Patricia Moya

ICBIBE. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Evolutiva

Ramalina farinacea is a widely distributed epiphytic lichen from the Macaronesian archipelagos to Mediterranean and Boreal Europe. Previous studies have indicated a specific association between R. farinacea and Trebouxia microalgae species. Here, we examined the symbiotic interactions in this lichen and its closest allies (the so-called “R. farinac...

In the 1990s, a sampling network for the biomonitoring of forests using epiphytic lichen diversity was established in the eastern Iberian Peninsula. This area registered air pollution impacts by winds from the Andorra thermal power plant, as well as from photo-oxidants and nitrogen depositions from local and long-distance transport. In 1997, an ass...

The fungal mitochondrial small subunit (mtSSU) ribosomal DNA is one of the most commonly used loci for phylogenetic analysis of lichen-forming fungi, but their primer specificity to mycobionts has not been evaluated. The current study aimed to design mycobiont-specific mtSSU primers and highlights their utility with an example from the saxicolous l...

Ramalina farinacea is an epiphytic lichen-forming fungus with a broad geographic distribution, especially in the Northern Hemisphere. In the eighties of the last century, it was hypothesized that R. farinacea had originated in the Macaronesian–Mediterranean region, with the Canary Islands as its probable southernmost limit, and thereafter it would...

The term phycobiome was recently introduced to designate all the microalgae (primary or non-primary) associated with lichen symbioses. Abundant non-primary symbiotic microalgae are usually obtained from lichen isolations, confirming that thalli are a source of biodiversity and new species. In this study, microalgae were isolated from thalli of Buel...

Two microalgal species, Trebouxia jamesii and Trebouxia sp. TR9, were detected as the main photobionts coexisting in the thalli of the lichen Ramalina farinacea. Trebouxia sp. TR9 emerged as a new taxon in lichen symbioses and was successfully isolated and propagated in in vitro culture and thoroughly investigated. Several years of research have co...

Ramalina farinacea, a lichen-forming fungus with a vast geographical spread across the Mediterranean, Temperate, and Boreal bioclimates, has showcased intriguing variations in its symbiotic relationships with phycobionts. Our study aimed to elucidate these fungal-algal partnerships across a latitudinal stretch from Algeria (36oN) to Umeå, Sweden (6...

Fungal–algal relationships—both across evolutionary and ecological scales—are finely modulated by the presence of the symbionts in the environments and by the degree of selectivity and specificity that either symbiont develop reciprocally. In lichens, the green algal genus Trebouxia Puymaly is one of the most frequently recovered chlorobionts. Treb...

Climatic factors, soil chemistry and geography are considered as major factors affecting lichen distribution and diversity. To determine how these factors limit or support the associations between the symbiotic partners, we revise the lichen symbiosis as a network of relationships here. More than one thousand thalli of terricolous Cladonia lichens...

The worldwide, ecologically relevant lichen-forming genus Parmelia currently includes 41 accepted species, of which the Parmelia sulcata group (PSULgp) and the Parmelia saxatilis group (PSAXgp) have received considerable attention over recent decades; however, phycobiont diversity is poorly known in Parmelia s. lat. Here, we studied the diversity o...

Buellia zoharyi is a crustose placodioid lichen, usually occurring on biocrusts of semiarid ecosystems in circum-Mediterranean/Macaronesian areas. In previous work, we found that this lichenized fungus was flexible in its phycobiont choice in the Canary Islands. Here we test whether geography and habitat influence phycobiont diversity in population...

Lichen symbioses are microecosystems hosting many other living organisms besides the two major lichen symbionts (i.e., lichenized fungi [the mycobiont] and green microalgae or cyanobacteria [the photobiont]). Recent investigations evidenced that other fungi, non-photosynthetic bacteria and microalgae co-inhabit within the lichen thalli, but their d...

The Canary Islands are famous for their extraordinary biodiversity; however, lichenized algae have only been studied partially. Buellia zoharyi is a circum-Mediterranean/Macaronesian species that usually occurs in semi-arid areas of the Mediterranean, but occasionally some interesting communities of this species grow on basaltic lava flows in Lanza...

