Sergio Pérez-Ortega

• Researcher at Spanish National Research Council

The family of predominantly lichen-forming Verrucariaceae, contains several lineages that have adapted to live in the stressful conditions of the intertidal and supralittoral zones of rocky seashores in both hemispheres. The marine Verrucariaceae has been the subject of several systematic and taxonomic studies over the past few decades, although th...

According to International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) guidelines, all species must be assessed against all criteria during the Red Listing process. For organismal groups that are diverse and understudied, assessors face considerable challenges in assembling evidence due to difficulty in applying definitions of key terms used in the...

Two lichenicolous species of Cirrenalia are currently recognized, both characterized by blackish sporodochia and greenish brown helicoid conidia. Cirrenalia lichenicola appears to be confined to Mycoblastus caesius. The new C. pertusariicola, collected twice on Pertusaria pustulata in the USA, is distinguished by clearly delimited sporodochia and l...

Verrucariaceae (Eurotiomycetes, Ascomycota) is a family of lichen-forming fungi with 43 genera and about 950 species. Interestingly, several lineages within the family have colonised the marine environment, particularly the intertidal and supralittoral zones of the temperate and cold rocky coasts of both hemispheres. Although the systematics of the...

The lichen-forming fungal fungi family Verrucariaceae (Eurotiomycetes, Ascomycota) contains about 950 species in 43 genera, several of which are found in aquatic environments. Many of these species are known to have an exclusively marine distribution, in the intertidal and supralittoral zones of rocky coasts in temperate and cold regions, or even i...

Persepolis, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in south-western Iran, dates back to more than 2500 years ago, and is colonized by a great diversity of lichen-forming fungi. A survey of the lichen-forming fungi revealed a species abundant in different areas of the cultural site, which turned out to be a new species of the genus Circinaria . The new specie...

Oceanic islands have been recognized as natural laboratories in which to study a great variety of evolutionary processes. One such process is evolutionary radiations, the diversification of a single ancestor into a number of species that inhabit different environments and differ in the traits that allow them to exploit those environments. The facto...

While the diversity of foliicolous lichen-forming fungi has been explored in substantial depth, relatively little attention has been paid to their algal symbionts. We studied the unicellular green phycobionts of the lecanoralean lichens Bacidina ( Ramalinaceae ), Byssoloma , Fellhanera and Tapellaria ( Pilocarpaceae ) and graphidalean Gyalectidium...

Evolutionary radiations are one of the most striking processes biologists have studied in islands. A radiation is often sparked by the appearance of ecological opportunity, which can originate in processes like trophic niche segregation or the evolution of key innovations. Another recently proposed mechanism is facilitation mediated by the bacteria...

Recent work has suggested exceptional species-level diversity in the lichen-forming Lecanora polytropa complex (Lecanoraceae, Ascomycota). However, biogeographic patterns and the spatial structuring of this diversity remains poorly known. To investigate diversity across multiple spatial scales, we sampled members of this species complex from two di...

The Global Consortium for the Classification of Fungi and fungus-like taxa is an international initiative of more than 550 mycologists to develop an electronic structure for the classification of these organisms. The members of the Consortium originate from 55 countries/regions worldwide, from a wide range of disciplines, and include senior, mid-ca...

This study explores the diversity of photobionts associated with the Mediterranean lichen-forming fungus Cladonia subturgida. For this purpose, we sequenced the whole ITS rDNA region by Sanger using a metabarcoding method for ITS2. A total of 41 specimens from Greece, Italy, France, Portugal, and Spain were studied. Additionally, two specimens from...

Interactions between organisms are determined by life‐history traits. Ecological strategies regarding species specialisation range from generalist to highly specialised relationships. Although it is expected that habitat fragmentation's effect on species abundance and survival depends on their degree of specialisation and life‐history traits, few s...

The new genus Nimisora Pérez-Ort., M. Svenss. & J. C. Zamora is introduced to accommodate a puzzling lecideoid epiphyte common in the central Iberian Peninsula. Nimisora is characterized by the following combination of characters: lecideoid apothecia, excipulum composed of sparingly branched radiating hyphae with narrow lumina, thick walls and swol...

Aim Lichens are often regarded as paradigms of mutualistic relationships. However, it is still poorly known how lichen‐forming fungi and their photosynthetic partners interact at a community scale. We explored the structure of fungus‐alga networks of interactions in lichen communities along a latitudinal transect in continental Antarctica. We expec...

The development of diagnostic methods to accurately assess the effects of treatments on lithobiont colonization remains a challenge for the conservation of Cultural Heritage monuments. In this study, we tested the efficacy of biocide-based treatments on microbial colonization of a dolostone quarry, in the short and long-term, using a dual analytica...

Lichens thrive in rocky coastal areas in temperate and cold regions of both hemispheres. Species of the genus Lichina, which form characteristic black fruiting thalli associated with cyanobacteria, often create distinguishable bands in the intertidal and supralittoral zones. The present study uses a comprehensive specimen dataset and four gene loci...

Ramalina farinacea is an epiphytic lichen-forming fungus with a broad geographic distribution, especially in the Northern Hemisphere. In the eighties of the last century, it was hypothesized that R. farinacea had originated in the Macaronesian–Mediterranean region, with the Canary Islands as its probable southernmost limit, and thereafter it would...

Ramalina farinacea, a lichen-forming fungus with a vast geographical spread across the Mediterranean, Temperate, and Boreal bioclimates, has showcased intriguing variations in its symbiotic relationships with phycobionts. Our study aimed to elucidate these fungal-algal partnerships across a latitudinal stretch from Algeria (36oN) to Umeå, Sweden (6...

Molecular sequence data has transformed the field of lichen taxonomy and provided crucial insight into evolutionary relationships. However, DNA obtained from standard extraction methodologies may not yield sufficient high-quality DNA to successfully perform high-throughput sequencing. Furthermore, standard DNA extraction protocols often, require th...

Interactions between organisms are determined by species traits and differ in specialization, from generalist to highly specialized relationships. Although we expect that the effect of habitat loss and fragmentation on the abundance and survival of species depends on their degree of specialization, few studies have deepened into the interplay betwe...

Speciation in oceanic islands has attracted the interest of scientists since the 19th century. One of the most striking evolutionary phenomena that can be studied in islands is adaptive radiation, that is, when a lineage gives rise to different species by means of ecological speciation. Some of the best-known examples of adaptive radiation are char...

Two lichenicolous fungi, one growing on the thallus of Lobaria pulmonaria in the United Kingdom (Scotland) and the other in apothecia of Lobaria linita and L. oregana in northwestern North America (Alaska and British Columbia) and northeast Asia (Russian Far East, Khabarovsk Krai), show similarities to the species originally described as Dothidea h...

Widespread geographic distributions in lichens have been usually explained by the high dispersal capacity of their tiny diaspores. However, recent phylogenetic surveys have challenged this assumption and provided compelling evidence for cryptic speciation and more restricted distribution ranges in diverse lineages of lichen-forming fungi. To evalua...

Numerous new taxa and classifications of Dothideomycetes have been published following the last monograph of families of Dothideomycetes in 2013. A recent publication by Honsanan et al. in 2020 expanded information of families in Dothideomycetidae and Pleosporomycetidae with modern classifications. In this paper, we provide a refined updated docume...

Lichens are present in most terrestrial ecosystems on Earth and colonize extreme habitats, where vascular plants are unable to thrive, due to unique properties of the fungal-algal symbiosis. Here, we explored the phylogeographic structure of green algae engaged in symbiosis with species in the genus Pseudephebe (Parmeliaceae). These often form deep...

Abstract Lichens provide valuable systems for studying symbiotic interactions. In lichens, these interactions are frequently described in terms of availability, selectivity and specificity of the mycobionts and photobionts towards one another. The lichen-forming, green algal genus Trebouxia Puymaly is among the most widespread photobiont, associati...

The identity of Calicium corynellum (Ach.) Ach. - Volume 52 Issue 4 - Maria Prieto, Ibai Olariaga, Sergio Pérez-Ortega, Mats Wedin

Lichens are widely acknowledged to be a key component of high latitude ecosystems. However, the time investment needed for full inventories and the lack of taxonomic identification resources for crustose lichen and lichenicolous fungal diversity have hampered efforts to fully gauge the depth of species richness in these ecosystems. Using a combinat...

Glacier forefields provide a unique chronosequence to assess microbial or plant colonization and ecological succession on previously uncolonized substrates. Patterns of microbial succession in soils of alpine and subpolar glacier forefields are well documented but those affecting high polar systems, including moraine rocks, remain largely unexplore...

Los líquenes son asociaciones simbióticas formadas por la unión entre un hongo, llamado micobionte y, al menos, un alga y/o una cianobacteria, denominados fotobionte (Grube & Hawksworth, 2007). Desde un punto de vista evoluti­vo, la liquenización ha ocurrido en numerosas ocasiones de manera independiente en distintos linajes de hon­gos en las clase...

Molecular data and culture-dependent methods have helped to uncover the phylogenetic relationships of numerous species of lichenicolous fungi, a specialized group of taxa that inhabit lichens and have developed diverse degrees of specificity and parasitic behaviors. The majority of lichenicolous fungal taxa are known in either their anamorphic or t...

An interesting biota of lichen-forming fungi occurs along rocky seashores of cold and warm-temperate regions in both hemispheres. Most of the species belong to the family Verrucariaceae and form symbioses with an extraordinarily diverse group of photobionts. We isolated the photobionts of three species: Hydropunctaria maura and H. amphibia from the...

Background and Aims Lichens represent a symbiotic relationship between at least one fungal and one photosynthetic partner. The association between the lichen-forming fungus Mastodia tessellata (Verrucariaceae) and different species of Prasiola (Trebouxiophyceae) has an amphipolar distribution and represents a unique case study for the understanding...

Background and aims: Lichens represent a symbiotic relationship between at least one fungal and one photosynthetic partner. The association between the lichen-forming fungus Mastodia tessellata (Verrucariaceae) and different species of Prasiola (Trebouxiophyceae) has an amphipolar distribution and represents a unique case study for the understandi...

Lichen-inhabiting fungi are highly specialized mycoparasites, commensals or rarely saprotrophs, that are common components of almost every ecosystem, where they develop obligate associations with lichens. Their relevance, however, contrasts with the relatively small number of these fungi described so far. Recent estimates and ongoing studies indica...

The date of publication of the generic name Abrothallus is discussed, along with typification of the Abrothallus names proposed by Giuseppe De Notaris, Søren Christian Sommerfelt, and Ignaz Kotte. Pertinent historical collections have been examined, and each typication is supplied with a description in order to facilitate correct identifications. T...

Nomenclatural type definitions are one of the most important concepts in biological nomenclature. Being physical objects that can be re-studied by other researchers, types permanently link taxonomy (an artificial agreement to classify biological diversity) with nomenclature (an artificial agreement to name biological diversity). Two proposals to am...

Some definitions of the term ‘lichen’ have often emphasized the role of the mycobiont as exhabitant in the symbiosis. Mastodia tessellata and Turgidosculum ulvae , both forming lichen-like associations with foliose algae, have traditionally defied that definition. In this study, we delve into the poorly known association of T. ulvae with Blidingia...

Biodeterioration damage is an important issue in conservation and restoration of built heritage, especially when ceramic materials are used. Biological colonization of ceramic roofing tiles by lichens is a common phenomenon. However, there are no reports to date of lichens removal from unglazed roofing tiles for conservation purposes. This paper fo...

Compared to other organisms, such as vascular plants or mosses, lichen‐forming fungi have a high number of species occurring in both northern and southern hemispheres but are largely absent from intermediate, tropical latitudes. For instance, ca. 160 Antarctic species also occur in polar areas or mountainous temperate regions of the northern hemisp...

Knowledge of the relationships and thus the classification of fungi, has developed rapidly with increasingly widespread use of molecular techniques, over the past 10–15 years, and continues to accelerate. Several genera have been found to be polyphyletic, and their generic concepts have subsequently been emended. New names have thus been introduced...

Following the retreat of a glacier, microbial colonization paves the way for future plant successions as nutrients are gradually introduced into the ecosystem. Characterizing the dynamics of this initial microbial colonization process is a key to understanding how these rapidly receding glacier areas are colonized. This study examines primary succe...

Aim The hypotheses proposed to explain the high percentage of bipolar lichens in Antarctica have never been explicitly tested. We used the strictly bipolar, coastal lichenized fungus Mastodia tessellata ( Verrucariaceae , Ascomycota) and its photobionts ( Prasiola , Trebouxiophyceae , Chlorophyta) as model species to discern whether this extraordin...

Numerous recent studies of lichenized fungi have uncovered hidden genetic diversity within a single phenotypic entity (so-called ‘cryptic species’). Here we report the opposite situation with vastly different morphologies apparently deriving from the same genotype. Endocena is a monotypic genus known only from southern South America. The single rep...

Photosynthetic performance in lichens can vary throughout the year. We investigate the variation in the PSII quantum efficiency as a proxy for the physiological state of the photosynthetic apparatus in two umbilicate species from the genus Lasallia . Temporal variation in Fv / Fm in both species was monitored at a field site in Central Spain where...

Knowledge on lichen and microbial colonization as well as associated biodeterioration processes of the stone cultural heritage is needed to establish proper conservation programs, but is still poor for stonework in semi-arid regions. In this study, lichen diversity was characterized on seven monumental buildings of the Pasargadae UNESCO-world herit...

Symbiotic associations between green algae (Chlorophyta) and fungi give rise to morphologically and eco-physiologically distinct entities, or so-called, lichens. In one of the most peculiar of these associations, the partners are species of the macroscopic genus Prasiola (Trebouxiophyceae) and the ascomycete Mastodia tessellata (Verrucariaceae). Th...

Many species of lichen-forming fungi are currently threatened by habitat loss, pollution, and climate change. Red Lists represent an important tool for conservation strategies of species and their habitats. To date, no Red List of these organisms is available in Spain and Portugal. Recently, the Spanish Lichen Society (SEL) launched an initiative i...

A previously established chronosequence from Pia Glacier forefield in Tierra del Fuego (Chile) containing soils of different ages (from bare soils to forest ones) is analyzed. We used this chronosequence as framework to postulate that microbial successional development would be accompanied by changes in functionality. To test this, the GeoChip func...

Laser irradiation of lichen thalli on heritage stones serves for the control of epilithic and endolithic biological colonizations. In this work we investigate rock samples from two quarries traditionally used as source of monumental stone, sandstone from Valonsadero (Soria, Spain) and granite from Alpedrete (Madrid, Spain), in order to find conditi...

Etayo, J. & Pérez-Ortega, S. 2016. Lichenicolous lichens and fungi from Monfragüe National Park (western Spain). — Herzogia 29: 315–328. We present the first survey of lichenicolous lichens and fungi in Monfragüe National Park, Cáceres (Spain). Seven localities were visited, including the most characteristic ecosystems. Forty taxa were recorded, mo...

Symbiotic associations between green algae (Chlorophyta) and fungi give rise to morphologically and eco-physiologically distinct entities, or so-called, lichens. In one of the most peculiar of these associations, the partners are species of the macroscopic genus Prasiola (Trebouxiophyceae) and the ascomycete Mastodia tessellata (Verrucariaceae). Th...

Lichen-forming fungi interact with their photobionts showing different patterns, from highly specialized species to others that are able to interact with different photobiont lineages over their ranges. Most studies have so far focused on the range of photobionts interacting with a single species or with few species from the same community, genus o...

Lichens, with 487 known species, are the most conspicuous component of the macroscopic biota in Antarctica. About 40% of them show amphitropical disjunct distributional ranges. Long-distance dispersion has been commonly invoked to explain this distribution pattern, but it is still unknown whether those species originated in or arrived to Antarctica...

Foliicolous lichens are formed by diverse, highly specialized fungi that establish themselves and complete their life cycle within the brief duration of their leaf substratum. Over half of these lichen-forming fungi are members of either the Gomphillaceae or Pilocarpaceae, and associate with Trebouxia-like green algae whose identities have never be...

