Tools
Tools
Scharnagl, Klara, Tagirdzhanova, Gulnara and Talbot, Nicholas J. 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6434-7757
(2023)
The coming golden age for lichen biology.
Current Biology, 33 (11).
R512-R518.
ISSN 0960-9822
Abstract
Lichens are a diverse group of organisms. They are both commonly observed but also mysterious. It has long been known that lichens are composite symbiotic associations of at least one fungus and an algal or cyanobacterial partner, but recent evidence suggests that they may be much more complex. We now know that there can be many constituent microorganisms in a lichen, organized into reproducible patterns that suggest a sophisticated communication and interplay between symbionts. We feel the time is right for a more concerted effort to understand lichen biology. Rapid advances in comparative genomics and metatranscriptomic approaches, coupled with recent breakthroughs in gene functional studies, suggest that lichens may now be more tractable to detailed analysis. Here we set out some of the big questions in lichen biology, and we speculate about the types of gene functions that may be critical to their development, as well as the molecular events that may lead to initial lichen formation. We define both the challenges and opportunities in lichen biology and offer a call to arms to study this remarkable group of organisms.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Additional Information: | Funding Information: This work was supported by grants from the Leverhulme Trust RPG-2018-139, The Gatsby Charitable Foundation, the Halpin Family and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council BBS/E/J/000PR9798 to N.J.T. We thank Kim Findlay, Jake Richardson and Sergio Lopez (John Innes Centre) for assistance with light and electron microscopy images of lichen thalli. We thank Phil Robinson for photography of Xanthoria parietina. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 Elsevier Inc. |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology(all),agricultural and biological sciences(all) ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1300 |
| Faculty \ School: | Faculty of Science > The Sainsbury Laboratory |
| UEA Research Groups: | Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Norwich Institute for Healthy Aging |
| Related URLs: | |
| Depositing User: | LivePure Connector |
| Date Deposited: | 31 Oct 2024 09:30 |
| Last Modified: | 03 Nov 2024 07:30 |
| URI: | https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/97352 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.cub.2023.03.054 |
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |