Microsatellite markers and ITS sequences to investigate Usnea antarctica and U. aurantiacoatra species pair ...

• Main Author: Lagostina, Elisa
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2018
• Subjects: Priority Programme 1158 Antarctic Research with Comparable Investigations in Arctic Sea Ice Areas SPP1158; Antarc*; Antarctic; Antarctica; Elephant Island; King George Island; Sea ice; South Shetland Islands; Usnea antarctica
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.892970; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.892970

Lichens are symbiotic associations consisting of a fungal (mycobiont) and one or more photosynthetic (photobionts) partners and are the dominant component, and most important primary producers, of Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems. The most common lichens in the maritime Antarctic are Usnea antarctica and U. aurantiacoatra, a so-called "species pair" in which U. antarctica shows asexual reproduction and propagation via soredia and U. aurantiacoatra forms ascospores in apothecia. Previous molecular analyses were not able to unambiguously distinguish the two morphotypes as species. Therefore, the goal of this study was to find out whether fast-evolving SSR (Single Sequence Repeats) markers are able to separate morphotypes more clearly and help to clarify their taxonomy. We investigate 190 individuals from five mixed stands of both morphotypes collected in King George Island and Elephant Island (South Shetland Islands, Antarctica). Based on 23 microsatellite markers designed from sequenced genomes, discriminant ...