The dark side of orange: Multiorganismic continuum dynamics within a lichen of the Atacama Desert

Autor: Jung, P., Baumann, K., Emrich, D., Schermer, M., Eckhardt, K.-U., Jandl, G., Leinweber, P., Harion, F., Wruck, A., Grube, M., Buedel, B. & Lakatos, M.
In:

Mycologia

DOI: DOI: 10.1080/00275514.2023.2263148
Jahr: 2023

Einordung:
Institut: Professur Bodenkunde

Abstract:
Over the decades our understanding of lichens has shifted to the fact that they are multiorganismic,
symbiotic microecosystems, with their complex interactions coming to the fore due to recent
advances in microbiomics. Here, we present a mutualistic-parasitic continuum dynamics scenario
between an orange lichen and a lichenicolous fungus from the Atacama Desert leading to the
decay of the lichen’s photobiont and leaving behind a black lichen thallus. Based on isolation,
sequencing, and ecophysiological approaches including metabolic screenings of the symbionts,
we depict consequences upon infection with the lichenicolous fungus. This spans from a loss of the
lichen’s photosynthetic activity and an increased roughness of its surface to an inhibition of the
parietin synthesis as a shared pathway between the photobiont and the mycobiont, including a
shift of secondary metabolism products. This degree of relations has rarely been documented
before, although lichenicolous fungi have been studied for over 200 years, adding an additional
level to the view of interactions within lichens.

Ansprechpartner

Zur Publikation: Mitarbeiter, Projekte
Weitere Publikationen im Forschungsteilschwerpunkt