Aphanopsidaceae is a

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

-forming

fungi A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

in the order

Lecanorales The Lecanorales are an order of mostly lichen-forming fungi belonging to the class Lecanoromycetes in the division Ascomycota. The order contains 26 families, 269 genera, and 5695 species. Families Suborder Lecanorineae * Biatorellacea ...

. It contains the genera '' Aphanopsis'' and '' Steinia'', comprising five species. The family was

circumscribed In geometry, a circumscribed circle for a set of points is a circle passing through each of them. Such a circle is said to ''circumscribe'' the points or a polygon formed from them; such a polygon is said to be ''inscribed'' in the circle. * Circum ...

in 1995 by the lichenologists Christian Printzen and Gerhard Rambold.

Description

The Aphanopsidaceae family is a group of lichens characterised by their crustose (crust-like)

thallus Thallus (: thalli), from Latinized Greek (), meaning "a green shoot" or "twig", is the vegetative tissue of some organisms in diverse groups such as algae, fungi, some liverworts, lichens, and the Myxogastria. A thallus usually names the entir ...

, which is the main body of the lichen. They engage in a mutualistic relationship with a , specifically a type, which refers to the spherical

green algae The green algae (: green alga) are a group of chlorophyll-containing autotrophic eukaryotes consisting of the phylum Prasinodermophyta and its unnamed sister group that contains the Chlorophyta and Charophyta/ Streptophyta. The land plants ...

that provide the lichen with nutrients through

photosynthesis Photosynthesis ( ) is a system of biological processes by which photosynthetic organisms, such as most plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, convert light energy, typically from sunlight, into the chemical energy necessary to fuel their metabo ...

. The reproductive structures of Aphanopsidaceae, known as

ascomata An ascocarp, or ascoma (: ascomata), is the fruiting body (sporocarp (fungi), sporocarp) of an ascomycete phylum fungus. It consists of very tightly interwoven hyphae and millions of embedded ascus, asci, each of which typically contains four to ...

, are , resembling small, open cups. These structures are , meaning they have a reduced or almost invisible margin around the rim. The internal structure of the ascomata includes a network of

paraphyses Paraphyses are erect sterile filament-like support structures occurring among the reproductive apparatuses of fungi, ferns, bryophytes and some thallophytes. The singular form of the word is paraphysis. In certain fungi, they are part of the f ...

, which are branched and interconnected filaments. These paraphyses are non-

amyloid Amyloids are aggregates of proteins characterised by a fibrillar morphology of typically 7–13 nm in diameter, a β-sheet secondary structure (known as cross-β) and ability to be stained by particular dyes, such as Congo red. In the human ...

, indicating they do not react to

staining Staining is a technique used to enhance contrast in samples, generally at the Microscope, microscopic level. Stains and dyes are frequently used in histology (microscopic study of biological tissue (biology), tissues), in cytology (microscopic ...

with

iodine Iodine is a chemical element; it has symbol I and atomic number 53. The heaviest of the stable halogens, it exists at standard conditions as a semi-lustrous, non-metallic solid that melts to form a deep violet liquid at , and boils to a vi ...

, a common method used to study fungal microstructures. The asci, the spore-bearing cells, have thin walls but are distinguished by a distinct apical structure that is strongly amyloid. This apical structure is plug- or tube-shaped and is part of the , the upper part of the ascus. The shape of the asci varies from cylindrical to club-like (). Aphanopsidaceae lichens typically produce 8 to 16 spores per ascus. These are non-

septate In biology, a septum (Latin for ''something that encloses''; septa) is a wall, dividing a cavity or structure into smaller ones. A cavity or structure divided in this way may be referred to as septate. Examples Human anatomy * Interatrial se ...

, meaning they lack internal divisions, and range in shape from spherical (globose) to broadly oval (

ellipsoid An ellipsoid is a surface that can be obtained from a sphere by deforming it by means of directional Scaling (geometry), scalings, or more generally, of an affine transformation. An ellipsoid is a quadric surface; that is, a Surface (mathemat ...

). They are clear (

hyaline A hyaline substance is one with a glassy appearance. The word is derived from , and . Histopathology Hyaline cartilage is named after its glassy appearance on fresh gross pathology. On light microscopy of H&E stained slides, the extracellula ...

) and do not react to amyloid staining. Additionally, Aphanopsidaceae have

conidiomata Conidiomata (singular: Conidioma) are blister-like fruiting structures produced by a specific type of fungus called a coelomycete. They are formed as a means of dispersing asexual spores call conidia, which they accomplish by creating the blister- ...

, which are structures that produce asexual spores called

conidia A conidium ( ; : conidia), sometimes termed an asexual chlamydospore or chlamydoconidium (: chlamydoconidia), is an asexual, non- motile spore of a fungus. The word ''conidium'' comes from the Ancient Greek word for dust, ('). They are also ...

. These conidia are non-septate, ellipsoid in shape, and also hyaline.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q40704 Lecanorales Lecanoromycetes families Lichen families Taxa described in 1995 Taxa named by Gerhard Rambold Taxa named by Christian Printzen