''Diorygma archeri'' is a species of
corticolous (bark-dwelling)
lichen
A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.[Graphidaceae
The Graphidaceae are a family of lichens in the order Ostropales.
Distribution and ecology
The vast majority of Graphidaceae species are restricted to the tropics. Most Graphidaceae species are epiphytic (i.e. they grow only on plants).
Gener ...]
.
Found in Vietnam, it was
formally described as a new species in 2013 by Santosh Joshi and Jae-Seoun Hur. The
type specimen
In biology, a type is a particular wiktionary:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to a ...
was collected from
Yok Đôn National Park (
Đắk Lắk province) at an altitude of about . The
species epithet honours Australian lichenologist
Alan W. Archer.
Description
''Diorygma archeri'' has a flat
thallus
Thallus (plural: thalli), from Latinized Greek (), meaning "a green shoot" or "twig", is the vegetative tissue of some organisms in diverse groups such as algae, fungi, some liverworts, lichens, and the Myxogastria. Many of these organisms wer ...
that is usually white or grayish-green in color and up to 800
μm
The micrometre ( international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: μm) or micrometer (American spelling), also commonly known as a micron, is a unit of length in the International System of Unit ...
thick. The outer layer of the lichen (the ) is distinct, reaching up to 30 μm. The is well-developed and about 50–60 μm thick. The inner layer, the
medulla, is white and thick, with crystals scattered throughout it.
The fruiting bodies of the lichen, called
ascomata, are numerous and can vary in shape, with some being short and curved while others are more branched. They are covered by a brownish or reddish-brown layer that is surrounded by a raised, irregular margin. The
hymenium
The hymenium is the tissue layer on the hymenophore of a fungal fruiting body where the cells develop into basidia or asci, which produce spores. In some species all of the cells of the hymenium develop into basidia or asci, while in others some ...
, which is the part of the ascomata that contains the spores, is
hyaline
A hyaline substance is one with a glassy appearance. The word is derived from el, ὑάλινος, translit=hyálinos, lit=transparent, and el, ὕαλος, translit=hýalos, lit=crystal, glass, label=none.
Histopathology
Hyaline cartilage is ...
and can be seen to be violet-blue when treated with certain chemicals. The spores themselves are oval to elliptic in shape, multicellular, and range in size from 150 to 255 x 53 to 85 μm.
''Diorygma archeri'' contains
protocetraric acid, a
lichen product that can be detected using
thin-layer chromatography.
''Diorygma archeri'' is comparable to ''
Diorygma pruinosum'', but the two differ in several ways. Specifically, ''D. archeri'' has a thick, distinctly corticate body that is grayish-green in color and contains a well-developed medulla. The apothecial of ''D. archeri'' is only slightly open, and its is not . Additionally, ''Diorygma archeri'' has larger ascospores than ''D. pruinosum''.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q107638472
archeri
Lichen species
Lichens described in 2013
Lichens of Indo-China
Taxa named by Jae-Seoun Hur