Ecological preferences, partner compatibility, or partner availability are known to be important factors shaping obligate and intimate lichen symbioses. We considered a complex of Cladonia species, traditionally differentiated by the extent of sexual reproduction and the type of vegetative propagules, to assess if the reproductive and dispersal strategies affect mycobiont-photobiont association patterns. In total 85 lichen thalli from 72 European localities were studied, two genetic markers for both Cladonia mycobionts and Asterochloris photobionts were analyzed. Variance partitioning analysis by multiple regression on distance matrices was performed to describe and partition variance in photobiont genetic diversity. Asexually reproducing Cladonia in our study were found to be strongly specific to their photobionts, associating with only two closely related Asterochloris species. In contrast, sexually reproducing lichens associated with seven unrelated Asterochloris lineages, thus being photobiont generalists. The reproductive mode had the largest explanatory power, explaining 44% of the total photobiont variability. Reproductive and dispersal strategies are the key factors shaping photobiont diversity in this group of Cladonia lichens. A strict photobiont specialisation observed in two studied species may steer both evolutionary flexibility and responses to ecological changes of these organisms, and considerably limit their distribution ranges.

Department of Botany Faculty of Science Charles University Prague Benátská 2 Praha 2 CZ 12801 Czech Republic

Department of Life Sciences University of Trieste Via Giorgieri 10 Trieste 1 34127 Italy

Institute for Nanomaterials Advanced Technologies and Innovations Technical University of Liberec Studentská 2 Liberec CZ 46117 Czech Republic; Department of Botany Faculty of Science Charles University Prague Benátská 2 Praha 2 CZ 12801 Czech Republic

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 20A Inverleith Row Edinburgh EH3 5LR UK

Citace poskytuje Crossref.org

The diverse world within: age-dependent photobiont diversity in the lichen Protoparmeliopsis muralis

The application of haplotypes instead of species-level ranks modifies the interpretation of ecological preferences in lichen symbiont interactions in Parmelia

An Exception to the Rule? Could Photobiont Identity Be a Better Predictor of Lichen Phenotype than Mycobiont Identity?

Biodiversity Patterns and Ecological Preferences of the Photobionts Associated With the Lichen-Forming Genus Parmelia

Choosing the Right Life Partner: Ecological Drivers of Lichen Symbiosis

New lineages of photobionts in Bolivian lichens expand our knowledge on habitat preferences and distribution of Asterochloris algae

Promiscuity in Lichens Follows Clear Rules: Partner Switching in Cladonia Is Regulated by Climatic Factors and Soil Chemistry