... We included several representatives of the other genera of Alismataceae (Alisma, Baldellia, C... more ... We included several representatives of the other genera of Alismataceae (Alisma, Baldellia, Caldesia, Ranalisma ... PII (Table 1). Numerous copies of 5S-NTS are present in plant genome, thus ... the BigDye Terminators v3.1 Cycle Sequencing Kit in an Applied Biosystems (AB) ABI ...
One of the most important issues in molecular dating studies concerns the incorporation of reliab... more One of the most important issues in molecular dating studies concerns the incorporation of reliable fossil taxa into the phylogenies reconstructed from DNA sequence variation in extant taxa. Lichens are symbiotic associations between fungi and algae and/or cyanobacteria. Several lichen fossils have been used as minimum age constraints in recent studies concerning the diversification of the Ascomycota. Recent evolutionary studies of Lecanoromycetes, an almost exclusively lichen-forming class in the Ascomycota, have utilized the Eocene amber inclusion Alectoria succinic as a minimum age constraint. However, a re-investigation of the type material revealed that this inclusion in fact represents poorly preserved plant remains, most probably of a root. Consequently, this fossil cannot be used as evidence of the presence of the genus Alectoria (Parmeliaceae, Lecanorales) or any other lichens in the Paleogene. However, newly discovered inclusions from Paleogene Baltic and Bitterfeld amber verify that alectorioid morphologies in lichens were in existence by the Paleogene. The new fossils represent either a lineage within the alectorioid group or belong to the genus Oropogon.
Crustose lichens and lichenicolous fungi growing on decaying wood were examined from 13 study are... more Crustose lichens and lichenicolous fungi growing on decaying wood were examined from 13 study areas in Finland. Epigloea urosperma is reported as new to Finland and Lecania furfuracea as new to Fennoscandia. In addition, the taxonomy and habitat requirements of six Micarea species are discussed. The species were recently added to the checklist of Finnish lichens based on collections included in this work.
As part of its quality management and goal-driven strategic development, the Finnish Museum of Na... more As part of its quality management and goal-driven strategic development, the Finnish Museum of Natural History Luomus drafts policy documents to guide its operational sectors. The purpose of such policies is to define the content and procedures of the Museum’s activities. They answer the questions “what”, “why”, “who” and “for whom” about the activities they discuss, which is to say that they define and delimit the scope of the operational sector, provide the operations with a purpose and determine their content, describe the allocation of responsibilities in the sector under the Luomus organisation and identify the target groups. The policies provide general objectives and thus form the basis for target programmes and any action plans which in turn answer the question “How can we reach the designated goals?”. Policies are not tied to a schedule, unlike target programmes, even though they must be dynamic and updated periodically to better serve the organisation. The core activities ...
The Paleontological Collection (PalCo) is one of partial collections of the Finnish Museum of Nat... more The Paleontological Collection (PalCo) is one of partial collections of the Finnish Museum of Natural History Luomus. General principles and guidelines for the collections are defined in the General Collection Policy of Luomus. The PalCo Policy is subordinate to the General Collection Policy of Luomus, clarifying its content with reference to the special characteristics of the paleontological collections. The PalCo includes fossil plant, invertebrate and vertebrate specimens worldwide in scope and from all geologic ages to support Finnish research and educational projects. The coverage emphasizes Paleozoic and Quaternary specimens from Finland, the Baltic countries and Scandinavia. The PalCo Policy defines the purpose of the collections, the objectives, the distribution of responsibilities for collection management and maintenance in the organisation, and the principles of collection accumulation, preservation, accessibility and use.
The collections policy of the Finnish Museum of Natural History Luomus is hierarchically structur... more The collections policy of the Finnish Museum of Natural History Luomus is hierarchically structured. The general collections policy defines the overall principles and guidelines. The sub-collections policies, such as the Living collections policy, comply with and apply the general collections policy and specify its guidelines and instructions, taking the special nature of the sub-collections into account. The living plant collections policy guides the care of the collections in the botanic gardens and the seed bank, excluding DNA and tissue samples which are covered by a separate genomic resources policy. The purpose of the collections policy is to help guide the care of the garden collections and the processing of information relating to the collections, thereby providing the basis for developing the botanic gardens.
