Variospora sororicida (M. Steiner & Poelt) Vondrák

Vondrák, Jan, Frolov, Ivan, Davydov, Evgeny A., Yakovchenko, Lidia, Malíček, Jiří, Svoboda, Stanislav & Kubásek, Jiří, 2019, The lichen family Teloschistaceae in the Altai-Sayan region (Central Asia), Phytotaxa 396 (1), pp. 448-450 : 448-450

Variospora sororicida (M. Steiner & Poelt) Vondrák , combinatio nova

MycoBank: MB826779

Figs: 12D–F, 14.

Basionym: Caloplaca sororicida M. Steiner & Poelt , in Poelt & Hinteregger, Bibliotheca Lichenologica 50: 201–204 (1993). Type:— AFGHANISTAN. Province Kabul, hill c. 3 km east of airport, 34°35’N, 69°17’E, alt. 1850 m, epilithic on outcrop of calcareous schist in south-facing steppe slope, Maxmilian Steiner, 30 April 1970 (in Lichenotheca Afghanica 63, holotype GZU!) .

Taxonomy: Described as an adelphoparasitic species, lichenicolous strictly on Caloplaca (Pyrenodesmia) transcaspica , forming tiny areoles bearing clusters of crowded apothecia ( Poelt & Hinteregger 1993). A broader ecological and morphological concept is proposed here. (1) The species is not restricted to a single host but occurs on various lichen crusts (see below); (2) development of thallus is variable: almost absent ( Fig. 12D ), surrounding crowded apothecia ( Fig. 12E ) or formed of numerous tiny areoles similar to V. dolomiticola but smaller; latter morphotypes are not strictly lichenicolous ( Fig. 12F ). In our experience, V. sororicida is broadly distributed in dry continental regions of Eurasia, e.g. in dry habitats of Turkey, Caucasus, southern Ural. Most sequences of V. sororicida form a supported clade in the ITS tree ( Fig. 14 ), but few sequences are unresolved in the tree together with some sequences of V. dolomiticola , perhaps a result of ancestral polymorphy. Variospora dolomiticola and V. sororicida are morphologically distinct, mainly in size. V. dolomiticola has larger thalli, thalline areoles and apothecia. Variospora epierodens described from the Alps ( Roux et al. 2017; Hafellner & Muggia 2006 sub Caloplaca sp. ) is also lichenicolous on Pyrenodesmia , but has well developed areolate thallus resembling more V. dolomiticola .

13 localities at altitudes 400–2350 m in arid alpine and non-alpine habitats. Substrate: calcareous rocks; typically lichenicolous on Pyrenodesmia (e.g. P. helygeoides , P. erodens ), but also on Rinodina and Aspicilia .

Figures

FIGURE 12. Rusavskia (A–C) and variability in Variospora sororicida (D–E). A, Rusavskia elegans (Vondrák 18104), large and small morphotypes included, both are distinct in ITS; B, Rusavskia sp. 1 (Vondrák 18102) with Xanthoria-like flat lobes; C, Rusavskia sp. 2 (Vondrák 18161) with appressed lobes to substrate; D, Variospora sororicida (Vondrák 18071) with strongly reduced thallus on Pyrenodesmia; E, V. sororicida (Vondrák 18680) with few distinct areoles, on Pyrenodesmia; F, V. sororicida with numerous areoles, not obviously lichenicolous (Vondrák 18223).All bars, 1 mm.

FIGURE 14. Bayesian phylogenetic reconstruction of a part of Variospora using the ITS DNA locus. Sequences from the Altai-Sayan region are in bold.