The study of carotenoids in 20 taxa of Cladonia from North America revealed antheraxanthin, astaxanthin, canthaxanthin, capsochrome, f3-apo-2'carotenal, a-carotene, 3-carotene, 3-cryptoxanthin, a-doradexanthin, 3'-epilutein, flavoxanthin, lutein, lutein epoxide, mutatoxanthin, violaxanthin, and zeaxanthin. The total carotenoid content of the material ranged from 10.93 gg g-' in C. ecmocyna to 52.31 gg g-' in C. cervicornis. Representatives of the lichen genus Cladonia are widespread in a variety of environments throughout the world. The purportedly wide distribution of many species results in their exposure to markedly differing habitats and may exercise a profound effect on their morphological and chemical characteristics. Variation within Cladonia species and the detection of new species based on consistent, genetically derived character states have been the focus of intensive activity. The interpretation of such variations and their appropriate taxonomic treatment depends upon the discovery and elucidation of reliable characters, including secondary chemistry. Recent chemotaxonomic work in Cladonia and other genera has focused on the unique secondary phenolic compounds and fatty acids produced by lichens (Huovinen et al. 1989a,b, 1990). The analysis of carotenoids in representatives of the Cladoniaceae from northeastern Poland (Czeczuga 1985), Germany (Czeczuga & Doll 1991), and other northern hemisphere localities (Czeczuga et al. 1991) demonstrated that a number of carotenoids are characteristic and perhaps diagnostic in Cladonia. The present study is a continuation of investigations utilizing carotenoids as taxonomic indicators in Cladonia. In this study, we compare the carotenoid contents of various taxa from North America, with a focus on Cladoniae of the western United States, and California in particular. Although the carotenoid contents of Cladonia species from Europe have been intensively studied, this is the first assay of thalli exclusively from North America. The present study was initiated in order to provide preliminary observations on several questions. In this study, we endeavored to establish whether significant differences occur between the carotenoids of North American taxa and those of their Old World counterparts. Of primary interest was the question of carotenoid distribution patterns as a corollary to taxonomic groupings. We attempted to detect patterns between morphologically and phenolically similar species at various taxonomic levels regarding their carotenoid contents. For example, specimens 2, 3, 4, and 20 (Table 2) are morphologically similar on the basis of central proliferations from their podetia, and share a fumarprotocetraric acid-based phenolic chemistry. They share an informal status as members of a C. cervicornis moiety within Cladonia section Cladonia (Ahti 1978). We also assayed species (Table 2, specimens 1, 17, 18) that are taxonomically recognized within Cladonia section Perviae. Two of these were recently described from western North America (Hammer 1989a, 1992) and may be closely related; thus, similarities or differences in their carotenoid contents would be of great interest. Patterns in carotenoid distribution were also sought amongst phenolically similar but morphologically dissimilar taxa; specimens 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15, and 16 (Table 2) are apparently morphologically unrelated although they all contain fumarprotocetraric acid and belong to section Cladonia (Huovinen et al. 1990). Finally, we chose specimens from several subgeneric groups to compare the carotenoid contents of various sections in Cladonia. In many cases specimens from critical localities were studied. These were chosen in part for their historical or biogeographical importance. For example, specimen 10 (Table 2) was collected at or near C. A. Robbins' locus of activity in Wareham, Massachusetts (Robbins 1924). Robbins' collecting work and his taxonomic efforts in Cladonia were influential in subsequent decades (Thomson 1967), ' Present address: College of General Studies, Boston University, 871 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215. 0007-2745/94/67-70$0.55/0 This content downloaded from 207.46.13.101 on Sat, 08 Oct 2016 06:00:32 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 68 THE BRYOLOGIST [VOL. 97 TABLE 1. Carotenoids from 20 taxa of Cladonia. Carotenoid structures are shown in Figure 1. Carotenoid Structure Semisystematic name 1. Antheraxanthin D-R-E 5,6-epoxy-5,6-dihydro-f,f-carotene-3,3'-diol 2. Astaxanthin G-R-G 3,3'-dihydroxy-/3,-carotene-4,4'-dione 3. Canthaxanthin F-R-F f,f-carotene-4,4'-dione 4. Capsochrome H-RI-I 5,8-epoxy-3,3'-dihydroxy-5,8-dihydro-f3,x-carotene-6'-one 5. f3-apo-2'-Carotenal B-R-J 3',4'-didehydro-2'-apo-fl-carotene-2'-al 6. a-Carotene A-R-B f#m-carotene 7. #-Carotene B-R-B #,#-carotene 8. /-Cryptoxanthin B-R-D #,#-carotene-3-ol 9. a-Doradexanthin C-R-G 3,3'-dihydroxy-3,e-carotene-4-one 10. 3'-Epilutein C-R-D 3,E-carotene-3,3'-diol (stereoisomeric) 11. