Lazarenkoiopsis
Lazarenkoiopsis is a single-species fungal genus in the family Teloschistaceae. It contains Lazarenkoiopsis ussuriensis, a corticolous, crustose lichen species found in the Russian Far East.
Taxonomy
The lichen was first described scientifically in 2011 by the lichenologists Alfred Oxner, Sergey Kondratyuk, and John Elix, as Caloplaca ussuriensis. The species name is derived from the Primorsky region's historical name, the Ussuriysk region. The taxon was transferred to the newly created genus Lazarenkoiopsis in 2020; it is its type and only species. The genus name honours Andrij Sozontovych Lazarenko, a Ukrainian bryologist. Lazarenkoiopsis is in the subfamily Caloplacoideae of the family Teloschistaceae.Description
The thallus of Lazarenkoiopsis ussuriensis is 2–3 cm wide, thick and smooth, and can be distinctly cracked with broad cracks up to 0.07 mm wide. The range from 0.5 to 2.5 mm in width. The upper surface is whitish, dull greyish-white to grey, or greenish grey-brown, with bright to dull yellow soralia. The soralia are initially rounded or irregular in shape, eventually becoming and forming elongated fissure-like structures.In cross-section, the thallus is 70–200 μm thick, with a layer of 20–50 μm. Apothecia are 0.5–1 mm in diameter and up to 0.3 mm high, initially in form with well-developed margins, later becoming. The is 60–70 μm thick, and the is 30–40 μm wide in the upper portion, thinning towards the base. The hymenium reaches up to 70 μm high, with paraphyses lacking swollen tips. are broadly ellipsoid to almost spherical or elongated, with a wide septum.
Lazarenkoiopsis ussuriensis contains several secondary metabolites, including fragilin and parietin as major constituents, along with minor amounts of emodin, 7-chloroemodin, erythroglaucin, 7-chloroparietinic acid, physcoin bysanthrone, and traces of physcoin 9-anthrone and physcoin 10-anthrone.
Genus Lazarenkoiopsis closely resembles the genus Solitaria from the subfamily Xanthorioideae. It is distinct due to its notably cracked-areolated, thicker thallus, and the presence of numerous oil droplets within its hymenium. Its true exciple has a tissue structure. Unlike Solitaria, the paraphyses in Lazarenkoiopsis do not swell at the tips.