A new species of Shackletonia (Teloschistaceae) is described from the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica, one of the regions with the harshest conditions on Earth. Distinctive traits of the new taxon are the grey thallus, its black lecideine apothecia with a dark greenish blue exterior side of the exciple, Lecidea green pigment present at the cortex...

The fungal genus Collemopsidium comprises species that develop so-called borderline lichen symbioses with algae or cyanobacteria. Together with morphologically similar pyrenocarpous fungi it has been assigned to the family Xanthopyreniaceae. The adscription of this family to higher taxonomic ranks remain uncertain. Using sequence data of five nucle...

As part of a comprehensive revision of the Rhizocarpon geographicum species group using molecular and morphological approaches, we examined the name-bearing types of 15 species. We report ambiguities and inconsistencies with the reported features of some type specimens, original descriptions, and circumscriptions employed in keys for the identifica...

Identifying factors that influence species interactions is central to research in symbiotic systems. While lichens represent iconic models of symbiosis and play important roles in understanding the biology of symbiotic interactions, patterns of interactions in lichen symbionts and mechanisms governing these relationships are not well characterized....

Four new lichenicolous Tremella species are described and characterized morphologically and molecularly. Tremella celata grows on Ramalina fraxinea, inducing the formation of inconspicuous galls, and having hyphae with incomplete clamps. Tremella endosporogena develops intrahymenially in the apothecia of Lecanora carpinea, having single-celled basi...

The phylogenetic relationship of lecanoroid lichens is studied using two data sets: 1) a 2-locus data set including 251 OTUs representing 150 species, and 2) a 6-locus data set with 82 OTUs representing 53 species. The genus Lecanora as currently circumscribed is shown to be highly polyphyletic and several genera, including Adelolecia, Arctopeltis,...

We studied the evolutionary history of the Parmeliaceae (Lecanoromycetes, Ascomycota), one of the largest families of lichen-forming fungi with complex and variable morphologies, also including several lichenicolous fungi. We assembled a six-locus data set including nuclear, mitochondrial and low-copy protein-coding genes from 293 operational taxon...

Four new species from Cuba are described in the genus Ocellularia, emphasizing the importance of the Caribbean for the diversification of lichen fungi and the level of unrecognized species richness in Ocellularia. Three of the new species belong in the O. bahiana group: O. coronata Lücking & Pérez-Ortega, differing from O. bahiana by the ridged to...

The weathering of natural rocks traditionally distinguishes between biophysical and biochemical weathering processes. 80 years ago, the first studies of lichen‐rock interactions lead to the incorrect conclusion that deterioration of rock structure was entirely ascribed to physical causes. From decades it is well known that the lichen‐rock interface...

The poster shows same examples of different bioweathering actions in natural rocks and heritage stones

Laser removal of biodeteriogen layers warrants detailed studies due to the advantages it brings with respect to mechanical elimination or the use of biocides. We have investigated elimination of biological crusts on dolomite stones from heritage sites in central Spain. The samples were colonized by epilithic crustose lichens of different species, s...

A three-marker study on the population genetic structure and gene flow in Mastodia tesselata is presented. Cluster delimitation, phylogenetic relationships, divergence times and gene flow analyses are performed.

Lichens with vagrant or unattached life forms occur in many areas of the world, from the low altitude, hot deserts and cold steppes to the high-altitude alpine areas and tundra (Pérez 1994,1997). These sites share similar arid or semiarid climatic condition, sparse vegetation and wind swept (Rosentreter 1993, Pérez-Ortega et al. 2012). Several lich...

All fungi in the class Lichinomycetes are lichen-forming and exclusively associate with cya-nobacteria. Two closely related maritime species of the genus Lichina (L. confinis and L. pygmaea) show similar distribution ranges in the Northeast Atlantic, commonly co-occurring at the same rocky shores but occupying different littoral zones. By means of...

The new genus of lichenicolous fungi Austrostigmidium is described from Antarctica and Tierra del Fuego (Chile). It is characterized by the presence of black pseudothecia, pseudoparaphyses, fissitunicate, I2, KI2 asci and 3-septate hyaline ascospores. So far, the only known species grows on Mastodia tessellata (Verrucariales, Eurotiomycetes). The n...

