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Scientists at the MACS Agharkar Research Institute (ARI), Pune, identified five new species of the lichen-forming fungus genus Allographa in the Western Ghats.
The species are Allographa keralensis, A. nayakae, A. paraconsanguinea, A. persistinspersa, and A. semicarbonisata, described using traditional taxonomy and multi-locus DNA sequencing.
The study, published in the journal Mycological Progress, is the first comprehensive molecular phylogenetic investigation of Allographa from the Western Ghats.
The discovery reinforces the Western Ghats' status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and global biodiversity hotspot.
Lichens lack a protective cuticle and absorb nutrients and pollutants directly from the air and rainfall, making them highly sensitive to air pollution and habitat change. Because of this sensitivity, scientists use lichen diversity and health as a proxy measure — a bioindicator — for local air quality and ecosystem condition.
Simple Analogy: Like a canary in a coal mine, lichens react to polluted air long before the damage becomes visible elsewhere in the ecosystem.
A UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the world's recognised biodiversity hotspots, and the site of this discovery
Uses more than one genetic marker to resolve species boundaries and evolutionary relationships, increasingly standard in taxonomic descriptions
GS Paper III > Biodiversity and Environment
General Awareness > Science and Environment
A composite organism formed by a symbiotic fungal partner and a photosynthetic partner (alga or cyanobacterium)
A species whose presence, absence or condition reflects the health of its environment, such as air quality