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Complexity of lichen symbiosis
Černajová, Ivana ; Škaloud, Pavel (advisor) ; Palice, Zdeněk (referee) ; Spribille, Toby (referee)
Lichens are currently viewed as complex symbiotic systems. In addition to the main mycobiont and photobiont, a variety of associated fungi, bacteria and algae/cyanobacteria (minor/accessory photobionts) have been recognized. Their diversity has been intensively studied, but is still far from being fully apprehended. Likewise, recognition of the significance of the associated organisms to the whole system is still at the beginning but various crucial roles, from constitutive morphogenetic through physiological to various means of increasing the lichen's fitness, have already been suggested. The present thesis attempts to approach lichens in their full complexity. Focusing on two model systems; the Cladonia-Asterochloris association and ecologically delimited communities of Verrucariaceae; it aims: i) to examine patterns in photobiont choice and their relationship to lichen ecology; ii) to set a framework for in-vitro mycobiont-photobiont compatibility testing; iii) to explore the diversity of selected associated fungi and their possible relationships with the lichen host. We have shown that Verrucariaceae in the intertidal zone associate with largely understudied Ulvophycean photobionts. They mainly belong to Kornmanniaceae, Ulvales, and include a variety of novel lineages, one of which was...
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