''Muellerella'' 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 ...

lichenicolous lichen A lichenicolous fungus is a member of a specialised group of fungi that live exclusively on lichens as their host organisms. These fungi, comprising over 2,000 known species across 280 genera, exhibit a wide range of ecological strategies, includ ...

s in the family

Verrucariaceae Verrucariaceae is a family of lichens and a few non-lichenised fungi in the order Verrucariales. The lichens have a wide variety of thallus forms, from crustose (crust-like) to foliose (bushy) and squamulose (scaly). Most of them grow on lan ...

. The genus has a widespread distribution, especially in northern

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 ...

areas, and contains species that live on other lichens, or on

liverworts Liverworts are a group of non-vascular plant, non-vascular embryophyte, land plants forming the division Marchantiophyta (). They may also be referred to as hepatics. Like mosses and hornworts, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in wh ...

Molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

analysis published in 2019 indicates that the genus, as currently circumscribed, is

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage that includes organisms with mixed evolutionary origin but does not include their most recent common ancestor. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as Homoplasy, homoplasies ...

. ''M. atricola'' and ''M. lichenicola'' form one monophyletic lineage in the genus, but the rest of the species tested fell into two distinct monophyletic lineages. The authors suggest the placement of the genus within the subclass

Chaetothyriomycetidae Chaetothyriomycetidae is a subclass of ascomycete within the class Eurotiomycetes. Many species in Chaetothyriomycetidae are lichens. Morphology Chaetothyriomycetidae produce a cleistothecium through which they distribute their spore In ...

, but acknowledge that more genetic analysis is required to determine the correct placement of the type species, '' Muellerella polyspora''.

Species

*'' Muellerella antarctica'' *'' Muellerella erratica'' *'' Muellerella frullaniae'' *'' Muellerella hospitans'' *'' Muellerella lecanactidis'' *'' Muellerella lichenicola'' *'' Muellerella polyspora'' *'' Muellerella pygmaea'' *'' Muellerella rubescens'' *'' Muellerella stictinae'' *'' Muellerella thalamita'' *'' Muellerella ventosicola'' *'' Muellerella vesicularia''

References

Verrucariales Eurotiomycetes genera Lichenicolous fungi Lichen genera Taxa described in 1862 Taxa named by Johannes Müller Argoviensis {{Eurotiomycetes-stub