Department of Botany & the U.S. National Herbarium The Plant Press New Series - Vol. 19 - No. 4 October-December 2016 Botany Profile We Are All Lichens By Manuela Dal Forno o you remember the question in biomes revealed the existence of diverse not always been a highly visible field Introductory Biology 101, “What communities of bacteria in addition to the and people are not generally aware Dare lichens?” According to tradi- two dominant partners (Gonzáles et al. that lichens are a significant part of the tional concepts, a lichen is the resulting 2005 FEMS Microbiol. Ecol. 54: 401–415; ecosystem. structure (known as a thallus) from the Cardinale et al. 2006 FEMS Microbiol. symbiosis between a fungal partner (the Ecol. 57: 484–495, Cardinale et al. 2008 n September, a recent paper about mycobiont) and an algal-like partner (the FEMS Microbiol. Ecol. 66: 63–71). Most “plant blindness” (Balding & Wil- photobiont), either a green alga and/or of these studies have focused on bacte- Iliams 2016 Conserv. Biol.) and a cyanobacterium (“blue-green alga”). rial diversity and their potential roles in follow-up commentary article (Das- Lichens play important roles in the the lichenization process (Grube et al. gupta 2016 https://news.mongabay. environments they live in, participating 2009 ISME J. 3: 1105–1115; Hodkinson com/2016/09/can-plant-blindness-be- in nutrient and water cycles and particu- & Lutzoni 2009 Symbiosis 49: 163–180; cured/) was circulated among cowork- larly nitrogen fixation, forming biologi- Bates et al. 2011 Appl. Environ. Microbiol. ers in the Smithsonian’s Department cal soil crusts, and serving for animals 77: 1309–1314; Hodkinson et al. 2012 of Botany. Lichens, along with other in many ways, such as camouflage, Environ. Microbiol. 14: 147–161; Cernava lesser-known organisms living on our shelter, nests, and food, among many et al. 2015 Front. Microbiol. 6: 620; Grube diverse planet, suffer from the same phe- other ecological functions lichens have. et al. 2015 ISME J. 9: 412–424; Erlacher nomenon of blindness, and I have done Humans use lichens as traditional sources et al. 2015 Front. Microbiol. 6: 53). Others what I could to combat “lichen blind- for medicine and in the pharmaceutical have also explored some specific ques- ness” throughout my career. Lichens are and perfume industry. They also play an tions, such as bacterial community shifts not plants, but historically and currently, outstanding role as biological indicators related to lichen parasitism (Grube et al. they have been studied under the crypto- of environmental health. 2012 FEMS Microbiol. Ecol. 82: 472–481; gamic umbrella offered through botany You probably learned this as gradu- Wedin et al. 2015 Environ. Microbiol. 18: departments around the world. If animals ate or undergraduate student, or if you 1428–1439). In general, these studies have are the most charismatic component of were lucky, while taking biology in high shown that lichen-associated microor- global biodiversity noticed by people, school. However, times have changed ganisms are not randomly distributed in very distantly followed by plants, then and the definition of lichens also needs lichens, but instead reflect the systematic lichens are indisputably at the lowest a bit of an update. We now know that affinities of the lichen partners and/or the levels of what the public sees. lichens harbor a diverse and complex associated habitat conditions. It is hypoth- How can we raise awareness for community of bacteria, archaea (single- esized that, just as the human microbiome lichens? Well, there are several ongoing cell organisms), and fungi, as stable com- has important functional roles in human efforts around the world to combat this ponents of the symbiosis. These micro- health, the lichen microbiome may be lichen blindness. The Field Museum organisms together make up the lichen involved in processes such as nutrient in Chicago, for example, is currently microbiome. And more recently, Toby supply, resistance against biotic and abi- hosting an exhibit called “Lichens: The Spribille and colleagues (Science 353: otic factors, and production of hormones Coolest Things You’ve Never Heard 488–492. 2016) found that additional (Grube et al. 2015 ISME J. 9: 412–424). Of” (https://www.fieldmuseum.org/ fungal partners may also play important To lichenologists, these are key at-the-field/exhibitions/lichens-coolest- roles for the association aside from the discoveries since they wave a flag for things-youve-never-heard), and has a mycobiont. lichenology as a whole, and we do need Ford Bronco door completely covered The earliest studies of lichen micro- this “advertisement,” as lichenology has by lichens collected in Puerto Rico Continued on page 13 Travel Pedro Acevedo traveled throughout the University of Rhode Island Narragan- and to update the collection in the her- Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico (9/10 – 9/24) sett Bay campus as the representative of barium; 216 vouchers were collected in with Herison Medeiros and Marcelo Smithsonian’s Dive Safety Officers. 