Chapsa Alborosella
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''Chapsa'' is a
genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of
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 ...
s in the family
Graphidaceae The Graphidaceae are a family of lichen-forming fungi in the order Graphidales. The family contains nearly a hundred genera and more than 2000 species. Although the family has a cosmopolitan distribution, most Graphidaceae species occur in tropic ...
. These lichens form thin, grey-whitish to pale olive crusts on tree bark and are characterized by
fruiting bodies The sporocarp (also known as fruiting body, fruit body or fruitbody) of fungi is a multicellular structure on which spore-producing structures, such as basidia or asci, are borne. The fruitbody is part of the sexual phase of a fungal life cyc ...
that start as slits but expand into round to angular discs level with the surface, each bordered by a pale rim. The genus has a
pantropical A pantropical ("all tropics") distribution is one which covers tropical regions of both the Eastern and Western hemispheres. Examples of species include caecilians, modern sirenians and the plant genera ''Acacia'' and ''Bacopa''. ''Neotropical' ...
to warm-
temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...
distribution, growing on shaded bark in humid lowland or foothill rainforests, with over 60 species that often serve as
indicators Indicator may refer to: Biology * Environmental indicator of environmental health (pressures, conditions and responses) * Ecological indicator of ecosystem health (ecological processes) * Health indicator, which is used to describe the health ...
of undisturbed forest habitats.


Taxonomy

The genus 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 ...
by the Italian lichenologist Abramo Bartolommeo Massalongo in 1860. The genus was resurrected by Frisch and colleagues in 2006 to include species earlier classified in '' Chroodiscus'', '' Myriotrema'', ''
Ocellularia ''Ocellularia'' is a genus of lichens in the family Graphidaceae. The genus was circumscribed by Georg Friedrich Wilhelm Meyer Georg may refer to: * Georg (film), ''Georg'' (film), 1997 *Georg (musical), Estonian musical * Georg (given name) ...
'', and ''
Thelotrema ''Thelotrema'' is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Graphidaceae, the family to which all taxa in the former Thelotremataceae now belong. Members of the genus ''Thelotrema'' are commonly called barnacle lichens. Description ''Thelo ...
''.


Description

''Chapsa'' forms a thin, grey-whitish to pale olive crust (
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 ...
) lacking a true . Its ascomata are : they start as slits but expand into round to angular discs level with the thallus, each bordered by a pale, partly free armed with tiny . The clear
hymenium The hymenium is the tissue layer on the hymenophore of a fungal fruiting body where the cells develop into basidia or asci, which produce spores. In some species all of the cells of the hymenium develop into basidia or asci, while in oth ...
has branched "''Chapsa''-type"
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 ...
, is iodine-negative (I–), and houses eight hyaline
ascospore In fungi, an ascospore is the sexual spore formed inside an ascus—the sac-like cell that defines the division Ascomycota, the largest and most diverse Division (botany), division of fungi. After two parental cell nucleus, nuclei fuse, the ascu ...
s that are transversely 3–15-septate; a few species develop longer, somewhat spores. Most lack
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 ...
s, though some produce
norstictic acid Norstictic acid is a depsidone produced as a secondary metabolites in lichens. The compound contains both an aldehyde carbonyl group and an adjacent hydroxyl In chemistry, a hydroxy or hydroxyl group is a functional group with the chemical fo ...
or
stictic acid Stictic acid is an aromatic organic compound, a product of secondary metabolism in some species of lichens. Stictic acid is the subject of preliminary biomedical research. Stictic acid has cytotoxic and apoptotic effects ''in vitro ''In v ...
that tint the discs orange-brown.
Molecular A molecule is a group of two or more atoms that are held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions that satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, ...
work has split off allied genera (e.g., ''Astrochapsa'', ''Pseudochapsa'', ''Nitidochapsa'') for lineages with divergent chemistries or spores, yet all share the chroodiscoid discs, periphysoids and branched
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 ...
diagnostic for the group. Over 60 species remain in ''Chapsa'', and discoveries such as ''C. murioelongata'' show that diversity is still being revealed.


Ecology

''Chapsa'' has a
pantropical A pantropical ("all tropics") distribution is one which covers tropical regions of both the Eastern and Western hemispheres. Examples of species include caecilians, modern sirenians and the plant genera ''Acacia'' and ''Bacopa''. ''Neotropical' ...
to warm-
temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...
distribution, growing on shaded bark below about 1000 m elevation in humid lowland or foothill rainforests; some species extend into montane
cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, Montane forest, montane, Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist forest characteri ...
s above 2000 m. Its preference for moist, mature forest canopies means several species serve as
indicators Indicator may refer to: Biology * Environmental indicator of environmental health (pressures, conditions and responses) * Ecological indicator of ecosystem health (ecological processes) * Health indicator, which is used to describe the health ...
of undisturbed habitat, and surveys in China, Brazil and India continue to uncover narrowly
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
taxa.


Species

*''
Chapsa albida ''Chapsa'' is a genus of lichens in the family Graphidaceae. These lichens form thin, grey-whitish to pale olive crusts on tree bark and are characterized by fruiting bodies that start as slits but expand into round to angular discs level with ...
'' *''
Chapsa alborosella ''Chapsa'' is a genus of lichens in the family Graphidaceae. These lichens form thin, grey-whitish to pale olive crustose lichen, crusts on tree bark and are characterized by fruiting bodies that start as slits but expand into round to angular ...
'' *''
Chapsa alletii ''Chapsa'' is a genus of 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 o ...
'' *'' Chapsa angustispora'' *'' Chapsa boninensis'' *'' CChapsa canaimae'' *'' Chapsa chionostoma'' *'' Chapsa cinchonarum'' *'' Chapsa constrictospora'' – Brazil *'' Chapsa defecta'' *'' Chapsa defectosorediata'' *'' Chapsa diorygmoides'' – Brazil *'' Chapsa diploschistoides'' *'' Chapsa discoides'' *'' Chapsa dissuta'' *'' Chapsa eitenii'' *'' Chapsa elabens'' *'' Chapsa farinosa'' *'' Chapsa francisci'' *'' Chapsa granulifera'' *'' Chapsa halei'' *'' Chapsa hiata'' *'' Chapsa hypoconstictica'' *'' Chapsa imperfecta'' *'' Chapsa inconspicua'' – Colombia *'' Chapsa indica'' *'' Chapsa inspersa'' – Brazil *'' Chapsa isidiata'' *'' Chapsa laemensis'' *'' Chapsa leprocarpa'' *'' Chapsa lichexanthonica'' – Brazil *'' Chapsa meghalayensis'' *'' Chapsa microspora'' *'' Chapsa multicarpa'' *'' Chapsa neei'' *'' Chapsa niveocarpa'' *'' Chapsa nubila'' *'' Chapsa pallidella'' *'' Chapsa paralbida'' *'' Chapsa patens'' *'' Chapsa perdissuta'' *'' Chapsa pulchella'' *'' Chapsa pulchra'' *'' Chapsa referta'' *'' Chapsa rubropruinosa'' *'' Chapsa rubropulveracea'' *'' Chapsa scabiocarpa'' – Peru *'' Chapsa scabiomarginata'' *'' Chapsa sorediata'' *'' Chapsa sublilacina'' *'' Chapsa subsorediata'' – Peru *'' Chapsa thallotrema'' *'' Chapsa thambapanni'' – Sri Lanka *'' Chapsa tibellii'' *'' Chapsa wijeyaratniana''


References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5073433 Graphidaceae Lichen genera Graphidales genera Taxa described in 1860 Taxa named by Abramo Bartolommeo Massalongo