The new species Caliciopsis valentina from the eastern Iberian Peninsula is characterized morphologically, anatomically, and molecularly. The occurrence of C. subcorticalis (Cooke & Ellis) Fitzp. in Europe is discussed. Based on the revision of fresh and herbarium specimens we propose the new combination Caliciopsis beckhausii with a neotype select...

Species of the genus Abrothallus (Abrothallales, Dothideomycetes) are obligately lichenicolous (lichen-inhabiting) and grow on a wide variety of foliose and fruticose lichens. Bayesian Interference (BI) and Maximum likelihood (Ml) analyses of two gene loci—rDNA ITS and TEF-α—were used in order to infer the phylogenetic relationships among lineages...

The ascomycete genus Xylographa includes some of the most abundant species of wood-inhabiting lichenized fungi in boreal and temperate regions. It has never been monographed and little is known of its species diversity and evolutionary relationships. Based on a morphological and secondary metabolite-based assessment of material from North and South...

Based on a combined three locus analysis two new genera, Charcotiana and Amundsenia, are proposed in the lichen family Teloschistaceae, subfamily Xanthorioideae. Charcotiana includes the new species C. antarctica, which is known only from continental Antarctica. The bipolar genus Amundsenia includes the new species A. austrocontinentalis, which is...

Con c. 487 especies conocidas1, muchas de ellas endémicas, los líquenes dominan el paisaje Antártico. Algunas de las especies muestran patrones de distribución bipolar y se desconoce si su presencia en la Antártida es fruto de colonizaciones a larga distancia o si se trata de taxones antárticos propiamente dichos. Los estudios filogeográficos permi...

Se presenta un catálogo de 462 hongos liquenizados y liquenícolas de la Sierra de Albarracín (Teruel, Aragón, España), como resultado de la IV Campaña de Recolección organizada por la Sociedad Española de Liquenología (SEL). Diplotomma hedinii es novedad para la Península Ibérica y Lepraria leuckertiana constituye una segunda cita peninsular, 69 ta...

Fruto del estudio filogeográfico que se está llevando a cabo con el liquen Mastodia tessellata (Verrucariaceae, Ascomycota), se ha descubierto una nueva especie de hongo liquenícola. Mastodia tessellata constituye un liquen singular debido a que es el único caso conocido de simbiosis liquénica entre un hongo y una alga foliosa. Este hecho hizo que...

Background and Aims The integrity and evolution of lichen symbioses depend on a fine-tuned combination of algal and fungal genotypes. Geographically widespread species complexes of lichenized fungi can occur in habitats with slightly varying ecological conditions, and it remains unclear how this variation correlates with symbiont selectivity patter...

Bryophyte establishment represents a positive feedback process that enhances soil development in newly exposed terrain. Further, biological nitrogen (N) fixation by cyanobacteria in association with mosses can be an important supply of N to terrestrial ecosystems, however the role of these associations during post-glacial primary succession is not...

The Antarctic Dry Valleys are unable to support higher plant and animal life and so microbial communities dominate biotic ecosystem processes. Soil communities are well characterized, but rocky surfaces have also emerged as a significant microbial habitat. Here, we identify extensive colonization of weathered granite on a landscape scale by chasmoe...

Ramalina alisiosae (Ramalinaceae), found on trees in the laurel forests of the Canary Islands is described as new to science. A description of the species is given together with notes on its chemistry, distribution, ecology, and taxonomy. Bayesian and Maximum Likelihood analyses of ITS sequences showed a close relation of the new species with R. im...

This study provides new insights on the phylogenetic position of the lichenicolous fungal genus Abrothallus based on six molecular markers (nuSSU, nuLSU, mtSSU, RPB1, RPB2 and TEF-α). In a broad-scale analysis, we detected high support for inclusion of the genus within Dothideomycetes. A further analysis provided support for Abrothallus as a member...

Understanding how many species exist and the processes by which they form remains a central topic of ecological and evolutionary biology, but represents a special challenge within microbial groups. The lichen-forming fungi represent one of the best examples in which species evolution and diversity create patterns of high phenotypic plasticity coupl...