River gravel bars are dynamic and heterogeneous habitats straddling the transition between aquatic and terrestrial environments. Periodic flooding, low nutrient concentrations, frost, lack of stable sites, drought, and ground surface heat significantly influence the biota of these habitats. Mutualistic symbiosis may be a successful strategy for org...

This study analyses the interactions among crustose and lichenicolous lichens growing on gypsum biocrusts. The selected community was composed of Acarospora nodulosa, Acarospora placodiiformis, Diploschistes diacapsis, Rhizocarpon malenconianum and Diplotomma rivas-martinezii. These species represent an optimal system for investigating the strategi...

Abstract Lichens provide valuable systems for studying symbiotic interactions. In lichens, these interactions are frequently described in terms of availability, selectivity and specificity of the mycobionts and photobionts towards one another. The lichen-forming, green algal genus Trebouxia Puymaly is among the most widespread photobiont, associati...

River gravel bars are dynamic and heterogeneous habitats standing on transition between aquatic and terrestrial environment. Periodical flooding, low nutrient content, frost, missing safe sites, drought, and heat on the ground surface significantly influence life in these habitats. Mutualistic symbiosis may be a successful strategy for organisms to...

The Trebouxiophyceae is the class of Chlorophyta algae from which the highest number of chloroplast genome (cpDNA) sequences have been obtained. Several species in this class participate in symbioses with fungi to form lichens. However, no cpDNA has been obtained from any Trebouxia lichen‐symbiont microalgae, which are present in approximately half...

Lichens are complex symbiotic systems, in which coexistence occurs between several microalgal taxa and/or lineages with a single fungus-mycobiont-, displaying different tolerance patterns to multiple kinds of abiotic stress. Furthermore, certain communities of non-photosynthetic bacteria and yeasts are starting to be considered as an integral part...

A taxonomical system for Trebouxia microalgae based on ultrastructural studies of Buellia zoharyi Galun and its subsequent statistical analysis is proposed in this study. Four different Trebouxia morphotypes were found in different areas of this lichen species. We needed to establish a taxonomical system allowing us to precisely classify these mor...

This meeting is dedicated to discussing and better clarifying our knowledge of the complex interactions that uphold lichen symbiosis, through the characterization of different aspects of biology and phylogenetic relationships within the symbionts. Outstanding international attendees experienced in different research field of lichen symbiosis will p...

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jpy.12751. https://rdcu.be/0FTE. Three vagrant (Circinaria hispida, Circinaria gyrosa, Circinaria sp. ‘paramerae’) and one crustose (semi‐vagrant, Circinaria sp.’oromediterranea’) lichens growing in very continental areas in the Iberian Peninsula were selected to study the phycobiont diversity. Myc...

Intrathalline phycobiont diversity was investigated in a rosette-forming lichen, Parmotrema pseudotinctorum , using a combination of Sanger sequencing, 454-pyrosequencing, conventional light and confocal microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. A total of 39 thalli sampled in five Canary Island populations were investigated. Three novel li...

Myrmecia israeliensis has been traditionally considered as a green coccoid free–living microalga. This microalga was previously suggested as the primary phycobiont in the lichens Placidium spp., Heteroplacidium spp., and Psora decipiens. However, due to the absence of ITS rDNA sequences (barcode information) published along with these investigation...

Lichen thalli represent the most conspicuous examples of fungal-algal interactions. Studies that describe phycobiont diversity within entire thalli are based mainly on Sanger sequencing. In some lichen species, this technique could underestimate the intrathalline coexistence of multiple microalgae. In this study different multi-tool approaches were...

Myrmecia israelensis (S.Chantanachat & H.Bold) T.Friedl has been traditionally considered as a green coccoid free-living microalga. This microalga was suggested as the primary phycobiont in two related lichen genera Placidium and Heteroplacidium, and recently in Psora decipiens. However, due to the absence of nrITS DNA sequences (barcode informatio...

Biological Soil Crusts (BSCs) are biologically modified soil surfaces composed of a combination of organisms which include lichens, bryophytes, liverworts, microalgae, cyanobacteria, and microfungi. BSCs are complex communities due to the many different organisms involved and functional aspects they provide. Buellia zoharyi Galun is a prevailing li...

