Phylogenetic insights into Remototrachyna (Parmeliaceae) and their Trebouxia symbionts found in the Western Ghats, India

Mohan, Arsha S.; Ansil, Parayelil A.; Rajeshkumar, Kunhiraman C.; Abdel-Azeem, Ahmed M.; Fatima, Shahnoor; Sharma, Bharati; Sequeira, Stephen

doi:10.21608/mb.2024.300002.1117

Phylogenetic insights into Remototrachyna (Parmeliaceae) and their Trebouxia symbionts found in the Western Ghats, India

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Department of Botany, Maharaja's College, Ernakulam 682011, Kerala, India.

² Biodiversity and Palaeobiology (Fungi and Lichens) Gr., MACS Agharkar Research Institute, G. G. Agarkar Road, Pune, 411 004, Maharashtra, India.

³ Faculty of Science, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, 411 005, Maharashtra, India.

⁴ Botany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, Suez Canal University, Ismailia 41522, Egypt.

10.21608/mb.2024.300002.1117

Abstract

This study investigates the phylogeny and symbiotic relationships of the foliose lichen genus Remototrachyna, R. crenata and R. rhabdiformis from the Western Ghats through morphological, chemical and molecular phylogenetic tools using concatenated ITS and LSU data analyses. The study further identified the photobiont Trebouxia species in R. crenata and R. rhabdiformis based on ITS sequence data and phylogeny. The Trebouxia species of R. crenata and R. rhabdiformis were delineated as a major clade closely related to Trebouxia sp. voucher SF31 sequenced from Usnea ghattensis belonging to Trebouxia Clade I. This study represents a pioneering effort to unravel the enigmatic lichen symbiosis that exists in the genus Remototrachyna from the Western Ghats of India.

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