The Genomic Resources Collection is a separate, independently managed part of the natural history... more The Genomic Resources Collection is a separate, independently managed part of the natural history collections of the Finnish Museum of Natural History Luomus specifically intended for consumptive research. The GRC policy deals with the materials that are archived for the very purpose of enabling the study of biological diversity at the genome level, DNA extractions of animal, fungal and plant specimens, and animal tissue samples stored deep-frozen for purposes of future DNA extraction. The GRC policy defines the purpose of the collections, the objectives and content of the procedures and activities related to them, the distribution of responsibilities for collection management and maintenance in Luomus, and the principles of collection accumulation, preservation and accessibility. The aim of the GRC is to store and loan genomic samples for research purposes. In taxonomic coverage the collection overlaps with all the taxonomically delimited specimen collections managed by the Zoology...
The fruticose lichen genus Gowardia (Parmeliaceae) was recently segregated from Alectoria based o... more The fruticose lichen genus Gowardia (Parmeliaceae) was recently segregated from Alectoria based on phylogeny, morphology, secondary chemistry, ecology and distribution. As currently circumscribed, Gowardia comprises two wide-ranging species of arctic-alpine regions. Here we describe a third species, G. zebrina sp. nov., apparently endemic to subalpine regions in mountainous northwestern North America. Gowardia zebrina differs from other species in the genus by its combined subpendent habit, uniformly capillary branches, predominantly isotomic branching, pale-and-dark banding of the terminal branches, and epiphytic ecology. Morphological examination of North American herbarium specimens filed under A. nigricans suggests the existence of several additional undescribed species of Gowardia. A brief overview of morphological diversity in these species is given, shedding new light on the question of whether Gowardia should be subsumed under Alectoria, as some have suggested, or is more ap...
Persoonia - Molecular Phylogeny and Evolution of Fungi, 2019
In many lichen-forming fungi, molecular phylogenetic analyses lead to the discovery of cryptic sp... more In many lichen-forming fungi, molecular phylogenetic analyses lead to the discovery of cryptic species within traditional morphospecies. However, in some cases, molecular sequence data also questions the separation of phenotypically characterised species. Here we apply an integrative taxonomy approach – including morphological, chemical, molecular, and distributional characters – to re-assess species boundaries in a traditionally speciose group of hair lichens, Bryoria sect. Implexae. We sampled multilocus sequence and microsatellite data from 142 specimens from a broad intercontinental distribution. Molecular data included DNA sequences of the standard fungal markers ITS, IGS, GAPDH, two newly tested loci (FRBi15 and FRBi16), and SSR frequencies from 18 microsatellite markers. Datasets were analysed with Bayesian and maximum likelihood phylogenetic reconstruction, phenogram reconstruction, STRUCTURE Bayesian clustering, principal coordinate analysis, haplotype network, and several ...
A new species Micarea fennica is described based on phenotypic and molecular features. The specie... more A new species Micarea fennica is described based on phenotypic and molecular features. The species is characterized by a pale olive green, bright green or greyish green minutely granular thallus composed of goniocysts, and stalked pycnidia that are dark grey to dark brown with Sedifolia-grey pigment in the wall structures (K+ violet, C+ violet), 0.2–0.5(–1) mm tall and covered by a thin white tomentum. The species produces micareic acid. Micarea fennica is similar to M. hedlundii and M. botryoides, but differs by having a paler granular thallus, stalked dark grey to dark brown pycnidia covered by a thin white tomentum and the production of micareic acid. The new species occupies soft lignum of late decay stages and is probably rare.
Four new species of Verrucaria are described from calcareous rocks in Finland based on morphology... more Four new species of Verrucaria are described from calcareous rocks in Finland based on morphology and ITS sequences. Verrucaria lapponica sp. nov. differs from V. cincta by the smaller perithecia, thinner periphysoids and occasional occurrence of pale exciple walls. Verrucaria sublapponica sp. nov. is related to V. lapponica but differs by a shorter involucrellum and larger spores. Verrucaria saanaensis sp. nov. differs from V. nuoljae (H. Magn.) comb. ined. by having larger spores and a fimbriate prothallus. Verrucaria othmarbreussii sp. nov. is closely related to V. tenebrica, but differs by the paler and thinner, less areolate thallus. The four species belong to the Staurothele group based on the BLAST search and the ITS phylogeny. All four species are rare in Finland and all except V. othmarbreussii seem to have a narrow ecogeographical niche on calcareous mountains above the tree line. Lichens restricted to these habitats may be especially sensitive to climate warming.