The current literature reveals that the intrathalline coexistence of multiple microalgal taxa in lichens is more common than previously thought, and additional complexity is supported by the coexistence of bacteria and basidiomycete yeasts in lichen thalli. This replaces the old paradigm that lichen symbiosis occurs between a fungus and a single ph...

Trebouxia haplotype networks. Statistical parsimony networks obtained for the ITS1-5.8S showing the relationships among haplotypes detected in the 26 Trebouxia OTU networks found in this study, including 23 sequences selected from the GenBank database. The size of the circles is proportional to the frequency of each haplotype in the total sample an...

Average Cycle threshold (Ct) values obtained for the RT-PCR I, RT-PCR II and RT-PCR in the algal cultures, the mock community and the eight PCR amplifications. (DOCX)

Rank abundance graph of algal OTUs recovered from each treatment. The number of OTUs were ordered from most to least abundant on the X axis, and the relative abundance of each type (number of sequences) observed was plotted on the Y axis. (JPG)

Specific forward primers designed based on the nrITS DNA reference sequences of the OTUs obtained in the pyrosequencing assay. Only the primers that successfully amplified the targeted microalgae are reported. (DOC)

Summary of presence/absence of Trebouxia, Asterochloris, and additional green microalgae and the total number of OTUs recovered for each treatment. (DOCX)

Taxonomic identification of the algal cultures and the primary algae amplified from the seven treatments. (DOCX)

5eirophora vi/losa is an endangered lichen species, which grows on the twigs of shrubs and small trees in Mediterranean coastal dune ecosystems. This lichen is sensitive to nitrogen deposition and habitat fragmentation, and it is red­listed in ltaly. Fourteen populations of 5. vi/losa from Spain and ltaly were analysed. The mycobiont was identified...

Buellia zoharyi Galun is a widespread lichen on sun-exposed biological soil crusts (BSC) under xericMediterranean bioclimatic conditions. This species was said to be highly specific to gypsum soils, but it has also been found occasionally in a great variety of basic substrata. We have selected 24 different populations covering the entire range of t...

Biological soil crusts (BSC) frequently cover open spaces in xeric territories and are set up by highly specialized communities of lichens, mosses, bacteria and fungi. Lichens are common components of these communities, adapted to extreme environmental conditions. Scientists are reviewing lichen characterization; these organisms are more complex th...

Scientists are reviewing Lichen characterization; these organisms are more complex than the marriage between a mycobiont and a phycobiont or cyanobiont because non-photoautotrophic lichenic bacteria seem to also be implied in the symbiogenesis of thalli. Additional complexity was reported inside a single lichen thallus by the intrathalline coexiste...

The microalgae of the genus Asterochloris are the preferential phycobionts in Cladonia, Lepraria and Stereocaulon lichens. Recent studies have highlighted the hidden diversity of the genus, even though phycobionts hosting Cladonia spp. in Mediterranean and Canarian ecosystems have been poorly explored. Phylogenetic analyses were made by concatenati...

KISS1 is a metastasis suppressor lost in several solid malignancies. We evaluated the clinical relevance of KiSS-1 methylation and its protein expression in colorectal cancer. The epigenetic silencing of KiSS-1 by hypermethylation was tested in colon cancer cells (n = 5) before and after azacytidine treatment. KiSS-1 methylation was evaluated by me...

Myopodin is an actin-binding protein believed to play a tumor suppressor role in several solid neoplasias. We evaluated the potential differential myopodin methylation and expression and their clinical relevance in colon cancer. The epigenetic silencing of myopodin by hypermethylation was tested in colon cancer cells (n = 5) before and after azacit...

KISS1 is a metastasis suppressor gene that is lost in several malignancies, including bladder cancer. We tested the epigenetic silencing hypothesis and evaluated the biological influence of KISS1 methylation on its expression and clinical relevance in bladder cancer. KISS1 hypermethylation was frequent in bladder cancer cells analyzed by methylatio...

The genetic variation of Citrus tristeza virus (CTV) was analysed by comparing the predominant sequence variants in seven genomic regions (p33, p65, p61, p18, p13, p20 and p23) of 18 pathogenically distinct isolates from seven different countries. Analyses of the selective constraints acting on each codon suggest that most regions were under purify...