Verrucula

Verrucula
Verrucula arnoldaria (darkened parts of thallus) growing on Calogaya arnoldii
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Fungi
Division:	Ascomycota
Class:	Eurotiomycetes
Order:	Verrucariales
Family:	Verrucariaceae
Genus:	Verrucula J.Steiner (1896)
Type species
Verrucula egyptiaca (Müll.Arg.) J.Steiner (1896)
Species
See text

Verrucula is a genus of lichenicolous (lichen-dwelling) lichens in the family Verrucariaceae.[1] Species in the genus are parasitic on saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichens, including Xanthoria elegans as well as lichens from genus Caloplaca that contain chemical substances called anthraquinones.

Taxonomy

Verrucula was originally circumscribed in 1896 by Austrian lichenologist Julius Steiner to contain a group of parasitic Verrucaria species.[2] It was subsequently little used until 2007, when it was resurrected for use for Verrucaria found as parasites on Caloplaca with anthraquinone compounds. Other parasitic species were moved to genus Verruculopsis; these two genera are morphologically quite similar.[3] Molecular phylogenetic analysis shows that Verrucula has a sister taxon relationship with Placocarpus in the family Verrucariaceae.[4]

Description

Verrucula lichens have a thallus that is areolate to a mixture of squamulose and areolate, and is sometimes reduced in form. The upper cortex is only weakly developed, and is termed a pseudocortex. The excipulum (the ring-shaped layer surrounding the hymenium) is pale except for the pale to pale brown area around the ostiole. Ascospores are colorless, and usually simple, although in rare instances they have a single septum. Pycnidia in Verrucula are similar in form to those found in genus Dermatocarpon. This is pycnidial type is characterised by its paraplectenchymatous net (paraplectenchyma is a fungal tissue with a cellular structure superficially like the parenchyma of vascular plants) and its multiple cavities.[3]

Species

As of July 2022^[update], Species Fungorum accepts 16 species of Verrucula.[5] The following list gives the species name, author citation (using standard abbreviations), year of publication, and host lichen.[6] The host specificity in genus Verrucula is quite high, as each species seems to parasitise a single host.[7][3]

• Verrucula arnoldaria Nav.-Ros. & Cl.Roux (2007) – Calogaya arnoldii
• Verrucula biatorinaria (Zehetl.) Nav.-Ros. & Cl.Roux (2007) – Calogaya biatorina
• Verrucula clauzadaria Nav.-Ros. & Cl.Roux (2007) – Caloplaca clauzadeana
• Verrucula coccinearia (Zehetl.) Nav.-Ros. & Cl.Roux (2007) – Caloplaca coccinea
• Verrucula coronataria Nav.-Ros. & Cl.Roux (2007) – Flavoplaca coronata
• Verrucula elegantaria (Zehetl.) Nav.-Ros. & Cl.Roux (2007) – Xanthoria elegans
• Verrucula helvetica (B.de Lesd.) Nav.-Ros. & Cl.Roux (2007) – Leproplaca cirrochroa
• Verrucula hladuniana (Nav.-Ros. & Cl.Roux) Nav.-Ros. & Cl.Roux (2007) – Flavoplaca marina
• Verrucula inconnexaria Nav.-Ros. & Cl.Roux (2007) – Caloplaca inconnexa
• Verrucula lactearia Nav.-Ros. & Cl.Roux (2007) – Xanthocarpia lactea
• Verrucula maritimaria Nav.-Ros. & Cl.Roux (2007) – Flavoplaca maritima
• Verrucula microspora Nav.-Ros. & Cl.Roux (2014)[8] – Variospora velana
• Verrucula navasianaria Nav.-Ros. & Cl.Roux (2007) – Flavoplaca navasiana
• Verrucula polycarparia Nav.-Ros. & Cl.Roux (2007) – Flavoplaca polycarpa
• Verrucula protearia (Zehetl.) Nav.-Ros. & Cl.Roux (2007) – Leproplaca proteus
• Verrucula pusillaria Nav.-Ros. & Cl.Roux (2007) – Calogaya pusilla

Some species previously classified in Verrucula have since been reduced to synonymy with other species, or have been transferred to different genera:

• Verrucula ahlesiana (Hepp) J.Steiner (1898) (= Laestadia ahlesiana)[9]
• Verrucula cahirensis (J.Steiner) J.Steiner (1896) (= Guignardia cahirensis)[10]
• Verrucula egyptiaca (Müll.Arg.) J.Steiner (1896) (= Guignardia egyptiaca)[11]
• Verrucula fraudulosa (Nyl.) J.Steiner (1898) (= Verruculopsis lecideoides)[12]
• Verrucula fuscella (Turner) J.Steiner (1898) (= Verrucaria fuscella)[13]
• Verrucula granulosaria (Clauzade & Zehetl.) Nav.-Ros. & Cl.Roux (2007) (= Verrucaria latericola)[14]
• Verrucula latericola (Erichsen) Nav.-Ros. & Cl.Roux (2007) (= Verrucaria latericola)[15]
• Verrucula lecideoides (A.Massal.) J.Steiner (1898) (= Verruculopsis lecideoides)[16]
• Verrucula rheitrophila (Zschacke) M.Choisy (1950) (= Hydropunctaria rheitrophila)[17]

References

1. Wijayawardene, N.N.; Hyde, K.D.; Dai, D.Q.; Sánchez-García, M.; Goto, B.T.; Saxena, R.K.; et al. (2022). "Outline of Fungi and fungus-like taxa – 2021". Mycosphere. 13 (1): 53–453. doi:10.5943/mycosphere/13/1/2. hdl:10481/76378. S2CID 249054641.
2. Steiner, J. (1896). "Beitrag zur Flechtenflora Südpersiens". Sitzungsberichte der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften Math.-naturw. Klasse Abt. I. (in German). 105: 436–446.
3. Navarro-Rosinés, P.; Roux, C.; Gueidan, C. (2007). "La generoj Verrucula kaj Verruculopsis (Verrucariaceae, Verrucariales)". Bulletin de la Société Linnéene de Provence (in Esperanto). 58: 133–180.
4. Gueidan, Cécile; Roux, Claude; Lutzoni, François (2007). "Using a multigene phylogenetic analysis to assess generic delineation and character evolution in Verrucariaceae (Verrucariales, Ascomycota)". Mycological Research. 111 (10): 1145–1168. doi:10.1016/j.mycres.2007.08.010. PMID 17981450.
5. Source dataset. Species Fungorum Plus: Species Fungorum for CoL+. "Verrucula". Catalog of Life Version 2022-06-23. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
6. Diederich, Paul; Lawrey, James D.; Ertz, Damien (2018). "The 2018 classification and checklist of lichenicolous fungi, with 2000 non-lichenized, obligately lichenicolous taxa". The Bryologist. 121 (3): 340–425 [365–366]. doi:10.1639/0007-2745-121.3.340. S2CID 92396850.
7. Zehetleitner, G. (1978). "Über einige parasitische Arten des Flechtengattung Verrucaria" [About some parasitic species of the lichen genus Verrucaria]. Nova Hedwigia (in German). 29: 683–734.
8. Roux, C. et coll. (2014). Catalogue des lichens et champignons lichénicoles de France métropolitaine (in French). Fontainebleau: Association française de lichénologie. p. 1314. ISBN 978-2-9547896-9-9.
9. "Record Details: Verrucula ahlesiana (Hepp) J. Steiner, Sber. Akad. Wiss. Wien, Math.-naturw. Kl., Abt. 1 107: 180 (1898)". Index Fungorum. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
10. "Record Details: Verrucula cahirensis (J. Steiner) J. Steiner, Sber. Akad. Wiss. Wien, Math.-naturw. Kl., Abt. 1 105: 444 (1896)". Index Fungorum. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
11. "Record Details: Verrucula egyptiaca (Müll. Arg.) J. Steiner [as 'aegyptiaca'], Sber. Akad. Wiss. Wien, Math.-naturw. Kl., Abt. 1 105: 444 (1896)". Index Fungorum. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
12. "Record Details: Verrucula fraudulosa (Nyl.) J. Steiner, Sber. Akad. Wiss. Wien, Math.-naturw. Kl., Abt. 1 107: 180 (1898)". Index Fungorum. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
13. "Record Details: Verrucula fuscella (Turner) J. Steiner, Sber. Akad. Wiss. Wien, Math.-naturw. Kl., Abt. 1 107: 180 (1898)". Index Fungorum. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
14. "Record Details: Verrucula granulosaria (Clauzade & Zehetl.) Nav.-Ros. & Cl. Roux, in Navarro-Rosinés, Roux & Gueidan, Bull. Soc. linn. Provence 58: 157 (2007)". Index Fungorum. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
15. "Record Details: Verrucula latericola (Erichsen) Nav.-Ros. & Cl. Roux, in Navarro-Rosinés, Roux & Gueidan, Bull. Soc. linn. Provence 58: 161 (2007)". Index Fungorum. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
16. "Record Details: Verrucula lecideoides (A. Massal.) J. Steiner, Sber. Akad. Wiss. Wien, Math.-naturw. Kl., Abt. 1 107: 180 (1898)". Index Fungorum. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
17. "Record Details: Verrucula rheitrophila (Zschacke) M. Choisy [as 'rheithrophila'], Bull. mens. Soc. linn. Soc. Bot. Lyon 19: 69 (1950)". Index Fungorum. Retrieved 4 July 2022.