The Jurassic epiphytic macrolichen Daohugouthallus reveals the oldest lichen-plant interaction in a Mesozoic forest ecosystem

Qiuxia Yang; Yanyan Wang; Robert Lücking; H Thorsten Lumbsch; Zhenyong Du; Yunkang Chen; Ming Bai; Dong Ren; Jiangchun Wei; Hu Li; Yongjie Wang; Xinli Wei

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2022.105770

The Jurassic epiphytic macrolichen Daohugouthallus reveals the oldest lichen-plant interaction in a Mesozoic forest ecosystem

iScience. 2022 Dec 8;26(1):105770. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.105770. eCollection 2023 Jan 20.

Authors

Qiuxia Yang¹, Yanyan Wang¹, Robert Lücking², H Thorsten Lumbsch³, Zhenyong Du⁴, Yunkang Chen^{5

6}, Ming Bai⁷, Dong Ren⁸, Jiangchun Wei¹, Hu Li⁴, Yongjie Wang⁹, Xinli Wei¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
² Botanischer Garten, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany.
³ Science & Education, The Field Museum, Chicago, IL 60605, USA.
⁴ Department of Entomology, MOA Key Lab of Pest Monitoring and Green Management, College of Plant Protection, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
⁵ School of Agriculture, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China.
⁶ College of Plant Protection, Agricultural University of Hebei, Baoding 071001, China.
⁷ Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
⁸ College of Life Sciences and Academy for Multidisciplinary Studies, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048, China.
⁹ Guangdong Key Laboratory of Animal Conservation and Resource Utilization, Guangdong Public Laboratory of Wild Animal Conservation and Utilization, Institute of Zoology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510260, China.

Abstract

Lichens are well known as pioneer organisms or stress-tolerant extremophiles, potentially playing a core role in the early formation of terrestrial ecosystems. Epiphytic macrolichens are known to contribute to the water- and nutrient cycles in forest ecosystem. But due to the scarcity of fossil record, the evolutionary history of epiphytic macrolichens is poorly documented. Based on new fossil of Jurassic Daohugouthallus ciliiferus, we demonstrate the hitherto oldest known macrolichen inhabited a gymnosperm branch. We applied energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and geometric morphometric analysis to complementarily verify lichen affinity of D. ciliiferus and quantitatively assess the potential relationships with extant lichenized lineages, providing new approaches for study of this lichen adpression fossil. Considering the results, and the inferred age of D. ciliiferus, a new family, Daohugouthallaceae, is established. This work updates current knowledge to the early evolution of epiphytic macrolichens and reveals more complex lichen-plant interactions in a Jurassic forest ecosystem.

Keywords: Earth history; Paleontology; Plant evolution.