Month: September 2015

New publication

A phylogenetic assessment of the genus Aptychella has been published (link):

Akiyama, H. A. Schäfer-Verwimp, N. Printarakul, M. Suleiman, B.C. Tan, B. Goffinet & F. Müller. 2015. Phylogenetic study of the genus Aptychella (Pylaisiadelphaceae, Musci). The Bryologist 118: 273–283.

The abstract reads: The relationships among species of the epiphytic genus Aptychella (Broth.) Herzog and Clastobryopsis M. Fleisch. were inferred based on phylogenetic analyses of plastid (rpl16, rps4, and trnL-F) and mitochondrial (nad5) gene sequences as well as morphological features. One of the Asian members, Aptychella robusta (M. Fleisch.) M. Fleisch., exhibits much genetic variation and differentiation among populations, which may reflect the presence of cryptic species. The distinctiveness of Asian members characterized by unicostate leaves, A. brevinervis (M. Fleisch.) M. Fleisch., A. pseudobrevinervis H. Akiyama and A. oblongifolia H. Akiyama, are confirmed. On the contrary, Aptychella proligera, the sole member of the genus known from South and Central America, is shown to have a close relationship to the A. brevinervis complex and preserves low genetic variation among samples collected from geographically remote localities. This lack of variation might be caused by a recent immigration from Asian populations. The Asiatic genus Clastobryopsis is treated as a synonym of Aptychella based on the present phylogenetic analyses. One new combination is proposed—Aptychella imbricata (H. Akiyama et al.) H. Akiyama comb. nov.

Sticta phylogeny working group met in Storrs

Collaborators on the NSF project focus on the Sticta phylogeny met in Storrs from Sept. 14-18. Reports included an update on new species discovered in Madagascar, China, Colombia and other parts of the world, as well as mt genome structure in these lichenized fungi and their associated cyanobacteria.

Sticta_working_group
From left to right: Todd Widhelm and Thorsten Lumsch (Chicago Field Museum), Bibiana Moncada (Universidad Distrital in Colombia), Emmanuël Sérusiaux (Uni. Liège), Rafael Medina & Bernard Goffinet (UConn) and Robert Lücking (Botanical Garden and Botanical Museum, Berlin).

 

New publication

Martha assembled and annotated the mt genome of Oxystegus tenuirostris, which is now published:

Alonso, M., R. Medina, M.J. Cano, J.A. Jiménez & B. Goffinet. (in press). The complete mitochondrial genome of the moss Oxystegus tenuirostris (Hook. & Taylor) A.J.E. (Pottiaceae, Bryophyta). Mitochondrial DNA (Mitogenome announcement).