The phylogeny of two lichens, Cetraria obtusata from the Alps and Coelopogon epiphorellus occurri... more The phylogeny of two lichens, Cetraria obtusata from the Alps and Coelopogon epiphorellus occurring in the southern hemisphere is studied. A DNA-matrix based on ITS 1 and ITS 2 sequences of the rDNA is compared with a data set composed of morphology and secondary chemistry characters in phylogeny analyses using PAUP 4.0. The two data sets were entirely congruent. Neither Cetraria obtusata nor Coelopogon epiphorellus, both earlier segregated from the Cetraria aculeata group (Coelocaulon), are closely related with Cetraria s. str. Ecology notes of the two species are added and their phylogenetic affinities are discussed.
We studied the evolutionary history of the Parmeliaceae (Lecanoromycetes, Ascomycota), one of the... more We studied the evolutionary history of the Parmeliaceae (Lecanoromycetes, Ascomycota), one of the largest families of lichen-forming fungi with complex and variable morphologies, also including several lichenicolous fungi. We assembled a six-locus data set including nuclear, mitochondrial and low-copy protein-coding genes from 293 operational taxonomic units (OTUs). The lichenicolous lifestyle originated independently three times in lichenized ancestors within Parmeliaceae, and a new generic name is introduced for one of these fungi. In all cases, the independent origins occurred c. 24 million yr ago. Further, we show that the Paleocene, Eocene and Oligocene were key periods when diversification of major lineages within Parmeliaceae occurred, with subsequent radiations occurring primarily during the Oligocene and Miocene. Our phylogenetic hypothesis supports the independent origin of lichenicolous fungi associated with climatic shifts at the Oligocene-Miocene boundary. Moreover, div...
Bryoria americana, B. glabra, and B. tortuosa are reported as new to Finland and B. tenuis has be... more Bryoria americana, B. glabra, and B. tortuosa are reported as new to Finland and B. tenuis has been found for the second time. All four species favour humid microclimate in forests with long continuity
... We included several representatives of the other genera of Alismataceae (Alisma, Baldellia, C... more ... We included several representatives of the other genera of Alismataceae (Alisma, Baldellia, Caldesia, Ranalisma ... PII (Table 1). Numerous copies of 5S-NTS are present in plant genome, thus ... the BigDye Terminators v3.1 Cycle Sequencing Kit in an Applied Biosystems (AB) ABI ...
One of the most important issues in molecular dating studies concerns the incorporation of reliab... more One of the most important issues in molecular dating studies concerns the incorporation of reliable fossil taxa into the phylogenies reconstructed from DNA sequence variation in extant taxa. Lichens are symbiotic associations between fungi and algae and/or cyanobacteria. Several lichen fossils have been used as minimum age constraints in recent studies concerning the diversification of the Ascomycota. Recent evolutionary studies of Lecanoromycetes, an almost exclusively lichen-forming class in the Ascomycota, have utilized the Eocene amber inclusion Alectoria succinic as a minimum age constraint. However, a re-investigation of the type material revealed that this inclusion in fact represents poorly preserved plant remains, most probably of a root. Consequently, this fossil cannot be used as evidence of the presence of the genus Alectoria (Parmeliaceae, Lecanorales) or any other lichens in the Paleogene. However, newly discovered inclusions from Paleogene Baltic and Bitterfeld amber verify that alectorioid morphologies in lichens were in existence by the Paleogene. The new fossils represent either a lineage within the alectorioid group or belong to the genus Oropogon.
Crustose lichens and lichenicolous fungi growing on decaying wood were examined from 13 study are... more Crustose lichens and lichenicolous fungi growing on decaying wood were examined from 13 study areas in Finland. Epigloea urosperma is reported as new to Finland and Lecania furfuracea as new to Fennoscandia. In addition, the taxonomy and habitat requirements of six Micarea species are discussed. The species were recently added to the checklist of Finnish lichens based on collections included in this work.
