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Jung P, Baumann K, Emrich D, Schermer M, Eckhardt KU, Jandl G, Leinweber P, Harion F, Wruck A, Grube M, Büdel B, Lakatos M. The dark side of orange: Multiorganismic continuum dynamics within a lichen of the Atacama Desert. Mycologia 2024; 116:44-58. [PMID: 37955984 DOI: 10.1080/00275514.2023.2263148] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2023] [Accepted: 09/20/2023] [Indexed: 11/15/2023]
Abstract
Over the decades our understanding of lichens has shifted to the fact that they are multiorganismic, symbiotic microecosystems, with their complex interactions coming to the fore due to recent advances in microbiomics. Here, we present a mutualistic-parasitic continuum dynamics scenario between an orange lichen and a lichenicolous fungus from the Atacama Desert leading to the decay of the lichen's photobiont and leaving behind a black lichen thallus. Based on isolation, sequencing, and ecophysiological approaches including metabolic screenings of the symbionts, we depict consequences upon infection with the lichenicolous fungus. This spans from a loss of the lichen's photosynthetic activity and an increased roughness of its surface to an inhibition of the parietin synthesis as a shared pathway between the photobiont and the mycobiont, including a shift of secondary metabolism products. This degree of relations has rarely been documented before, although lichenicolous fungi have been studied for over 200 years, adding an additional level to the view of interactions within lichens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Jung
- Integrative Biotechnology, University of Applied Sciences Kaiserslautern, Carl-Schurz-Str. 10-16, Pirmasens 66953, Germany
| | - Karen Baumann
- Soil Science, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Science, University of Rostock, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 6, Rostock 18051, Germany
| | - Dina Emrich
- Applied Vegetation Ecology, Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Freiburg, Tennenbacher Str. 4, Freiburg 79106, Germany
| | - Michael Schermer
- Biology, Rhineland-Palatinate Technical University Kaiserslautern Landau, Erwin-Schrödinger Str. 52, Kaiserslautern 67663, Germany
| | - Kai-Uwe Eckhardt
- Soil Science, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Science, University of Rostock, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 6, Rostock 18051, Germany
| | - Gerald Jandl
- Soil Science, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Science, University of Rostock, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 6, Rostock 18051, Germany
| | - Peter Leinweber
- Soil Science, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Science, University of Rostock, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 6, Rostock 18051, Germany
| | - Felix Harion
- Integrative Biotechnology, University of Applied Sciences Kaiserslautern, Carl-Schurz-Str. 10-16, Pirmasens 66953, Germany
| | - Andreas Wruck
- Integrative Biotechnology, University of Applied Sciences Kaiserslautern, Carl-Schurz-Str. 10-16, Pirmasens 66953, Germany
| | - Martin Grube
- Institute of Biology, University of Graz, Holteigasse 6, Graz 8010, Austria
| | - Burkhard Büdel
- Department of Biology, Rhineland-Palatinate Technical University Kaiserslautern Landau, Erwin-Schrödinger Str. 52, Kaiserslautern 67663, Germany
| | - Michael Lakatos
- Integrative Biotechnology, University of Applied Sciences Kaiserslautern, Carl-Schurz-Str. 10-16, Pirmasens 66953, Germany
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