A Glimpse into Genetic Diversity and Symbiont Interaction Patterns in Lichen Communities from Areas with Different Disturbance Histories in Białowieża Forest, Poland

Lichen communities in Białowieża Forest exhibit remarkable genetic diversity and symbiont interaction patterns, even under varying disturbance regimes. The study revealed that 14 out of 23 photobiont operational taxonomic units (OTUs) had no matches in NCBI-BLAST databases, highlighting the discovery of previously unknown photobiont diversity in Central Europe. Mycobionts associated with multiple sites typically paired with consistent photobiont OTUs, while generalist lichen taxa persisted across all disturbance levels, suggesting adaptability to human-induced changes. Trebouxia jamesii emerged as a dominant photobiont, associating with 53% of fungal OTUs and indicating its widespread compatibility in Central European forests, regardless of land-use intensity.

Singh, G., Kukwa, M., Dal Grande, F., Łubek, A., Otte, J., & Schmitt, I. (2019). A Glimpse into Genetic Diversity and Symbiont Interaction Patterns in Lichen Communities from Areas with Different Disturbance Histories in Białowieża Forest, Poland. Microorganisms, 7(9), 335. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms7090335