February 28, 2021

Lichenicolous fungi : Worldwide Checklist

Including isolated cultures and sequences available

Phylogenetic arrangement of genera

Lichenicolous fungi live exclusively on lichens, most commonly as host-specific parasites, but also as broad-spectrum pathogens, saprotrophs or commensals. Over 1800 species have been described throughout the Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, and estimates are that 3000 species will eventually be described (Lawrey and Diederich 2003). The great majority (over 95%) of described lichenicolous fungi belong to the ascomycetes, representing 19 orders and seven classes. Fewer than 5% of lichenicolous species are basidiomycetes, but they are phylogenetically diverse, representing eight different orders and four classes (Lawrey and Diederich 2003). Many described species are of unknown phylogenetic position.

This site contains a systematic listing of all known genera and species of lichenicolous fungi (modified from Lawrey and Diederich 2003), known hosts, isolated strains available in major culture collections (with collection accession numbers), and published sequences (with GenBank accession numbers). Literature references are provided for each genus.

Groups are arranged phylogenetically, with lichenicolous fungi in bold; lichenicolous lichens or facultative lichenicolous fungi are in italics.

Suggested citation:

Lawrey, J. D. & P. Diederich. 2018. Lichenicolous fungi : worldwide checklist, including isolated cultures and sequences available.

URL: http://www.lichenicolous.net

Copyright notice:

2010-2018 by James Lawrey & Paul Diederich

All rights reserved. No part of this internet site may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means (graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including printing, taping, or downloading to information storage and retrieval systems) without written permission from both copyright owners (James Lawrey and Paul Diederich).

A pdf of the original 2018 website can now be obtained here.