''Phlyctis subhimalayensis'' is a species of

corticolous 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-dwelling),

crustose lichen Crustose lichens are lichens that form a crust which strongly adheres to the Substrate (biology), substrate (soil, rock, tree bark, etc.), making separation from the substrate impossible without destruction. The basic structure of crustose lichen ...

in the family Phlyctidaceae. It is found in certain high-elevations regions of the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

and

Southwestern China Southwestern China () is a region in the People's Republic of China. It consists of five provincial administrative regions, namely Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, and Xizang. Geography Southwestern China is a rugged and mountainous region, ...

Taxonomy

''Phlyctis subhimalayensis'' was described by lichenologists Santosh Joshi and

Dalip Kumar Upreti Dalip Kumar Upreti (born 26 January 1958) is an Indian lichenologist.ENVIS C ...

as a new species in 2012. The

name A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A person ...

of the species alludes to both its resemblance to ''

Phlyctis himalayensis ''Phlyctis'' is a genus of lichenized fungi in the order Gyalectales, and the type genus of the family Phlyctidaceae. Members of the genus are commonly called blemished lichens. The genus was circumscribed by German lichenologist Julius von Fl ...

'' and its collection location in the

. The

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wikt:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to ancho ...

was found in

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...

, India, on a ''

Quercus semecarpifolia ''Quercus semecarpifolia'' is an Asian species of oak. It is native to the Himalayas and nearby mountains in Tibet, Afghanistan, India, Nepal, and Pakistan, where it is referred to as kharsu. It is classified in subgenus ''Cerris'', section ''I ...

'' tree in the

Pithoragarh district Pithoragarh district is the easternmost district in the state of Uttarakhand. It is located in the Himalayas and has an area of and a population of 483,439 (as of 2011). The city of Pithoragarh, located in Saur Valley, is its headquarters. Th ...

, at an elevation of .

Description

This lichen species has a , smooth, greenish-grey to greyish-white

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 ...

, with a whitish or absent

prothallus A prothallus, or prothallium, (from Latin ''pro'' = forwards and Greek ''θαλλος'' (''thallos'') = twig) is usually the gametophyte stage in the life of a fern or other pteridophyte. Occasionally the term is also used to describe the young ...

. The apothecia feature black and white exfoliating margins. The are

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 ...

, non-, and have 5 to 7 transverse

septa SEPTA, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly four million people througho ...

; their dimensions are 20–35

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 ...

long and 2–4 μm wide. The of the lichen is —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 ...

. No

lichen product Lichen products, also known as lichen substances, are organic compounds produced by a lichen. Specifically, they are secondary metabolites. Lichen products are represented in several different chemical classes, including terpenoids, orcinol deri ...

s were detected in the collected samples using

thin-layer chromatography Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) is a chromatography technique that separates components in non-volatile mixtures. It is performed on a TLC plate made up of a non-reactive solid coated with a thin layer of adsorbent material. This is called the sta ...

, and all standard chemical spot tests are negative.

Similar species

''Phlyctis subhimalayensis'' closely resembles ''Phlyctis himalayensis'' and ''P. karnatakana'' but differs in thallus chemistry and ascospore size. It also bears some resemblance to the New Zealand taxa '' P. longifera'' and '' P. megalospora'' in terms of transverse spore septation. However, these two species have larger ascospores and contain

depsidone Depsidones (+ " depside" + "one") are chemical compounds that are sometimes found as secondary metabolites in lichens. They are esters that are both depsides and cyclic ethers. An example is norstictic acid Norstictic acid is a depsidone produ ...

s such as

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 ...

and

psoromic acid Psoromic acid is a β-orcinol depsidone with the molecular formula C18H14O8. Psoromic acid inhibits herpes simplex viruses type 1 and type 2. Furthermore, it inhibits the RabGGTase. Psoromic acid occurs in antarctic lichens A lichen ( , ) ...

, respectively. In terms of

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

and chroodiscoid apothecia, ''Phlyctis subhimalayensis'' can be confused with the Graphidaceae (e.g. '' Chapsa'') and the non-lichenized genus '' Stictis''. Nevertheless, the absence of , the presence of chlorococcoid algae, and a poorly developed differentiate the new species from these others.

Habitat and distribution

''Phlyctis subhimalayensis'' is known to inhabit cool

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 ...

forests in the northern and eastern Himalayas, specifically in

and

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeast India. It was formed from the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and India declared it as a state on 20 February 1987. Itanagar is its capital and la ...

, India. In these habitats, it thrives on ''

'' and '' Acer nepalensis'' trees at elevations of more than . In 2022, its known range was expanded when it was reported as new to China, having been discovered on mountains near

Chuxiong City Chuxiong City (; Chuxiong Yi Script: , IPA: ) is a county-level city and the capital of the Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, in Central Yunnan Province, China. Chuxiong City borders Lufeng to the east, Shuangbai County to the south, Nanh ...

(

Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

), at .

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17387683 Gyalectales Lichen species Lichens described in 2012 Lichens of China Lichens of the Indian subcontinent Taxa named by Dalip Kumar Upreti