''Listerella paradoxa'' is a

slime mould Slime mold or slime mould is an informal name given to a polyphyletic assemblage of unrelated eukaryotic organisms in the Stramenopiles, Rhizaria, Discoba, Amoebozoa and Holomycota clades. Most are near-microscopic; those in the Myxogastria ...

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

from the

class Class, Classes, or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used d ...

Myxogastria Myxogastria/Myxogastrea (myxogastrids, ICZN) or Myxomycetes ( ICN) is a class of slime molds that contains 5 orders, 14 families, 62 genera, and 888 species. They are colloquially known as the ''plasmodial'' or ''acellula ...

and the only member of its

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 ...

as well as the

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 ...

Listerelliidae. The species is so far only found on the wattle genus ''

Cladonia ''Cladonia'' is a genus of moss-like lichenized fungi in the family Cladoniaceae. They are the primary food source for reindeer/caribou. ''Cladonia'' species are of economic importance to reindeer-herders, such as the Sami in Scandinavia or th ...

'', mostly in European temperate zones.

Characteristics

The

sporangia A sporangium (from Late Latin, ; : sporangia) is an enclosure in which spores are formed. It can be composed of a unicellular organism, single cell or can be multicellular organism, multicellular. Virtually all plants, fungus, fungi, and many ot ...

are just 0.1 to 0.3 mm large, visible to the unaided eye as mere black-brown dots. The dehiscence lines are slightly lighter and clearly visible. They are unstiped, more or less hemispheric and flattened on the edge. The single layered

peridium The peridium is the protective layer that encloses a mass of spores in fungi. This outer covering is a distinctive feature of gasteroid fungi. Description Depending on the species, the peridium may vary from being paper-thin to thick and rubb ...

is tearing in four to six lobes during spore maturity and is purple-brown. It features dark lime tubercles only on the dehiscence lines. A

capillitium Capillitium (pl. capillitia) is a mass of sterile fibers within a fruit body interspersed among spores. It is found in Mycetozoa Mycetozoa is a polyphyletic grouping of slime molds. It was originally thought to be a monophyletic clade, but in ...

is less developed and is composed of pale purple-brown, slim, vermiculated strands, which are overgrown on the peridia. On low magnification, the 1 to 1.5

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

thick strands look like string of pearls. On high magnification, there are from the centre of the strand on cup or pear-shaped links visible, which thickenings are slightly darker on the blunted end, but the stipes are sallow. The link becomes gradually developed near the edge. The strand is first twice as thick as the normal dark-coloured one, then constrictions appear on them. Then, the constrictions become apparent on them, which arrange it into light stipes and knots, become little by little slimmer and take the shape of a cup. Alternatively, the strand is lighter coloured from the beginning on and the knots rapidly develop from the collar-like constrictions. The

spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual reproduction, sexual (in fungi) or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for biological dispersal, dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores fo ...

s are black-brown as spore mass and in transmitted light brownish yellow. They are on one side thin-walled, blur finely acanthoid and have a diameter from 7 to 8 μm.

Habitat

''Listerella paradoxa'' has been only found living on the thallae of the ''Cladonia'' species 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 ...

(''

Cladonia rangiferina ''Cladonia rangiferina'', also known as reindeer cup lichen, reindeer lichen (cf. Swedish language, Sw. ''renlav'') or grey reindeer lichen, is a light-coloured fruticose lichen, fruticose, Cladonia, cup lichen species in the family Cladoniaceae. ...

'', ''

Cladonia impexa ''Cladonia'' is a genus of moss-like lichenized fungi in the family Cladoniaceae. They are the primary food source for reindeer/caribou. ''Cladonia'' species are of economic importance to reindeer-herders, such as the Sami in Scandinavia or the ...

'', ''

Cladonia arbuscula ''Cladonia arbuscula'', also referred to as shrubby cup lichen or green reindeer lichen, is a species of cup lichen in the family Cladoniaceae. Description The lichen is composed of two Thallus, thalli; an initial primary Squamulose lichen, squ ...

'', '' Cladonia gracilis'', '' Cladonia tenuis''), in temperate zones mainly in Europe (Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Great Britain) but also partially in Russia and Canada. A collection from California is classified as uncertain.

Classification

The species and genus were first described in 1906 by Eduard Adolf Wilhelm Jahn on the basis of a discovery in

Geesthacht Geesthacht () is the largest city in the Lauenburg (district), District of the Duchy of Lauenburg (Herzogtum Lauenburg) in Schleswig-Holstein in Northern Germany, south-east of Hamburg on the right bank of the Elbe, River Elbe. History A church ...

. Its exact taxonomic position was unclear from the beginning and is still uncertain. Jahn grouped it into a family because of its strands in the capillitium. In the first half of the 19th century however it was often grouped into the Dianemaceae, and at later times often into the Liceaceae because of the relationship. The genus name of ''Listerella'' is in honour of

Arthur Hugh Lister Arthur Hugh Lister (1830–1908) was a wine merchant and botanist, known for his research on Mycetozoa also known as slime molds. Life Lister was born in Upton House, Upton, Essex. He was the youngest son of Joseph Jackson Lister, a brother of ...

(1830–1908), who was an English wine merchant and botanist, known for his research on

Mycetozoa Mycetozoa is a polyphyletic grouping of slime molds. It was originally thought to be a monophyletic clade, but in 2010 it was discovered that protostelia are a polyphyletic group within Conosa. Classification It can be divided into dictyoste ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1864927 Myxogastria