''Trypethelium luteolucidum'' is a 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 ...

in the family

Trypetheliaceae The Trypetheliaceae are a family of mainly lichen-forming fungi in the order Trypetheliales. The family consists almost exclusively of corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichens with an almost strictly tropical distribution. Taxonomy Trypethe ...

, first formally described in 2016. Found in Brazil and Mexico, it is similar to '' Trypethelium regnellii'', but differs by the presence of

anthraquinone Anthraquinone, also called anthracenedione or dioxoanthracene, is an aromatic hydrocarbon, aromatic organic compound with formula . Several isomers exist but these terms usually refer to 9,10-anthraquinone (IUPAC: 9,10-dioxoanthracene) wherein th ...

crystals in the .

Taxonomy

''Trypethelium luteolucidum'' was

formally described A species description is a formal scientific description of a newly encountered species, typically articulated through a scientific publication. Its purpose is to provide a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differ ...

by the lichenologists

André Aptroot André Aptroot ( Heemskerk, 1961) is a Dutch mycologist and lichenologist. His primary research focus is on biodiversity, particularly tropical lichens, encompassing systematics, floristic surveys, and taxonomic reviews. A prolific research ...

, Cléverton de Oliveira Mendonça, and Marcela Eugenia da Silva Cáceres in 2016. 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 collected in

Porto Velho Porto Velho (, ''Old Port'') is the capital (political), capital of the Brazilian States of Brazil, state of Rondônia, in the upper Amazon River basin. The population is 460,434 people (as of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, ...

Rondônia Rondônia () is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northern subdivision of the country (central-western part). It is bordered by Acre (state), Acre in the west, Amazonas, Brazil, Amazonas in the north, Mato Grosso in the east, and Bo ...

, Brazil, at an elevation of about , on the bark of ''

Hevea brasiliensis ''Hevea brasiliensis'', the Pará rubber tree, ''sharinga'' tree, seringueira, or most commonly, rubber tree or rubber plant, is a flowering plant belonging to the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, originally native to the Amazon basin, but is now p ...

'' in a

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

Description

The

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 ...

of ''Trypethelium luteolucidum'' is , smooth to somewhat , somewhat shiny, continuous, covering areas up to 10 cm in diameter and approximately 0.2 mm thick. The thallus is

ochraceous Ochre ( ; , ), iron ochre, or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colou ...

in colour, not surrounded by a , and does not induce

gall Galls (from the Latin , 'oak-apple') or ''cecidia'' (from the Greek , anything gushing out) are a kind of swelling growth on the external tissues of plants. Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissues, similar to benign tumors or war ...

formation on the host bark. Ascomata are spherical, measuring 0.4–0.7 mm in diameter, mostly aggregated in groups of 2–7, and emergent from the thallus in with a decorticated upper surface different from the thallus. are distinctly raised above the thallus, irregular in outline, sides almost vertical, up to 5 mm in diameter and 1 mm high, and the same colour as the thallus. The upper surface is whitish or grey to blackish due to the emergent ascomata, and contains crystals inside. The wall is and up to 60 μm thick. Ostioles are apical, not fused, flat, and brown. The is with hyaline oil globules. Asci contain eight each. Ascospores 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 ...

, contain between 11 and 21

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 ...

, and have a long shape. They measure 60–110 by 12–15 μm, have rounded ends and diamond-shaped , and are surrounded by a gelatinous layer up to 2 μm thick. were not observed to occur in this species. The thallus surface of ''Trypethelium luteolucidum'' is mostly UV+ (yellow), and the

medulla Medulla (Latin for "marrow") or medullary may refer to: Science * Medulla oblongata, a part of the brain stem * Renal medulla, a part of the kidney * Adrenal medulla, a part of the adrenal gland * Medulla of ovary, a stroma in the center of the ...

is K−. The is UV+ (yellow), and the crystals react K+ (yellow to red).

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 ...

analysis reveals the presence of

lichexanthone Lichexanthone is an organic compound in the structural class of chemicals known as xanthones. Lichexanthone was first isolated and identified by Japanese chemists from a species of foliose lichen, leafy lichen in the 1940s. The compound is known ...

and an unidentified

Habitat and distribution

This species is found on the smooth bark of trees in

rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

s and is known from Brazil and Mexico.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q95575791 Trypetheliaceae Lichen species Lichens described in 2016 Lichens of Brazil Lichens of Mexico Taxa named by André Aptroot Taxa named by Marcela Cáceres