High fungal selectivity for algal symbionts in the genusBryoria

In this study we examined photobiont identity, diversity and selectivity in the genusBryoria. We focused onB. fremontiiand sectionImplexaein order to determine whether secondary chemistry is correlated with photobiont identity. DNA from two loci for photobionts and three loci for mycobionts was sequenced for both parsimony and Bayesian phylogenetic analyses. A comparison of photobiont and mycobiont phylogenies reveals that mostBryoriaspecies associate exclusively with lineages of theTrebouxia simplexgroup; onlyB. smithiiwas associated with a different photobiont. We conclude that mostBryoriaspecies included in our study are highly selective in their choice of algal partners and that the presence/concentration of different secondary compounds does not correlate with photobiont identity either in sectionImplexaeor inB. fremontii.