Phylogenetic data for the lichen genus Bacidia originally used to describe a new species, Bacidia gigantensis

Bacidia gigantensis, a green to greenish-brown, sorediate, crustose to microsquamulose lichen is described a new to science. It is corticolous on mature Thuja occidentalis trees throughout Sleeping Giant Provincial Park on the Sibley Peninsula along the north shore of Lake Superior, Ontario. The species is unusual within Bacidia due to the production of asexual propagules and homosekikaic acid. Placement in Bacidia is based on the characters of the sexual reproductive structures (biatorine apothecia with a true exciple, Bacidia-type asci, sigmoid, acicular, ascospores), ITS sequence data and molecular phylogenetic analyses of mtSSU sequence data. The latter also inferred a relationship to Bacidiopsora, a tropical genus that has been proposed for synonymy with Bacidia and includes other species with similar chemistries.

Bacidia gigantensis是一种绿色至绿褐色、具粉芽、壳状至微鳞片状的地衣，被描述为科学新种。该物种附生于安大略省苏必利尔湖北岸西布利半岛睡巨人省立公园内的成熟北美香柏（Thuja occidentalis）树皮上。其在Bacidia属中较为特殊，因其能产生无性繁殖体和同泽田酸（homosekikaic acid）。该物种归入Bacidia属的依据包括有性生殖结构特征（具真囊盘被的双边型子囊盘、Bacidia型子囊、S形针状子囊孢子）、内部转录间隔区（ITS）序列数据及线粒体小亚基核糖体RNA（mtSSU）序列数据的分子系统发育分析结果。后者还揭示了该物种与Bacidiopsora属的亲缘关系；Bacidiopsora属为热带类群，曾被提议作为Bacidia属的同物异名，且包含其他具有相似化学特征的物种。