Áhrif erfða og langtímaaðlögunar á genatjáningu og svipfar í fléttusambýlum - verkefni lokið

Fréttatilkynning verkefnisstjóra

23.4.2024

Í ljós kom að fléttusveppirnir og blágrænbakteríusambýlingar þeirra þoldu lægra hitastig en grænþörungar í fléttusambýlinu, en grænþörungarnir sýndu takmörkuð streituviðbrögð, jafnvel við hæstu hitastig prófuð. Töluverður munur var á genatjáningu fléttusveppa eftir því hvort ljósbýlingurinn var blábaktería eða grænþörungur, og munur á því hvaða gen sveppsins juku eða minnkuðu tjáningu við hitaálag.

English:

We studied gene expression in Peltigera lichens in response to thermal stress and found that the
lichenized fungi and their cyanobacterial photobionts had lower temperature optima than the
lichen's green-algal photobiont, which was hardly showing signs of stress even at the highest
temperatures we subjected it to. Fungal gene expression differed largely by photobiont type, with
different kinds of genes upregulated in cyanobacterial vs. green-algal sectors of compound thalli.

Information on how the results will be applied:
The results can be applied to understand how lichens respond to changes in climate, especially
temperature, and assess if global climate change threatens Peltigera lichens.

A list of the project's outputs:
Publications in peer-reviewed journals in the field
Education of MSc, BSc and PhD students

Published journal articles:
Almer, J., P. Resl, H. Gudmundsson, D. Warshan, Ó. S. Andrésson, and S. Werth. 2023. Symbiontspecific responses to environmental cues in a threesome lichen symbiosis. Molecular Ecology 32:1045-1061. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.16814 (Open Access through by LMU Munich
contracts with Wiley)

Resl, P., A. R. Bujold, G. Tagirdzhanova, P. Meidl, S. F. Rallo, M. Kono, S. Fernández-Brime, H.
Guðmundsson, Ó. S. Andrésson, L. Muggia, H. Mayrhofer, J. P. McCutcheon, M. Wedin, S.
Werth, L. M. Willis, and T. Spribille. 2022. Large differences in carbohydrate degradation and
transport potential in the genomes of lichen fungal symbionts. Nature Communications
13:2634. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-30218-6 (Open Access)

Werth, S., S. Þ. Pálsson, and Ó. S. Andrésson. 2021. Characterization of simple sequence repeat loci
for Peltigera membranacea (lichenized Ascomycota) and its Nostoc photobiont. The
Lichenologist 53:457-465. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0024282921000384 (Open Access through
LMU Munich contracts with Cambridge)

Manuscripts in preparation:
Almer, J., C. Tominello-Ramirez, R. F. Reynisson, A. Goss, D. Warshan, A. Janjic, Ó. S. Andrésson, and
S. Werth. Gene expression in Peltigera lichens in response to environmental stimulus.

Reynisson, R. F., J. Almer, A. Goss, H. Gudmundsson, D. Warshan, A. Janjic, Ó. S. Andrésson, and S.
Werth. Gene expression in transplanted Peltigera leucophlebia and P. britannica - effects of
acclimation vs thermal stress.

Reynisson, R. F., M. Lehmann, Ó. S. Andrésson, and S. Werth. Effects of lichen acclimation to
different environments on relative growth rates and metabolomic composition.

MSc theses:
Almer, J. 2020 Differential gene expression of mycobionts and photobionts in Peltigera britannica
photosymbiodemes. MSc thesis, University of Graz.

Magnússon, G.V. 2023. Differential gene expression analysis of Nostoc sp. N6 in Peltigera
membranacea. MSc thesis, University of Iceland.

Conference presentations:
Warshan, D., P. Resl, H. Gudmundsson, Z.O. Jónsson, S. Werth, and Ó. S. Andrésson (2019)
Endangered marriage: Ecological genomics predict climate vulnerability in a lichen symbiosis.
Island Biology Conference, La Reunion, 8.7.2019 (oral presentation)

Heiti verkefnis: Áhrif erfða og langtímaaðlögunar á genatjáningu og svipfar í fléttusambýlum/Impact of genome and long-term acclimatization on gene expression and phenotypic traits of lichen symbioses
Verkefnisstjóri: Ólafur Sigmar Andrésson, Háskóla Íslands
Tegund styrks: Verkefnisstyrkur
Styrktímabil: 2017-2019
Fjárhæð styrks kr. 54.914.000
Tilvísunarnúmer Rannís: 174307