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Biatora Aureolepra
''Biatora aureolepra'' is a species of lichen in the family Ramalinaceae, first found in inland rainforests of British Columbia. This lichen forms thin, powdery crusts that are bright yellow-green when fresh but fade to golden tones over time, and it has never been observed producing fruiting bodies. It grows on the bark and decaying wood of conifers in very humid, old-growth forests and has a scattered distribution in northwestern North America, central Norway, and Austria. Taxonomy The species was described in 2009 by Toby Spribille and Tor Tønsberg during a survey of inland rainforest lichens; the holotype, collected from soft conifer wood beside the Roaring River arm of Quesnel Lake, British Columbia (716 m a.s.l.), is lodged in the Canadian Museum of Nature herbarium, with duplicates in Bergen and other collections. Its name combines the Latin (“golden-yellow”) with lepra ('scurf' or 'leprosy'), a nod to the species' golden hue in dried material and its powdery hab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tor Tønsberg
Tor Tønsberg (born 1948 in Oslo) is a Norwegian lichenologist who has made significant contributions to the taxonomy, chemistry, floristics, and phytogeography of lichens and lichenicolous fungi. Throughout his career, he has described more than one hundred species and genera new to science, advancing the knowledge of lichens in Europe and North America. Early life and education Tønsberg grew up in Bekkelagshøgda, Nordstrand, in the eastern part of Oslo. He developed an early interest in nature, frequently visiting the nearby lake Østensjøvannet and the forests of Østmarka with his younger brother Knut. His systematic nature and passion for collecting began in childhood, where he organized a "museum" in the basement of his parents' house. Summers at his family's farm, Myrvang, in Majavatn in Grane Municipality in northern Norway, also played a significant role in fostering his love for the natural world. His grandfather, a frequent companion on hikes and fishing tours ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Depside
A depside is a type of polyphenolic compound composed of two or more monocyclic aromatic units linked by an ester group. Depsides are most often found in lichens, but have also been isolated from higher plants, including species of the Ericaceae, Lamiaceae, Papaveraceae and Myrtaceae. Certain depsides have antibiotic, anti-HIV, antioxidant, and anti-proliferative activity ''in vitro''. As inhibitors of prostaglandin synthesis and leukotriene B4 biosynthesis, some depsides have ''in vitro'' anti-inflammatory activity. A depsidase is a type of enzyme that cuts depside bonds. One such enzyme is tannase. Examples Gyrophoric acid, found in the lichen '' Cryptothecia rubrocincta'', is a depside. Merochlorophaeic acid, isolated from lichens of the genus '' Cladonia'', is an inhibitor of prostaglandin synthesis. Some depsides are described as anti-HIV. See also * Salsalate homodimer formed from self-condensation of salicylic acid Salicylic acid is an organic compound with t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Potassium Hydroxide
Potassium hydroxide is an inorganic compound with the formula K OH, and is commonly called caustic potash. Along with sodium hydroxide (NaOH), KOH is a prototypical strong base. It has many industrial and niche applications, most of which utilize its caustic nature and its reactivity toward acids. An estimated 700,000 to 800,000 tonnes were produced in 2005. KOH is noteworthy as the precursor to most soft and liquid soaps, as well as numerous potassium-containing chemicals. It is a white solid that is dangerously corrosive. Properties and structure KOH exhibits high thermal stability. Because of this high stability and relatively low melting point, it is often melt-cast as pellets or rods, forms that have low surface area and convenient handling properties. These pellets become tacky in air because KOH is hygroscopic. Most commercial samples are ca. 90% pure, the remainder being water and carbonates. Its dissolution in water is strongly exothermic. Concentrated aqueous ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lecanoric Acid
Lecanoric acid is a chemical produced by several species of lichen.ubChem - Lecanoric acid"> Lecanoric acid is classified as a polyphenol and a didepside, and it functions as an antioxidant. It is an ester of orsellinic acid with itself. The acid is named after the lichen ''Lecanora'', in which it was discovered. The acid has also been isolated from '' Usnea subvacata'', '' Parmotrema stuppuem'', ''Parmotrema tinctorum,'' '' Parmotrema grayana,'' Xanthoparmelia arida and Xanthoparmelia lecanorica. A related compound, 5-chlorolecanoric acid, is found in some species of ''Punctelia ''Punctelia'' is a genus of foliose lichens belonging to the large family Parmeliaceae. The genus, which contains about 50 species, was segregated from genus '' Parmelia'' in 1982. Characteristics that define ''Punctelia'' include the presenc ...''. References {{Reflist Polyphenols Benzoic acids Benzoate esters Lichen products ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gyrophoric Acid
Gyrophoric acid is a tridepside. It is a double ester of the orsellinic acid. It can also be found in most of the species of the lichen genera '' Actinogyra'', '' Lasallia'', and '' Umbilicaria'' . Natural occurrence and biosynthesis Gyrophoric acid is an orcinol-derived tridepside, meaning it is built from three orsellinic acid units linked by ester bonds. In nature the compound reaches its highest concentrations in rock-dwelling '' Umbilicaria'' lichens, but smaller amounts occur in several other genera, including '' Cryptothecia'', ''Xanthoparmelia'', '' Actinogyra'' and '' Lasallia''. Gyrophoric acid often co-exists with simpler didepsides such as lecanoric acid, suggesting a shared metabolic origin. Pharmacologically, gyrophoric acid has been demonstrated to possess broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity and a marked cytotoxic effect against a range of cancer cell lines in in vitro laboratory tests; it also absorbs ultraviolet radiation and has historically served as a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Secondary Metabolite
