XVI International Botanical Congess

The genus Acarospora is one of the largest genera of the lichen-forming fungi, but also one of the most complex and poorly known. The enormous morphological variation and the cryptic nature of the characters have been interpreted very differently by systematists over the past 70 years. The family Acarosporaceae is characterized only by cryptolecanorine apothecia and multiple post meiotic mitoses (polyspory), resulting in a very unstable classification. One goal of this study is to provide a new and stable classification for Acarospora and Acarosporaceae, based on phylogenetic analyses of sequences of the large-subunit RNA gene and the Internal Transcribed Spacer region (ITS) of the nuclear ribosomal tandem repeat unit, as well as on detailed morphological-anatomical and chemical (secondary compounds) data. The monophyly of the yellow (subgenus Xanthothallia) and brown (subgenus Phaeothallia) Acarospora will also be tested.