Two species of calicioid lichens (Ascomycota) are reported from Baltic amber dating back 55–35 million years ago. The fossils are very similar to some modern Calicium and Chaenotheca species, but because ascus characteristics and photobiont identities cannot be determined they are not assigned to any extant species. Calicioid lichens seem to show a conservative maintenance of morphological adaptations to successful ecological niches, as do several other groups of ascomycetes. The fossils demonstrate that distinguishing features in the morphology of both genera have remained unchanged for at least tens of millions of years. The palaeohabitat of the fossil lichens, viz. that of conifer trunks in a humid, mixed forest, is consistent with the habitat preferences of many modern Calicium and Chaenotheca species.
ABSTRACT The production of hepatotoxic cyclic heptapeptides, microcystins, is almost exclusively reported from planktonic cyanobacteria. Here we show that a terrestrial cyanobacterium Nostoc sp. strain IO-102-I isolated from a lichen association produces six different microcystins. Microcystins were identified with liquid chromatography-UV mass spectrometry by their retention times, UV spectra, mass fragmentation, and comparison to microcystins from the aquatic Nostoc sp. strain 152. The dominant microcystin produced by Nostoc sp. strain IO-102-I was the highly toxic [ADMAdda 5 ]microcystin-LR, which accounted for ca. 80% of the total microcystins. We assigned a structure of [DMAdda 5 ]microcystin-LR and [ d -Asp 3 ,ADMAdda 5 ]microcystin-LR and a partial structure of three new [ADMAdda 5 ]-XR type of microcystin variants. Interestingly, Nostoc spp. strains IO-102-I and 152 synthesized only the rare ADMAdda and DMAdda subfamilies of microcystin variants. Phylogenetic analyses demonstrated congruence between genes involved directly in microcystin biosynthesis and the 16S rRNA and rpoC1 genes of Nostoc sp. strain IO-102-I. Nostoc sp. strain 152 and the Nostoc sp. strain IO-102-I are distantly related, revealing a sporadic distribution of toxin production in the genus Nostoc. Nostoc sp. strain IO-102-I is closely related to Nostoc punctiforme PCC 73102 and other symbiotic Nostoc strains and most likely belongs to this species. Together, this suggests that other terrestrial and aquatic strains of the genus Nostoc may have retained the genes necessary for microcystin biosynthesis.
Resin protects wounded trees from microbial infection, but also provides a suitable substrate for the growth of highly specialized fungi. Chaenothecopsis proliferatus is described growing on resin of Cunninghamia lanceolata from Hunan Province, China. The new fungus is compared with extant species and two new fossil specimens from Eocene Baltic and Oligocene Bitterfeld ambers. The Oligocene fossil had produced proliferating ascomata identical to those of the newly described species and to other extant species of the same lineage. This morphology may represent an adaptation to growing near active resin flows: the proliferating ascomata can effectively rejuvenate if partially overrun by fresh, sticky exudate. Inward growth of fungal hyphae into resin has only been documented from Cenozoic amber fossils suggesting comparatively late occupation of resin as substrate by fungi. Still, resinicolous Chaenothecopsis species were already well adapted to their special ecological niche by the Eocene, and the morphology of these fungi has since remained remarkably constant.
We studied habitat preferences and behavior of dwarf galagos (Paragalago sp.), recently rediscovered from the Taita Hills, Kenya. Small populations of Taita dwarf galagos survive in the two largest remnants of moist montane forest. Inspection of several smaller forest fragments failed to provide evidence of additional survivors. Acoustic data on the two remaining populations were obtained with AudioMoths, and analyzed in relation to forest structure data obtained by airborne lidar and by ground-level observations. A Zero-inflated negative binomial GLMM was implemented with calls per hour as the response variable and indicator of relative population density. Our results demonstrate that Taita dwarf galagos prefer dense canopy coverage and avoid forest edges. Regarding forest height, they prefer lower 20–30 m tall forest. Forest size also significantly affects Taita dwarf galago population size. Mbololo forest (185 ha) has a relatively viable population, whereas in Ngangao forest (120 ha) dwarf galagos are nearly extinct. The calls of Taita dwarf galagos resemble calls of Kenya coast dwarf galagos (Paragalago cocos). However, some differences exist between the Taita animals and those recently recorded by us at the Kenyan coast, and even between the two remaining populations in the Taita Hills. In addition to other data, we present the first ever photographs of the Taita dwarf galagos from the Mbololo forest and compare them to those from Ngangao forest and the Kenya coast from Diani and Shimba Hills. We conclude that DNA studies are urgently needed to resolve the taxonomic status of both surviving populations of dwarf galagos in the Taita Hills.
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