63 families and 183 taxa, 15 ranked State Pace to collect all fertile flowering plant Monica Carlsen traveled to Savannah, rare in Virginia and one taxa, Polygonella specimens. Georgia (7/31 – 8/4) to present a paper at polygama (Vent.) Engelm. & A. Gray var. Gabriel Arellano traveled to Ledong, the Botany 2016 meeting; and to Honolulu polygama, known only from one popula- China (7/8 - 7/20) to give a talk at an ana- and Hilo, Hawaii (8/25 – 9/12) to collect tion in Virginia. lytical workshop organized by the Smith- Heliconia and Zingiberaceae specimens. W. John Kress traveled to Honolulu, sonian Center for Tropical Forest Science Manuela Dal Forno traveled to Hawaii (8/31 – 9/11) to attend the Interna- - Forest Global Earth Observatory and the Helsinki, Finland (8/1 – 8/9) to present a tional Union for Conservation of Nature Chinese Forest Biodiversity Network at poster at the 8th International Association (IUCN) World Conservation Congress and Jianfengling National Forest Park; and to for Lichenology (IAL) Symposium at the to collect Heliconia specimens. Barro Colorado Island, Panama (8/13 – University of Helsinki and to participate Gary Krupnick traveled to Honolulu, 9/2) to conduct fieldwork to test a mor- in an excursion to Pallas-Yllästunturi Hawaii (8/31 – 9/11) to present a Pavilion tality protocol that will be implemented National Park. Event on orchid conservation at the Inter- in some tropical sites as part of the Next Bort Edwards traveled to Savannah, national Union for Conservation of Nature Generation Experiments – Tropics project. Georgia (7/31 – 8/4) to attend the Botany (IUCN) World Conservation Congress; Mike Bordelon traveled to Ithaca, 2016 meeting; and to Berkeley, California and to San Francisco, California (9/11 – New York (7/18 – 7/21) to attend the (8/31 – 9/8) to collect material for the 9/14) to attend a round-table discussion annual meeting of the Association of Edu- Global Genome Initiative and to conduct about conservation and natural history cation and Research Greenhouse Curators. his own research into radiations of western museums at the California Academy of Barrett Brooks traveled to Nar- North American clades. Sciences. ragansett, Rhode Island (9/19 – 9/25) to Ashley Egan traveled to Savannah, Marcelo Pace traveled to Mexico City, attend the annual meeting of the American Georgia (7/30 – 8/4) with Gouri Mahad- Mexico (9/4 – 9/9) to give an invited talk Association of Underwater Scientists at war and Mohammad Vatanparast at the XX National Botanical Congress of to present a paper at the Botany 2016 Mexico. The Plant Press meeting; and through eastern Pennsylva- Paul Peterson traveled to London, nia (9/1 – 9/6) and throughout Virginia, England (7/17 – 7/22) to give a presenta- New Series - Vol. 19 - No. 4 North Carolina, and South Carolina (9/15 tion at the meeting, “Growing the Grass Chair of Botany – 9/30) to collect Phaseolus polystachios Classification: Celebration of Derek Clay- Laurence J. Dorr (Fabaceae) in conjunction with collabo- ton’s 90th birthday and discussion about ([email protected]) ration with the Germplasm Resources the future of GrassBase.” Information Network (GRIN) of the U.S. Eric Schuettplez traveled to Savan- EDITORIAL STAFF Department of Agriculture. nah, Georgia (7/30 – 8/3) to present a Editor Sally Eichhorn traveled to Paris paper at the Botany 2016 meeting, and to Gary Krupnick France (9/17 – 9/24) to attend the Inter- attend the business meeting of the Ameri- ([email protected]) national Association for Plant Taxonomy can Fern Society and the NSF GoFlag council meeting as the managing secretary. project collaborators meeting. Copy Editors Vicki Funk and Morgan Gostel Laurence Skog traveled to Savannah, Robin Everly, Bernadette Gibbons, and Rose Gulledge traveled throughout Madagascar (9/22 Georgia (7/30 – 8/4) to attend the Botany – 10/22) to conduct field work for the 2016 meeting. News Contacts Global Genome Initiative project. Sy Sohmer traveled to Edinburgh, MaryAnn Apicelli, Rusty Russell, Alice Amanda Grusz and Erin Sigel trav- Scotland (7/11 – 7/15) to give a paper on Tangerini, and Elizabeth Zimmer eled to Savannah, Georgia (7/31 – 8/4) to Psychotria (Rubiaceae) of Papua New th The Plant Press is a quarterly publication pro- present papers in the “Seed Free Plants Guinea at the 10 International Flora vided free of charge. To receive notification of at the Genomic Scale” colloquium at the Malesiana Symposium, “Classify, Cul- when new pdf issues are posted to the web, please subscribe to the listserve by sending a message Botany 2016 meeting. tivate, Conserve,” at the Royal Botanic to [email protected] containing only the Gabe Johnson traveled to Savannah, Garden Edinburgh. following in the body of the text: SUBSCRIBE PLANTPRESS-NEWS Firstname Lastname.