As part of its quality management and goal-driven strategic development, the Finnish Museum of Na... more As part of its quality management and goal-driven strategic development, the Finnish Museum of Natural History Luomus drafts policy documents to guide its operational sectors. The purpose of such policies is to define the content and procedures of the Museum’s activities. They answer the questions “what”, “why”, “who” and “for whom” about the activities they discuss, which is to say that they define and delimit the scope of the operational sector, provide the operations with a purpose and determine their content, describe the allocation of responsibilities in the sector under the Luomus organisation and identify the target groups. The policies provide general objectives and thus form the basis for target programmes and any action plans which in turn answer the question “How can we reach the designated goals?”. Policies are not tied to a schedule, unlike target programmes, even though they must be dynamic and updated periodically to better serve the organisation. The core activities ...
The Paleontological Collection (PalCo) is one of partial collections of the Finnish Museum of Nat... more The Paleontological Collection (PalCo) is one of partial collections of the Finnish Museum of Natural History Luomus. General principles and guidelines for the collections are defined in the General Collection Policy of Luomus. The PalCo Policy is subordinate to the General Collection Policy of Luomus, clarifying its content with reference to the special characteristics of the paleontological collections. The PalCo includes fossil plant, invertebrate and vertebrate specimens worldwide in scope and from all geologic ages to support Finnish research and educational projects. The coverage emphasizes Paleozoic and Quaternary specimens from Finland, the Baltic countries and Scandinavia. The PalCo Policy defines the purpose of the collections, the objectives, the distribution of responsibilities for collection management and maintenance in the organisation, and the principles of collection accumulation, preservation, accessibility and use.
The collections policy of the Finnish Museum of Natural History Luomus is hierarchically structur... more The collections policy of the Finnish Museum of Natural History Luomus is hierarchically structured. The general collections policy defines the overall principles and guidelines. The sub-collections policies, such as the Living collections policy, comply with and apply the general collections policy and specify its guidelines and instructions, taking the special nature of the sub-collections into account. The living plant collections policy guides the care of the collections in the botanic gardens and the seed bank, excluding DNA and tissue samples which are covered by a separate genomic resources policy. The purpose of the collections policy is to help guide the care of the garden collections and the processing of information relating to the collections, thereby providing the basis for developing the botanic gardens.
The Genomic Resources Collection is a separate, independently managed part of the natural history... more The Genomic Resources Collection is a separate, independently managed part of the natural history collections of the Finnish Museum of Natural History Luomus specifically intended for consumptive research. The GRC policy deals with the materials that are archived for the very purpose of enabling the study of biological diversity at the genome level, DNA extractions of animal, fungal and plant specimens, and animal tissue samples stored deep-frozen for purposes of future DNA extraction. The GRC policy defines the purpose of the collections, the objectives and content of the procedures and activities related to them, the distribution of responsibilities for collection management and maintenance in Luomus, and the principles of collection accumulation, preservation and accessibility. The aim of the GRC is to store and loan genomic samples for research purposes. In taxonomic coverage the collection overlaps with all the taxonomically delimited specimen collections managed by the Zoology...
The fruticose lichen genus Gowardia (Parmeliaceae) was recently segregated from Alectoria based o... more The fruticose lichen genus Gowardia (Parmeliaceae) was recently segregated from Alectoria based on phylogeny, morphology, secondary chemistry, ecology and distribution. As currently circumscribed, Gowardia comprises two wide-ranging species of arctic-alpine regions. Here we describe a third species, G. zebrina sp. nov., apparently endemic to subalpine regions in mountainous northwestern North America. Gowardia zebrina differs from other species in the genus by its combined subpendent habit, uniformly capillary branches, predominantly isotomic branching, pale-and-dark banding of the terminal branches, and epiphytic ecology. Morphological examination of North American herbarium specimens filed under A. nigricans suggests the existence of several additional undescribed species of Gowardia. A brief overview of morphological diversity in these species is given, shedding new light on the question of whether Gowardia should be subsumed under Alectoria, as some have suggested, or is more ap...
