Lichen taxonomy

Phylogenomics and next-generation sequencing (2010s–present)

Despite recent advances, whole-genome data are still rare in routine lichen taxonomy. By the early 2020s, relatively few lichen-forming fungi had published genomes, and still fewer species descriptions relied on genome-scale evidence. A survey by Lendemer (2021) found that of the hundreds of taxa named in 2018–2020, just one included an organelle genome and metagenomic data. Constraints include cost, limited bioinformatic capacity, and the difficulty of disentangling fungal, algal, and microbial DNA within a single thallus. The outlook is improving as costs fall and new methods such as long-read platforms and lab protocols that separate symbiont DNA become available. Open science norms now encourage researchers to deposit raw reads and alignments in public repositories and cite them in taxonomic papers. These practices enhance reproducibility and let future studies reuse data instead of repeating the work.