''Yoshimuria'' 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 ...

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 ...

-forming

fungi A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

in the family

Teloschistaceae The Teloschistaceae are a large family (biology), family of mostly lichen-forming fungi belonging to the class (taxonomy), class Lecanoromycetes in the division (botany), division Ascomycota. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, althoug ...

. It has four species of

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 ...

Taxonomy

The genus was

circumscribed In geometry, a circumscribed circle for a set of points is a circle passing through each of them. Such a circle is said to ''circumscribe'' the points or a polygon formed from them; such a polygon is said to be ''inscribed'' in the circle. * Circum ...

in 2014 by a group of lichenologists, who assigned '' Yoshimuria spodoplaca'' as the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

. Three species were originally included in the genus. The genus name honours the Japanese lichenologist Isao Yoshimura, "for his many contributions to lichenology in Eastern Asia". ''Yoshimuria'' is in the subfamily Caloplacoideae of the family

Description

''Yoshimuria'' is characterised by a crust-like (crustose)

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 ...

, which can vary greatly in thickness from very thin to thick and can be (i.e., divided by cracks into sections called ). The colour of the thallus ranges from whitish grey to dark grey or brownish grey. The

apothecia An ascocarp, or ascoma (: ascomata), 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. As ...

of ''Yoshimuria'' (fruiting bodies) are either (with a ) or (without a thalline margin), and are typically (attached directly without a stalk). The disc of these apothecia can be yellow, orange, or dark rust-brown in colour. The the tissue surrounding the

hymenium The hymenium is the tissue layer on the hymenophore of a fungal fruiting body where the cells develop into basidia or asci, which produce spores. In some species all of the cells of the hymenium develop into basidia or asci, while in oth ...

of the apothecia, is , meaning it consists of hard, thick-walled cells. The , the layer beneath the hymenium, does not contain oil droplets. The of ''Yoshimuria'' are , meaning they have two distinct compartments, with eight spores in each

ascus An ascus (; : asci) is the sexual spore-bearing cell produced in ascomycete fungi. Each ascus usually contains eight ascospores (or octad), produced by meiosis followed, in most species, by a mitotic cell division. However, asci in some gen ...

. The

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

, or asexual spores, are broadly (rod-shaped). Chemical spot tests reveal that the thallus reacts slightly or not at all (K±) and the apothecia turn purple (K+ purple) when treated with a

potassium hydroxide Potassium hydroxide is an inorganic compound with the formula K OH, and is commonly called caustic potash. Along with sodium hydroxide (NaOH), KOH is a prototypical strong base. It has many industrial and niche applications, most of which utili ...

solution. The chemical constituents include

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 ...

s, which follow the

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 orange-yellow color ...

, and

atranorin Atranorin is a chemical substance produced by some species of lichen. It is a secondary metabolite belonging to a group of compounds known as depsides. Atranorin has analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antifungal, cytotoxic, antioxidant, ...

in some species.

Species

* '' Yoshimuria galbina'' * '' Yoshimuria ivanpisutiana'' * '' Yoshimuria seokpoensis'' * '' Yoshimuria spodoplaca'' Two species once proposed for inclusion in ''Yoshimuria'' are now included in other genera: *''Yoshimuria cerussata'' is now '' Huea cerussata'' *''Yoshimuria stipitata'' is now '' Gyalolechia stipitata''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q43156042 Teloschistales Teloschistales genera Lichen genera Taxa described in 2014 Taxa named by John Alan Elix Taxa named by Ingvar Kärnefelt Taxa named by Sergey Kondratyuk Taxa named by Arne Thell Taxa named by Jae-Seoun Hur