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Image Title: Lichen-forming fungus Peltigera praetextata (Sommerf.) Zopf
Image Credit: Marcin S. Wilga
AJB Editor: Karl Niklas, Cornell University
Intended End User: Teacher, Student
License Details: BSA - Terms for Image Use
Copyright held by: BSA
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About the Image

Lichen-forming fungus Peltigera praetextata (Sommerf.) Zopf growing on mosses in northern Poland. The thallus of this common bipartite lichen contains the cyanobacterium Nostoc, which is frequently present, sometimes in addition to a green algal photobiont, in tripartite peltigeralean lichens. Small squamules (phyllidia) on the thallus surface are asexual propagules containing both symbionts (fungus and Nostoc). Pale brown, saddle-shaped fruit bodies (apothecia) contain sexual propagules (ascospores) of the mycobiont. A new classification for peltigeralean lichens is established here based on a comprehensive molecular phylogenetic study.

Link to the AJB Abstract for the article:

Phylogenetic classification of peltigeralean fungi (Peltigerales, Ascomycota) based on ribosomal RNA small and large subunits

National Science Foundation  Development Supported by the National Science Foundation