Contrasting pattern of photobiont diversity in the Atlantic and Pacific populations ofErioderma pedicellatum(Pannariaceae)

Abstract

AbstractThe present study investigates the photobiont diversity of the boreal felt lichen,Erioderma pedicellatum. Previously sampled genetic data from Newfoundland were reanalyzed and new sequence data (16S rDNA,rbcLX) of the boreal felt lichen from Alaska (USA), Kamchatka (Russia), and North Trøndelag (Norway) were generated. The highest genetic diversity of the photobiont is found in Alaska and Kamchatka, indicating that these may be the primary sources of the species in the Northern Hemisphere. In Newfoundland, the photobiont ofE. pedicellatumwas screened on leaves of the symbiotic liverwortFrullania asagrayanaand it was found to occur on trees where no other lichens were present, demonstrating that the geographical distribution, and possibly also the ecological requirement of the photobiont ofE. pedicellatum, is wider than that of the lichen phenotype. Finally, a postulated association between the occurrence of the vegetatively reproducingCoccocarpia palmicolaand the occurrence of the compatible photobiont ofE. pedicellatumon the same tree could not be established.