Abstract Detail

Bryological and Lichenological Section/ABLS

Zraik, Mohanad [1], Piercey-Normore, Michele D. [1].

Distinguishing between Cladonia magyarica and C. humilis in Manitoba.

Cladonia is a genus in the lichenized fungal family Cladoniaceae with more than 400 species distributed world-wide and more than 40 species in Manitoba. Cladonia magyarica is a cup lichen and is reported in Ontario and eastern temperate North America, and colonizes open and exposed areas in calcareous sandy soil environments. C. magyarica and C. humilis have morphological and chemical features similar to C. pyxidata and C. pocillium but C. magyarica is not easily distinguished from C. pocillum or C. pyxidata and may be overlooked. The goal of this study was to differentiate C. magyarica morphologically and chemically from closely related species in Manitoba. Field collections were made from five locations within Manitoba that contained calcareous sandy soil habitats. Measurements of morphological features were made and thin layer chromatography was performed to determine the presence of secondary metabolites. Results show that C. magyarica and C. humilis are present in south western locations, which represent a first report for Manitoba, but the species are not present in the other four locations. All the specimens of C. magyarica and C. humilis contain both atranorin and fumarprotocetraric acid. Only one C. pocillium specimen contained atranorin and fumarprotocetraric acid while the remaining specimens contain fumarprotocetraric acid only. The height of the podetium of C. magyarica was significantly larger than those of C. humilis and C. pocillium. The size of the pycnidia and the squamules of C. magyarica and C. pocillium also showed larger differences compared to C. humilis. There were some differences in pycnidia shape, color and the spores of the three studied species. The chemical and morphological methods may help to identify these Cladonia species, but further studies using DNA methods are needed.

1 - University of Manitoba, Department of biological sciences, 509 Buller building, winnipeg, Mb, R3T2N2, Canada

Keywords:
lichen
Cladonia
TLC
atranorin
fumarprotocetraric acid
morphological features.

Presentation Type: Poster:Posters for Sections
Session: P
Location: Hall D/The Shaw Conference Centre
Date: Monday, July 27th, 2015
Time: 5:30 PM
Number: PBR004
Abstract ID:435
Candidate for Awards:Ian and Syvia Taylor Award