Marcelaria benguelensis
| Marcelaria benguelensis | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Dothideomycetes |
| Order: | Trypetheliales |
| Family: | Trypetheliaceae |
| Genus: | Marcelaria |
| Species: | M. benguelensis
|
| Binomial name | |
| Marcelaria benguelensis | |
| Synonyms[1][2] | |
Marcelaria benguelensis is a tropical species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) and crustose lichen in the family Trypetheliaceae. It is found in continental southeast Asia.
Taxonomy[edit]
The lichen was first formally described in 1885 by Swiss botanist Johannes Müller Argoviensis as a species of Bathelium. The type specimen was collected in India.[3] In 1922, Alexander Zahlbruckner transferred it to the genus Laurera.[4] The taxon was one of three species transferred to the newly circumscribed genus Marcelaria in 2013.[2]
The taxon Laurera subbenguelensis described in 1987 by Dalip Kumar Upreti and Ajay Singh from specimens found in Kerala,[5] was later determined to be synonymous with Marcelaria benguelensis.[2]
Description[edit]
Marcelaria benguelensis has an olive-green, crustose thallus with a surface that often has an orange pruina. The ascomata resemble warts on the thallus surface; they are 0.6–1 mm in diameter, and cluster together in groups of 2 to 6. The ascospores, which number 8 per ascus, are muriform (divided into chambers) with 15 to 23 septa running transversely through the spore and 3 to 7 that are longitudinal; the spores measure 50–80 by 17–23 μm and have a gelatinous sheath that is 3–12 μm thick.[2]
Marcelaria benguelensis contains the secondary compounds parietin and teloschistin (both anthraquinone pigments) and lichexanthone. The latter substance causes the thallus to fluoresce a yellow colour when shone with a UV light.[2] Laboratory tests have shown that extracts of the lichen have antimicrobial properties, which are attributed to the presence of lichexanthone.[6]
Distribution[edit]
The lichen has been recorded from Cambodia, India, Myanmar, the Philippines,[2] and Thailand.[6]
References[edit]
- ^ "Synonymy: Marcelaria benguelensis (Müll. Arg.) Aptroot, Nelsen & Parnmen, Glalia 5(2): 4 (2013)". Species Fungorum. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f Aptroot, A.; Nelsen, M.P.; Parnmen, S. (2013). "Marcelaria, a new genus for the Laurera purpurina group in the Trypetheliaceae (Ascomycota: Dothideomycetes)". Glalia. 5 (2): 1–14.
- ^ Müller, J. (1885). "Lichenologische Beiträge XXI". Flora (Regensburg) (in Latin). 68 (12): 247–261.
- ^ Zahlbruckner, A. (1922). Catalogus Lichenum Universalis. Vol. 1. Leipzig: Gebrüder Borntraeger. p. 503.
- ^ Upreti, D.K.; Singh, A. (1987). "Lichen genus Laurera from the Indian subcontinent". Bulletin du Jardin Botanique National de Belgique. 57 (3–4): 367–383. doi:10.2307/3668110. JSTOR 3668110.
- ^ a b Manojlovic, Nedeljko T.; Vasiljevic, Perica J.; Marković, Zoran S. (2010). "Antimicrobial activity of extracts and various fractions of chloroform extract from the lichen Laurera benguelensis". Journal of Biological Research-Thessaloniki. 13: 27–34.