Bull. Natl. Mus. Nat. Sci., Ser. B, 39(1), pp. 11–14, February 22, 2013

Opegrapha phaeophysciae (Opegraphaceae, Arthoniomycetes),a Lichenicolous Ascomycete, New to Japan
Andreas Frisch* and Yoshihito Ohmura
Department of Botany, National Museum of Nature and Science,
Amakubo 4–1–1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305–0005, Japan* E-mail: frisch-a@kahaku.go.jp(Received 16 November 2012; accepted 19 December 2012)

Abstract Opegrapha phaeophysciae is newly reported for Japan from Hokkaido and central
Honshu, and a detailed description of the species is provided based on the Japanese collections.
This species has previously been found on Phaeophyscia hispidula and was known only from Far
East Russia. In Japan, O. phaeophysciae was found on the thallus of P. limbata, a species closely
related to P. hispidula.
Key words : fungus, parasite, lichen, Phaeophyscia hispidula, Phaeophyscia limbata.

Lichenicolous fungi comprise a large and taxonomically diverse group of about 1,800 species
growing as obligate parasites or saprotrophs onlichens (Lawrey and Diederich, 2003, 2011).
They mainly belong to the Ascomycota, andsome of them (less than 5%) belong to Basidiomycota (Lawrey and Diederich, 2003). Lichenicolous fungi have not been well studied in Japan,
and only 21 species have been reported (Kurokawa and Kashiwadani, 2006), of which 10 species alone belong to the calicioid genera Chaenothecopsis and Sphinctrina (Tibell and Thor,2003) and other species belong to various phylogenetic groups, i.e. Cornutispora, Distopyrenis,Leptosphaeria, Lichenostigma, Phacopsis, Rhabdospora, and Stigmidium.
In the present contribution, we newly report onOpegrapha phaeophysciae that has recently beencollected from the thallus of Phaeophyscia limbata on Hokkaido and was subsequently discovered on ﬁve additional specimens of that species
from Hokkaido and central Honshu preserved in
the National Museum of Nature and Science(TNS).

Materials and Methods
Anatomical examinations were made using
hand-cut sections mounted in water and Lactic
Cotton Blue. Chemical reactions of the ascomata
were investigated in 1% aqueous iodine solution(I), 0.25% aqueous iodine solution (Idil), 1%
aqueous iodine solution after pretreatment with
10% aqueous potassium hydroxide solution (KI),
10% aqueous potassium hydroxide solution (K),and 10% nitric acid (N). Due to the absence of asufﬁcient number of well-developed spores in theJapanese specimens, spore measurements aregiven as min.-max. values only.
All specimens examined are housed in TNS
except otherwise indicated.
Results and Discussion
Opegrapha phaeophysciae R. Sant., Diederich,Ertz & Christnach, Biblioth. Lichenol. 91: 132(2005).
[Fig. 1]
Type: RUSSIA, Primorskii Region. Lazovskii
District, Lazovskii Reserve, small hill along theseashore, ca. 5 km S of Glazovska village,12Andreas Frisch and Yoshihito OhmuraFig. 1. Opegrapha phaeophysciae (Frisch 12/Jp183, TNS). A. Growth habit on Phaeophyscia limbata. B. Groupof ascomata (the small picture shows a horizontal section through an ascoma with marginally divided hymenium). Scale bars: A＝1.0 mm, B＝0.5 mm.

