described as a new species in 2016 by Dutch lichenologist André Aptroot. The type specimen was collected by Harrie Sipman about 45 km (28 miles) south of Aishalton (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) at an altitude of 230 m (750 ft); there, it was found in a savanna forest growing on smooth tree bark. The lichen has a smooth and somewhat shiny, pale yellowish-grey thallus with a cortex but lacking a prothallus, which covers areas of up to 7 cm (2.8 in) in diameter. The presence of the lichen does not induce the formation of galls in the host plant. The pseudostromata contains lichexanthone, a lichen product that causes that structure to fluoresce when lit with a long-wavelength UV light.[2] The main characteristics of the lichen distinguishing it from others in Astrothelium are the UV+ pseudostroma; the fused ascomata; and the immersed pseudostroma that have a white cover (contrasting with the thallus colour).[3] Astrothelium eustomuralis is a smiliar species, but in that species, lichexanthone only occurs in the ostiole, not the entire pseudostroma.[2]
Astrothelium lucidostromum | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Fungi |
Division: | Ascomycota |
Class: | Dothideomycetes |
Order: | Trypetheliales |
Family: | Trypetheliaceae |
Genus: | Astrothelium |
Species: | A. lucidostromum
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Binomial name | |
Astrothelium lucidostromum Aptroot (2016)
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References
edit- ^ "Astrothelium lucidostromum Aptroot". Catalogue of Life. Species 2000: Leiden, the Netherlands. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
- ^ a b Aptroot, André; Ertz, Damien; Etayo Salazar, Javier Angel; Gueidan, Cécile; Mercado Diaz, Joel Alejandro; Schumm, Felix; Weerakoon, Gothamie (2016). "Forty-six new species of Trypetheliaceae from the tropics". The Lichenologist. 48 (6): 609–638. doi:10.1017/s002428291600013x. S2CID 89128070.
- ^ Aptroot, André; Lücking, Robert (2016). "A revisionary synopsis of the Trypetheliaceae (Ascomycota: Trypetheliales)". The Lichenologist. 48 (6): 763–982. doi:10.1017/s0024282916000487. S2CID 89119724.