Two new species of the lichenized genus Lasioloma (Byssolomataceae) from Asia

Two new species of the lichenized genus Lasioloma are described from Asia: Lasioloma longiramosum W. C. Wang & A. Abas (collected from Malaysia), is characterized by a distinct woolly prothallus between dispersed thallus patches, comparatively small, muriform ascospores, long filiform conidia (main branch 22-28 mu m in length, the other three branches 65-80 mu m) and a foliicolous habitat; L. verrucosum W. C. Wang & X. L. Wei (collected from China), is characterized by a warted thallus, filiform conidia (main branch 22-32 mu m in length, the other three branches 50-65 mu m) and a corticolous habitat. The placement of both new species was confirmed by a molecular phylogenetic approach based on combined ITS, mtSSU and mtLSU sequences, and both are compared in detail to other similar species of the genus. Our study also revealed that the length of the conidial branches, which has not been explored in previous studies, should be regarded as an important feature for species delimitation in Lasioloma.

Automated summary

Two new species of the lichenized genus Lasioloma, Lasioloma longiramosum and Lasioloma verrucosum, are described in this study. Molecular phylogenetic analysis confirmed their placement in the genus and the length of conidial branches was identified as an important feature for species delimitation in Lasioloma.