Secondary metabolites, also called ''specialised metabolites'', ''secondary products'', or ''natural products'', are organic compounds produced by any lifeform, e.g. bacteria, archaea, fungi, animals, or plants, which are not directly involved in the normal cell growth, growth, Biological development, development, or reproduction of the organism. Instead, they generally mediate ecological biological interaction, interactions, which may produce a Natural selection, selective advantage for the organism by increasing its survivability or fecundity. Specific secondary metabolites are often restricted to a narrow set of species within a phylogenetic group. Secondary metabolites often play an important role in plant defense against herbivory and other interspecies defenses. Humans use secondary metabolites as medicines, flavourings, pigments, and recreational drugs. The term secondary metabolite was first coined by Albrecht Kossel, the 1910 Nobel Prize laureate for medicine and physio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pycnidia
A pycnidium (plural pycnidia) is an asexual fruiting body produced by mitosporic fungi, for instance in the order Sphaeropsidales ( Deuteromycota, Coelomycetes) or order Pleosporales (Ascomycota, Dothideomycetes). It is often spherical or inversely pearshaped ( obpyriform) and its internal cavity is lined with conidiophore A conidium ( ; : conidia), sometimes termed an asexual chlamydospore or chlamydoconidium (: chlamydoconidia), is an Asexual reproduction, asexual, non-motility, motile spore of a fungus. The word ''conidium'' comes from the Ancient Greek word f ...s. When ripe, an opening generally appears at the top, through which the pycnidiospores escape. References {{reflist Further reading *Kulik, Martin M. "Symptomless infection, persistence, and production of pycnidia in host and non-host plants by Phomopsis batatae, Phomopsis phaseoli, and Phomopsis sojae, and the taxonomic implications." Mycologia(1984): 274–291. *Calpouzos, L., and D. B. Lapis. "Effects of l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apothecia
An ascocarp, or ascoma (: ascomata), is the fruiting body ( sporocarp) of an ascomycete phylum fungus. It consists of very tightly interwoven hyphae and millions of embedded asci, each of which typically contains four to eight ascospores. Ascocarps are most commonly bowl-shaped (apothecia) but may take on a spherical or flask-like form that has a pore opening to release spores (perithecia) or no opening (cleistothecia). Classification The ascocarp is classified according to its placement (in ways not fundamental to the basic taxonomy). It is called ''epigeous'' if it grows above ground, as with the morels, while underground ascocarps, such as truffles, are termed ''hypogeous''. The structure enclosing the hymenium is divided into the types described below (apothecium, cleistothecium, etc.) and this character ''is'' important for the taxonomic classification of the fungus. Apothecia can be relatively large and fleshy, whereas the others are microscopic—about the s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sexual Reproduction
Sexual reproduction is a type of reproduction that involves a complex life cycle in which a gamete ( haploid reproductive cells, such as a sperm or egg cell) with a single set of chromosomes combines with another gamete to produce a zygote that develops into an organism composed of cells with two sets of chromosomes ( diploid). This is typical in animals, though the number of chromosome sets and how that number changes in sexual reproduction varies, especially among plants, fungi, and other eukaryotes. In placental mammals, sperm cells exit the penis through the male urethra and enter the vagina during copulation, while egg cells enter the uterus through the oviduct. Other vertebrates of both sexes possess a cloaca for the release of sperm or egg cells. Sexual reproduction is the most common life cycle in multicellular eukaryotes, such as animals, fungi and plants. Sexual reproduction also occurs in some unicellular eukaryotes. Sexual reproduction does not occur in pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herbarium
A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant biological specimen, specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (called ''exsiccatum'', plur. ''exsiccata'') but, depending upon the material, may also be stored in boxes or kept in alcohol or other preservative. The specimens in a herbarium are often used as reference material in describing plant taxon, taxa. Some specimens may be Type (botany), types, some may be specimens distributed in published series called exsiccata, exsiccatae. The term herbarium is often used in mycology to describe an equivalent collection of preserved fungi, otherwise known as a fungarium. A xylarium is a herbarium specialising in specimens of wood. The term hortorium (as in the Liberty Hyde Bailey, Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium) has occasionally been applied to a herbarium specialising in preserving material of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leprose Lichen
Lichens are symbiotic organisms made up of multiple species: a fungus, one or more photobionts (an alga and/or a cyanobacteria) and sometimes a yeast. They are regularly grouped by their external appearance – a characteristic known as their growth form. This form, which is based on the appearance of vegetative part of the lichen (its thallus), varies depending on the species and the environmental conditions it faces. Those who study lichens (lichenologists) have described a dozen of these forms: areolate, byssoid, calicioid, cladoniform, crustose, filamentous, foliose, fruticose, gelatinous, leprose, placodioid and squamulose. Traditionally, crustose lichen, crustose (flat), foliose lichen, foliose (leafy) and fruticose lichen, fruticose (shrubby) are considered to be the three main forms. In addition to these more formalised, traditional growth types, there are a handful of informal types named for their resemblance to the lichens of specific genera. These include alectorioid, c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lepraria
''Lepraria'' is a genus of leprose (powdery) crustose lichens that grows on its substrate like patches of granular, caked up, mealy dust grains.A taxonomic revision of the North American species of Lepraria s.l. that produce divaricatic acid, with notes on the type species of the genus L. incana, James C. Lendemer , Mycologia 103(6): 1216-1229/ref> Members of the genus are List of lichen common names and their genera, commonly called dust lichens.Field Guide to California Lichens, Stephen Sharnoff, Yale University Press, 2014, The main vegetative body (thallus) is made of patches of soredia (little balls of algae wrapped in fungus). There are no known mechanisms for sexual reproduction, yet members of the genus continue to speciate. Some species can form marginal lobes and appear squamulose. Because of the morphological simplicity of the thallus and the absence of sexual structures, the composition of lichen products (i.e., secondary metabolites made by lichens) are importan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
