Dirina ceratoniae (Arthoniales, Ascomycota): first record from Russia

Abstract

The Mediterranean species Dirina ceratoniae (Roccellaceae, Arthoniales) is reported for the first time for Russia, specifically the Greater Caucasus in Daghestan, based on morphological and molecular evidences. The specimen collected on Populus nigra in a coastal lowland region is sorediate and sterile. The sorediate morph is not common in this species and currently known only from a few specimens from the Canary Islands. In the phylogenetic analysis, the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 sequence obtained for the material grouped in a well-supported clade with all D. ceratoniaespecimens available in GenBank, within a lineage including three other species: D. canariensis, D. fallax, and D. massiliensis. The discovery of D. ceratoniae in Daghestan substantially expands the known distributional range of this taxon to the east of Eurasia.