Understanding phenotypical character evolution in parmelioid lichenized fungi (Parmeliaceae, Ascomycota).

ABSTRACT: Parmelioid lichens form a species-rich group of predominantly foliose and fruticose lichenized fungi encompassing a broad range of morphological and chemical diversity. Using a multilocus approach, we reconstructed a phylogeny including 323 OTUs of parmelioid lichens and employed ancestral character reconstruction methods to understand the phenotypical evolution within this speciose group of lichen-forming fungi. Specifically, we were interested in the evolution of growth form, epicortex structure, and cortical chemistry. Since previous studies have shown that results may differ depending on the reconstruction method used, here we employed both maximum-parsimony and maximum-likelihood approaches to reconstruct ancestral character states. We have also implemented binary and multistate codin

SUBMITTER: Divakar PK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3843734 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature