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Grube M, Balestrini R. News from 'black belt' masters of symbiosis. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2024; 241:1888-1890. [PMID: 38192071 DOI: 10.1111/nph.19519] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2024]
Abstract
This article is a Commentary on Chrismas et al. (2024), 241: 2243–2257.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Grube
- Institute of Biology, University of Graz, Holteigasse 6, Graz, 8010, Austria
| | - Raffaella Balestrini
- Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection, Strada delle Cacce, 73, Turin, 10135, Italy
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Jung P, Briegel-Williams L, Büdel B, Schultz M, Nürnberg DJ, Grube M, D’Agostino PM, Kaštovský J, Mareš J, Lorenz M, González MLG, Forno MD, Westberg M, Chrismas N, Pietrasiak N, Whelan P, Dvořák P, Košuthová A, Gkelis S, Bauersachs T, Schiefelbein U, Giao VTP, Lakatos M. The underestimated fraction: diversity, challenges and novel insights into unicellular cyanobionts of lichens. ISME COMMUNICATIONS 2024; 4:ycae069. [PMID: 38966402 PMCID: PMC11222712 DOI: 10.1093/ismeco/ycae069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2023] [Revised: 04/10/2024] [Accepted: 05/03/2024] [Indexed: 07/06/2024]
Abstract
Lichens are remarkable and classic examples of symbiotic organisms that have fascinated scientists for centuries. Yet, it has only been for a couple of decades that significant advances have focused on the diversity of their green algal and/or cyanobacterial photobionts. Cyanolichens, which contain cyanobacteria as their photosynthetic partner, include up to 10% of all known lichens and, as such, studies on their cyanobionts are much rarer compared to their green algal counterparts. For the unicellular cyanobionts, i.e. cyanobacteria that do not form filaments, these studies are even scarcer. Nonetheless, these currently include at least 10 different genera in the cosmopolitan lichen order Lichinales. An international consortium (International Network of CyanoBionts; INCb) will tackle this lack of knowledge. In this article, we discuss the status of current unicellular cyanobiont research, compare the taxonomic resolution of photobionts from cyanolichens with those of green algal lichens (chlorolichens), and give a roadmap of research on how to recondition the underestimated fraction of symbiotic unicellular cyanobacteria in lichens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Jung
- Integrative Biotechnology, University of Applied Sciences Kaiserslautern, Pirmasens, Germany
| | - Laura Briegel-Williams
- Integrative Biotechnology, University of Applied Sciences Kaiserslautern, Pirmasens, Germany
| | - Burkhard Büdel
- Rhineland-Palatinate Technical University Kaiserslautern Landau, Kaiserslautern, Germany
| | - Matthias Schultz
- Herbarium Hamburgense, Institute of Plant Science and Microbiology, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Dennis J Nürnberg
- Institute for Experimental Physics, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Dahlem Centre of Plant Sciences, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin Germany
| | - Martin Grube
- Institute of Biology, University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Paul M D’Agostino
- Technical University Dresden, Chair of Technical Biochemistry, Dresden, Germany
| | - Jan Kaštovský
- Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Jan Mareš
- Institute of Microbiology, The Czech Academy of Sciences, Třeboň, Czech Republic
| | - Maike Lorenz
- University of Goettingen, SAG Goettingen, Goettingen, Germany
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Petr Dvořák
- Palacký University Olomouc, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | | | - Spyros Gkelis
- Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Thorsten Bauersachs
- Institute of Organic Biogeochemistry in Geo-Systems, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | | | | | - Michael Lakatos
- Integrative Biotechnology, University of Applied Sciences Kaiserslautern, Pirmasens, Germany
| | - INCb
- International Network for research on unicellular CyanoBionts from lichens
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