''Gallowayella galericulata'' is a species of corticolous and

lignicolous This glossary of mycology is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to mycology, the study of fungi. Terms in common with other fields, if repeated here, generally focus on their mycology-specific meaning. Related terms can be found ...

(bark- and wood-dwelling) lichen in the family

Teloschistaceae The Teloschistaceae are a large family of mostly lichen-forming fungi belonging to the class Lecanoromycetes in the division Ascomycota. The family, estimated to contain over 1800 species, was extensively revised in 2013, including the creation ...

. This species has small, orange,

foliose Foliose lichen is one of the morphological classes of lichens, which are complex organisms that arise from the symbiotic relationship between fungi and a photosynthetic partner, typically algae. This partnership allows lichen to live in divers ...

(leafy), loosely adnate

thalli Thallus (plural: 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. Many of these organisms wer ...

that form either compact

colonies In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state' ...

or spread extensively. The of the thallus are typically curved inward, and often form a characteristic helmet- or hood-like shape. Found in dry regions of the western United States, it colonises bark and wood, particularly favouring dry twigs of various shrubs and trees.

Taxonomy

The species was formally described as a new species in 2006 by the Swedish lichenologist Louise Lindblom. The

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes the ...

was collected by

Stephen Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; h ...

and Sylvia Sharnoff in a

sagebrush Sagebrush is the common name of several woody and herbaceous species of plants in the genus '' Artemisia''. The best known sagebrush is the shrub '' Artemisia tridentata''. Sagebrushes are native to the North American west. Following is an al ...

area south of

Boise Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown ...

, Idaho, where it was found growing on '' Artemesia''. It is named for its distinctive helmet-shaped lobes.

Sergey Kondratyuk Sergey Yakovlevich Kondratyuk ( uk, Сергій Якович Кондратюк) (born 17 May 1959) is a Ukrainian botanist specialising in lichenology. His research deals with the taxonomy, floristics, ecology and geography of lichens and lic ...

and colleagues transferred the

taxon In biology, a taxon ( back-formation from '' taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular n ...

to the newly

circumscribed In geometry, the circumscribed circle or circumcircle of a polygon is a circle that passes through all the vertices of the polygon. The center of this circle is called the circumcenter and its radius is called the circumradius. Not every po ...

genus ''

Gallowayella ''Gallowayella'' is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Teloschistaceae. It has 15 species. The genus was circumscription (taxonomy), circumscribed in 2012 by Sergey Kondratyuk, Natalya Fedorenko, Soili Stenroos, Ingvar Kärnefelt, Joh ...

'' in 2012.

Description

The lichen has a corticolous (bark-dwelling) thallus,

in nature and forming small, somewhat erect cushions with a diameter of up to 3 mm. The are typically incurved, often with a helmet-like shape due to the presence of apicolous (at the tip)

soralia Soredia are common reproductive structures of lichens. Lichens reproduce asexually by employing simple fragmentation and production of soredia and isidia. Soredia are powdery propagules composed of fungal hyphae wrapped around cyanobacteria ...

; young lobes are abundant and dissected, becoming truncated or rounded as they mature. Its upper surface is orange to dull orange, smooth to shiny, and very rarely shows a light dusting of (a powdery coating). The lower surface varies from white to yellow, occasionally eroded by soralia. Soralia, containing yellow to greenish yellow , form on the lower side of lobes, often under the mature lobes' helmet-shaped parts.

Apothecia An ascocarp, or ascoma (), 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 mo ...

(fruiting bodies) have not been observed to occur in this species.

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 in ...

(asexual reproductive structures producing

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

) are very rare, either immersed or slightly protruding, with conidia that are (rod-shaped),

hyaline A hyaline substance is one with a glassy appearance. The word is derived from el, ὑάλινος, translit=hyálinos, lit=transparent, and el, ὕαλος, translit=hýalos, lit=crystal, glass, label=none. Histopathology Hyaline cartilage is ...

(translucent), measuring 3–5 by 1–1.5

μm The micrometre ( international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: μm) or micrometer (American spelling), also commonly known as a micron, is a unit of length in the International System of Uni ...

Similar species

''Gallowayella galericulata'' is distinguished from other species by its unique soralia placement under helmet-shaped lobe ends and a tendency for lobes to appear almost inflated. This species has thicker and more robust thalli compared to ''

Gallowayella fulva ''Gallowayella fulva'' is a species of foliose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It was first scientifically described in 1796 by German lichenologist Georg Franz Hoffmann, who classified it as a member of genus ''Lobaria''. It has also b ...

'', with lobes that vary more in width and do not branch dichotomously. ''G. galericulata'' shares similarities with ''

Xanthomendoza oregana ''Xanthomendoza oregana'' is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), foliose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It forms an orange to bright-yellow thallus with ascending that gives it the overall appearance of a tuft. The lichen occu ...