Persoonia - Molecular Phylogeny and Evolution of Fungi, 2019
In many lichen-forming fungi, molecular phylogenetic analyses lead to the discovery of cryptic sp... more In many lichen-forming fungi, molecular phylogenetic analyses lead to the discovery of cryptic species within traditional morphospecies. However, in some cases, molecular sequence data also questions the separation of phenotypically characterised species. Here we apply an integrative taxonomy approach – including morphological, chemical, molecular, and distributional characters – to re-assess species boundaries in a traditionally speciose group of hair lichens, Bryoria sect. Implexae. We sampled multilocus sequence and microsatellite data from 142 specimens from a broad intercontinental distribution. Molecular data included DNA sequences of the standard fungal markers ITS, IGS, GAPDH, two newly tested loci (FRBi15 and FRBi16), and SSR frequencies from 18 microsatellite markers. Datasets were analysed with Bayesian and maximum likelihood phylogenetic reconstruction, phenogram reconstruction, STRUCTURE Bayesian clustering, principal coordinate analysis, haplotype network, and several ...
A new species Micarea fennica is described based on phenotypic and molecular features. The specie... more A new species Micarea fennica is described based on phenotypic and molecular features. The species is characterized by a pale olive green, bright green or greyish green minutely granular thallus composed of goniocysts, and stalked pycnidia that are dark grey to dark brown with Sedifolia-grey pigment in the wall structures (K+ violet, C+ violet), 0.2–0.5(–1) mm tall and covered by a thin white tomentum. The species produces micareic acid. Micarea fennica is similar to M. hedlundii and M. botryoides, but differs by having a paler granular thallus, stalked dark grey to dark brown pycnidia covered by a thin white tomentum and the production of micareic acid. The new species occupies soft lignum of late decay stages and is probably rare.
Four new species of Verrucaria are described from calcareous rocks in Finland based on morphology... more Four new species of Verrucaria are described from calcareous rocks in Finland based on morphology and ITS sequences. Verrucaria lapponica sp. nov. differs from V. cincta by the smaller perithecia, thinner periphysoids and occasional occurrence of pale exciple walls. Verrucaria sublapponica sp. nov. is related to V. lapponica but differs by a shorter involucrellum and larger spores. Verrucaria saanaensis sp. nov. differs from V. nuoljae (H. Magn.) comb. ined. by having larger spores and a fimbriate prothallus. Verrucaria othmarbreussii sp. nov. is closely related to V. tenebrica, but differs by the paler and thinner, less areolate thallus. The four species belong to the Staurothele group based on the BLAST search and the ITS phylogeny. All four species are rare in Finland and all except V. othmarbreussii seem to have a narrow ecogeographical niche on calcareous mountains above the tree line. Lichens restricted to these habitats may be especially sensitive to climate warming.
The phylogeny of two lichens, Cetraria obtusata from the Alps and Coelopogon epiphorellus occurri... more The phylogeny of two lichens, Cetraria obtusata from the Alps and Coelopogon epiphorellus occurring in the southern hemisphere is studied. A DNA-matrix based on ITS 1 and ITS 2 sequences of the rDNA is compared with a data set composed of morphology and secondary chemistry characters in phylogeny analyses using PAUP 4.0. The two data sets were entirely congruent. Neither Cetraria obtusata nor Coelopogon epiphorellus, both earlier segregated from the Cetraria aculeata group (Coelocaulon), are closely related with Cetraria s. str. Ecology notes of the two species are added and their phylogenetic affinities are discussed.
We studied the evolutionary history of the Parmeliaceae (Lecanoromycetes, Ascomycota), one of the... more We studied the evolutionary history of the Parmeliaceae (Lecanoromycetes, Ascomycota), one of the largest families of lichen-forming fungi with complex and variable morphologies, also including several lichenicolous fungi. We assembled a six-locus data set including nuclear, mitochondrial and low-copy protein-coding genes from 293 operational taxonomic units (OTUs). The lichenicolous lifestyle originated independently three times in lichenized ancestors within Parmeliaceae, and a new generic name is introduced for one of these fungi. In all cases, the independent origins occurred c. 24 million yr ago. Further, we show that the Paleocene, Eocene and Oligocene were key periods when diversification of major lineages within Parmeliaceae occurred, with subsequent radiations occurring primarily during the Oligocene and Miocene. Our phylogenetic hypothesis supports the independent origin of lichenicolous fungi associated with climatic shifts at the Oligocene-Miocene boundary. Moreover, div...
Bryoria americana, B. glabra, and B. tortuosa are reported as new to Finland and B. tenuis has be... more Bryoria americana, B. glabra, and B. tortuosa are reported as new to Finland and B. tenuis has been found for the second time. All four species favour humid microclimate in forests with long continuity
Uploads
Papers by Leena Myllys