Quantifying abundance and distribution of plant species can be difficult because data are often inflated with zero values due to rarity or absence from many ecosystems. Terrestrial fruticose lichens (Cladonia and Cetraria spp.) occupy a narrow ecological niche and have been linked to the diets of declining caribou and reindeer populations (Rangifer tarandus) across their global distribution, an...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Following previous findings of high extracellular redox activity in lichens and the presence of laccases in lichen cell walls, the work presented here additionally demonstrates the presence of tyrosinases. Tests were made for the presence of tyrosinases in 40 species of lichens, and from selected species their cellular location and molecular weights were determined. The effe...

Lichens are the symbiotic association of fungi and a photosynthetic partner, either a green algae of a cynobacterium or both. The lichens’ names refer to their fungal components. About 18,000 lichen species are known. They provide a great variety of metabolic products, some of which appear to occur naturally only in lichens, while others are also present in higher plants and fungi. Their second...

Ulvi Zeybek Fakultät für Pharmazie der Ege-Universität, TR-35100 Bornova-Izmir, Türkei Z. Naturforsch. 49b, 1561-1565 (1994) eingegangen am 25. Februar 1994 Lichens, Haematomma nemetzii, Tornabena scutellifera, Nemetzon, Anthraquinone The lichens Haematomma nemetzii, a Ramalina species, and Tornabena scutellifera from Turkey have been analysed chemically. Nemetzon is a new anthraquinone from th...

The disease-associated prion protein (PrP(TSE)), the probable etiological agent of the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), is resistant to degradation and can persist in the environment. Lichens, mutualistic symbioses containing fungi, algae, bacteria and occasionally cyanobacteria, are ubiquitous in the environment and have evolved unique biological activities allowing their surv...

An update of xanthones encountered in lichens is proposed as more than 20 new xanthones have been described since the publication of the compendium of lichen metabolites by Huneck and Yoshimura in 1996. The last decades witnessed major advances regarding the elucidation of biosynthetic schemes leading to these fascinating compounds, accounting for the unique substitution patterns of a very vast...

Epiphylls widely colonize vascular leaves in moist tropical forests. Understanding the effects of epiphylls on leaf traits of host plants is critical for understanding ecological function of epiphylls. A study was conducted in a rain forest to investigate leaf traits of the host plants Photinia prunifolia colonized with epiphyllous liverworts and foliicolous lichens as well as those of uncoloni...

Lichens appear to be essential and effective colonisers of bare substrates including the extremely contaminated wastes of slag dumps. This study examines the metal accumulation capacity of epilithic lichens growing directly on the surface of artificial slag sinters. Four species representing different growth forms, i.e., crustose Candelariella aurella, Lecanora muralis, and Lecidea fuscoatra an...

Antimicrobial activity in some lichens from south Spain has been studied. Some lichenical substances are also identified. The structures of all compounds were elucidated by physical, spectral and chemical methods. A very high activity against Gram-positive bacteria has been observed in lichens containing usnic acid.

The endosymbiotic bacterium Sphingomonas sp. strain PAMC 26605 was isolated from Arctic lichens (Ochrolechia sp.) on the Svalbard Islands. Here we report the draft genome sequence of this strain, which could provide further insights into the symbiotic mechanism of lichens in extreme environments.