'' but differs in its darker orange thallus and exclusively bacilliform conidia.

Chemistry

Chemical analysis reveals high concentrations of

parietin Parietin is the predominant cortical pigment of lichens in the genus ''Caloplaca'', a secondary product of the lichen '' Xanthoria parietina'', and a pigment found in the roots of Curled Dock (''Rumex crispus''). It has an orangy-yellow color a ...

and

teloschistin Fallacinol (teloschistin) is an organic compound in the structural class of chemicals known as anthraquinones. It is found in some lichens, particularly in the family Teloschistaceae, as well as a couple of plants and non lichen-forming fungi. I ...

, with smaller amounts of

fallacinal Fallacinal is an organic compound in the structural class of chemicals known as anthraquinones. It is found in many species of the lichen family Teloschistaceae. History In 1936, Japanese chemists Mitizo Asano and Sinobu Fuziwara reported on ...

parietinic acid Parietinic acid is an organic compound in the structural class of chemicals known as anthraquinones. It is found in many species of the lichen family Teloschistaceae. The substance was first reported in the literature by the German chemist Walte ...

, and emodin. This suite of compounds correspond to A3, indicating a specific

secondary metabolite Secondary metabolites, also called specialised metabolites, toxins, secondary products, or natural products, are organic compounds produced by any lifeform, e.g. bacteria, fungi, animals, or plants, which are not directly involved in the no ...

profile.

Habitat and distribution

''Gallowayella galericulata'' thrives on both wood and bark, frequently encountered on dry twigs of ''

Artemisia Artemisia may refer to: People * Artemisia I of Caria (fl. 480 BC), queen of Halicarnassus under the First Persian Empire, naval commander during the second Persian invasion of Greece * Artemisia II of Caria (died 350 BC), queen of Caria under th ...

'' spp., '' Pseudoacacia'' spp., ''

Populus angustifolia ''Populus angustifolia'', commonly known as the narrowleaf cottonwood, is a species of tree in the willow family (Salicaceae). It is native to western North America, where it is a characteristic species of the Rocky Mountains and the surrounding ...

'', ''

Quercus douglasii ''Quercus douglasii'', known as blue oak, is a species of oak endemic to (and found only in) California, common in the Coast Ranges and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. It is California's most drought-tolerant deciduous oak, and is a domin ...

'', and ''

Sarcobatus ''Sarcobatus'' is a North American genus of two species of flowering plants, formerly considered to be a single species. Common names for ''S. vermiculatus'' include greasewood, seepwood, and saltbush. Traditionally, ''Sarcobatus'' has be ...

'' species. Its habitat spans relatively dry areas of the western United States. ''Gallowayella galericulata'' has a distinct preference for certain tree species, notably ''Populus angustifolia'', driven by the genetically determined characteristics of the tree's bark. Research in a controlled garden environment (the

Ogden Nature Center The Ogden Nature Center is a nature preserve and education center located in Ogden, Utah. Created in 1975, it was Utah's first nature center. About The center includes live animal exhibits, walking trails, ponds, bird blinds, observation towe ...

) suggests that the

genotype The genotype of an organism is its complete set of genetic material. Genotype can also be used to refer to the alleles or variants an individual carries in a particular gene or genetic location. The number of alleles an individual can have in a ...

of ''Populus angustifolia'' plays a crucial role in the lichen's distribution, with specific factors like bark texture, levels of condensed

tannin Tannins (or tannoids) are a class of astringent, polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to and precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids. The term ''tannin'' (from Anglo-Norman ''tanner ...

s, and overall tree size being significant. This sensitivity to genetic variations within ''Populus angustifolia'' indicates a degree of heritability and suggests that even if the trees do not exert direct

selective pressure Any cause that reduces or increases reproductive success in a portion of a population potentially exerts evolutionary pressure, selective pressure or selection pressure, driving natural selection. It is a quantitative description of the amount of ...

on lichen coverage, their traits may still indirectly shape the lichen's evolutionary path. Studies conducted in

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

's forested ecosystems have examined the

diversity Diversity, diversify, or diverse may refer to: Business *Diversity (business), the inclusion of people of different identities (ethnicity, gender, age) in the workforce *Diversity marketing, marketing communication targeting diverse customers * ...

and composition of lichen communities in relation to

aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species; some, but not all, are classified by botanists in the section ''Populus'', of the ''Populus'' genus. Species These species are called aspens: *'' Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (Chin ...

cover, contrasting them across aspen, non-aspen hardwood, and coniferous environments. ''Xanthomendoza galericulata'' emerged as an

indicator 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 o ...

for aspen forests, demonstrating a strong positive correlation with aspen cover, yet showing versatility in colonizing various bark types.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q27242576 , from2=Q10720983 galericulata Lichen species Lichens described in 2006 Lichens of North America