Opegrapha phaeophysciae, a Lichenicolous Ascomycete, New to Japan

41°01′N, 134°10′E, 30 m alt., on Quercus manshurica in the southern slope towards the sea, on
Phaeophyscia hispidula (thallus), 22 ix 1991, R.
Santesson 33270 (＝R. Santesson, Fungi
lichenicoli exsiccati no. 360) (UPS holotype, notseen; TNS isotype!).
ASCOMATA solitary, scattered to crowded on
the upper side of the host thallus, immersed ﬁrst
but soon emergent, black, rounded, slightly convex to ﬂattened, basally not constricted, 0.2–
0.6 mm diam., with fragments of the host cortex
attached to the younger stages; upper stromatic
layer irregularly reticulate-ﬁssured and/or with aring-ﬁssure along the outer margin, occasionallybreaking away in the center to expose the hymenium. STROMA dark brown, 90–160 µm tall, inK olivaceous brown, in N more orange brown,
pigment Atra-brown; hymenium in horizontal
section undulate to marginally divided and oftenwith one to three rounded columns of stromatic
plectenchyma, in transversal section with one tothree subspherical to extensive loci; marginal andapical stromatic layer 20–40 µm thick, sometimes missing in the central portions of the ascomata. SUBHYMENIUM hyaline, Idil＋ pale bluish, I＋ pale red mottled with pale blue, KI＋blue, 10–15 µm tall. HYMENIUM hyaline, Idil＋pale red, I＋ red, KI＋ blue, 60–100 µm tall.
EPIHYMENIUM brownish, Idil＋, I＋ and KI＋
blue, 15–20 µm tall. PARAPHYSOIDS abundant, branched and anastomosing, 2–2.5 µm
thick, apically slightly swollen. ASCI Opegrapha-type, clavate, with an apical K/I＋ blue
ring structure, 4–spored, 50–85×12–16 µm.
ASCOSPORES hyaline, becoming brown andgranular warty at maturity, elongate ellipsoid,(4–)6 septate, slightly constricted at the septa,
21–28(–32)×4.0–6.0 µm, the median cell often
somewhat elongated. PERISPORE ca. 1 µm
thick, with a brown granulose pigmentation
located on the outer wall at maturity. PYCNIDIA
not observed.
ECOLOGY AND DISTRIBUTION. InJapan, O. phaeophysciae is known from three
localities on Hokkaido and the mountains of central Honshu at altitudes from sea-level up to13750 m alt. It was found on Phaeophyscia limbata
growing on various deciduous trees, including
Ulmus davidiana var. japonica, Acer miyabei,and Zelkova serrata. Previously, O. phaeophyscia was only known from the Primorskii Regionof eastern Russia, where it was collected fromthe thallus of Phaeophyscia hispidula (Ertz et al.,2005). Phaeophyscia hispidula and P. limbata
are closely related to each other (Kashiwadani,1984) and could be treated at subspecies levelwithin a common taxon (Poelt, 1974).
NOTES. The Japanese specimens agree wellwith the isotype of O. phaeophysciae (R. Santesson, Fungi Lichenicoli Exsiccati no. 360) in
TNS. By checking about 300 Japanese collections of Phaeophyscia hispidula and P. limbata
preserved in TNS, only ﬁve additional specimensof O. phaeophysciae were found. The species ispossibly rare in Japan, but selective collection ofʻcleanʼ specimens in the ﬁeld (i.e., lichen specimen without parasite fungi on the thallus) mightalso cause the lack of O. phaeophysciae in thecollections.
Opegrapha phaeophysciae is the third parasitic Opegrapha species known to Japan besides
O. lichenicola growing on foliicolous crustoselichens [e.g., Eremothecella macrosperma, Mazosia melanophthalma, and problably Porina sp.](Thor et al., 2000) and O. foreaui [＝O. trassii(see Hafellner, 2002)] on Heterodermia sp. (Coppins and Kondratyuk, 1998).
The supraspeciﬁc taxonomy of the about 58
parasitic Opegrapha species (Lawrey and Diederich, 2011) is not resolved at present, but mostspecies are expected not to belong to Opegraphas. str. (Ertz et al., 2005). Opegrapha phaeophysciae is placed in the parasitic O. anomea-group,
which differs from Opegrapha (s. str.) mainly by
the stromatic uni- to poorly multilocular roundish
ascomata (Ertz et al., 2005). The species in thisgroup show afﬁnities to the genus Plectocarpon
Fée and the phylogenetic relationship towards
this genus needs further study (Ertz et al., 2004,2005).
The Japanese common name for this species isgiven here as “Yadori-kigô-goke”.

14

Andreas Frisch and Yoshihito Ohmura

Specimens examined. JAPAN. Hokkaido.
Prov. Abashiri: Yobito, Abashiri-city, over Phaeophyscia limbata on the bark of an unidentiﬁed
tree in shady deciduous forest at the shore of
Abashiri Lake, 43°59′36.0″N, 144°12′18.7″E,25 m, 29 v 2012, A. Frisch 12/Jp183 & Y. Ohmura (TNS, UPS, hb Frisch). Prov. Ishikari:
Maruyama, Sapporo-city, on bark of Ulmus
davidiana var. japonica, ca. 20 m, 23 vii 1970, H.
Kashiwadani 7500, 7502 (TNS); ibid., on bark ofAcer miyabei, ca. 200 m, 23 vii 1970, H. Kashiwadani 7497 (TNS). Honshu. Prov. Shinano:Hiraide, Shiojiri-city, on bark of Zelkova serrata,ca. 750 m, 28 x 1986, H. Kashiwadani 23660,23662 (TNS).
Acknowledgments
This study is partly funded by the Grant-inAid relating to JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship for
Foreign Researchers (no. 23–01706), which isgratefully acknowledged.
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