''Zahlbrucknerella'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

filamentous The word filament, which is descended from Latin ''filum'' meaning " thread", is used in English for a variety of thread-like structures, including: Astronomy * Galaxy filament, the largest known cosmic structures in the universe * Solar filament ...

, rock-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.Lichinaceae The Lichinaceae are a family of ascomycete fungi. Most species are lichenized with cyanobacteria, and have a distribution largely in temperate regions. Taxonomy The family was circumscribed in 1854 by Finnish lichenologist William Nylander. H ...

Taxonomy

The genus was

circumscribed In geometry, the circumscribed circle or circumcircle of a polygon is a circle that passes through all the vertices of the polygon. The center of this circle is called the circumcenter and its radius is called the circumradius. Not every polyg ...

Albert William Herre Albert William Christian Theodore Herre (September 16, 1868 – January 16, 1962) was an American ichthyologist and lichenologist. Herre was born in 1868 in Toledo, Ohio. He was an alumnus of Stanford University, where he received a Bachelor of S ...

in 1912. He had originally published the genus in 1910 as ''Zahlbrucknera'', but later discovered that this name had already been used for a genus of flowering plants, and was thus not available for use. The genus is named for

Alexander Zahlbruckner Alexander Zahlbruckner (31 May 1860, Svätý Jur – 1938, Vienna) was an Austrian- Hungarian botanist who specialized in the study of lichens. Johann Babtist Zahlbruckner, an earlier Austrian botanist, was his grandfather. From 1878 to 1883 ...

, "the eminent lichenologist, curator of the botanical section of the

Imperial Natural History Museum The Imperial Natural History Museum or Imperial-Royal Natural History Court Museum of Austria-Hungary was created by (Kaiser) Emperor Franz Joseph I during an extensive reorganization of the museum collections, from 1851 to 1876, and opened to th ...

, at Vienna, Austria".

Aino Henssen Aino Marjatta Henssen (12 April 1925, Elberfeld – 29 August 2011, Marburg), was a German lichenologist and systematist. Her father, Gottfried Henssen, was a folklorist and her mother was Finns, Finnish. Education and career Henssen began her stu ...

emended the genus in 1977, adding five newly described species in the process.

Description

All species of ''Zahlbrucknerella'' have filamentous

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 form

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...

, brown, or black tufts on rocks that are periodically inundated with water, like those in seepage channels or on the side of lakes and rivers. The partner is from the genus '' Scytonema''. Unlike other genera in the

Lichinaceae The Lichinaceae are a family of ascomycete fungi. Most species are lichenized with cyanobacteria, and have a distribution largely in temperate regions. Taxonomy The family was circumscribed in 1854 by Finnish lichenologist William Nylander. H ...

, the

ascocarp An ascocarp, or ascoma (), is the fruiting body ( sporocarp) of an ascomycete phylum fungus. It consists of very tightly interwoven hyphae and millions of embedded asci, each of which typically contains four to eight ascospores. Ascocarps are m ...

of ''Zahlbrucknerella'' is not in the form of , but rather is a mass of generative tissue. Most species have 24

ascospore An ascus (; ) is the sexual spore-bearing cell produced in ascomycete fungi. Each ascus usually contains eight ascospores (or octad), produced by meiosis followed, in most species, by a mitotic cell division. However, asci in some genera or s ...

s in their

asci ASCI or Asci may refer to: * Advertising Standards Council of India * Asci, the plural of ascus, in fungal anatomy * Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative * American Society for Clinical Investigation * Argus Sour Crude Index * Association of ...

, while one has 8. Other Lichinaceae genera with a similar appearance, and with which ''Zahlbrucknerella'' has historically been confused, include ''

Ephebe ''Ephebe'' (from the Greek ''ephebos'' ἔφηβος (plural: ''epheboi'' ἔφηβοι), anglicised as ephebe (plural: ephebes), or Latinate ''ephebus'' (plural: ''ephebi'') is the term for an adolescent male. In ancient Greek society and myth ...

'', ''

Placynthium ''Placynthium'' is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Placynthiaceae The Placynthiaceae are a lichenized family of fungi in the order Peltigerales. Species of this family are found largely in northern temperate regions. Genera Numbe ...

'', and ''

Spilonema ''Spilonema'' is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Coccocarpiaceae. The genus was circumscribed by Jean-Baptiste Édouard Bornet in 1856. Species *'' Spilonema americanum'' *'' Spilonema japonicum'' *'' Spilonema maritimum'' – A ...

''.

Species

Most species in the genus have a limited range, although the type species has a world-wide distribution. * '' Zahlbrucknerella africana'' – South Africa * '' Zahlbrucknerella calcarea'' – Asia; Europe; Iceland; South Africa; North America * '' Zahlbrucknerella californica'' –

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

* '' Zahlbrucknerella compacta'' – New Zealand * '' Zahlbrucknerella fabispora'' –

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

; Iceland;

Karelia Karelia ( Karelian and fi, Karjala, ; rus, Каре́лия, links=y, r=Karélija, p=kɐˈrʲelʲɪjə, historically ''Korjela''; sv, Karelen), the land of the Karelian people, is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for ...

* ''

Zahlbrucknerella granitica ''Zahlbrucknerella'' is a genus of filamentous, rock-dwelling lichens in the family Lichinaceae. Taxonomy The genus was circumscribed by Albert William Herre in 1912. He had originally published the genus in 1910 as ''Zahlbrucknera'', but later ...

'' * ''

Zahlbrucknerella indica ''Zahlbrucknerella'' is a genus of filamentous, rock-dwelling lichens in the family Lichinaceae. Taxonomy The genus was circumscribed by Albert William Herre in 1912. He had originally published the genus in 1910 as ''Zahlbrucknera'', but later ...

'' – India * ''

Zahlbrucknerella marionensis ''Zahlbrucknerella'' is a genus of filamentous lichen, filamentous, saxicolous lichen, rock-dwelling lichens in the family Lichinaceae. Taxonomy The genus was circumscription (taxonomy), circumscribed by Albert William Herre in 1912. He had orig ...

'' –

Marion Island The Prince Edward Islands are two small uninhabited islands in the sub-Antarctic Indian Ocean that are part of South Africa. The islands are named Marion Island (named after Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne, 1724–1772) and Prince Edward Island ...

, Indian Ocean * '' Zahlbrucknerella maritima'' – Patagonia;

Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of the Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main island, Isla G ...

* '' Zahlbrucknerella maxima'' – Venezuela * '' Zahlbrucknerella patagonica'' – Patagonia; Antarctica

Species interactions

Lichenicolous fungi A lichenicolous fungus is a parasitic fungus that only lives on lichen as the host. A lichenicolous fungus is not the same as the fungus that is the component of the lichen, which is known as a lichenized fungus. They are most commonly specific to ...

that have been recorded on ''Zahlbrucknerella'' lichens include '' Stigmidium parvum'', '' Didymella parvispora'', and '' Endococcus zahlbrucknerellae''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q8064701 Lichinomycetes Ascomycota genera Lichen genera Taxa described in 1912 Taxa named by Albert William Herre