Astrothelium megatropicum is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose 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 near Paramakatoi village (Potaro-Siparuni region) at an altitude of 800 metres (2,600 ft); there, it was found growing on smooth tree bark. The lichen has a smooth and somewhat shiny, pale ochraceous-green thallus with a cortex and a thin (about 0.1 mm wide) black prothallus line. It 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. No lichen products were detected from collected specimens using thin-layer chromatography.[2] The combination of characteristics of the lichen that distinguish it from others in Astrothelium are its uneven to verrucose thallus; its confluent ascomata, which are erumpent to prominent and exposed, with gently to steeply sloping sides; and the dimensions of its ascospores (100–120 by 30–35 μm).[3] The spores, which have three septa and diamond-shaped cavities, are the longest 3-septate ascospores in the Trypetheliaceae.[2]
| Astrothelium megatropicum | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Dothideomycetes |
| Order: | Trypetheliales |
| Family: | Trypetheliaceae |
| Genus: | Astrothelium |
| Species: | A. megatropicum
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| Binomial name | |
| Astrothelium megatropicum Aptroot (2016)
| |
References
edit- ^ "Astrothelium megatropicum Aptroot". Catalogue of Life. Species 2000: Leiden, the Netherlands. Retrieved 1 November 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.
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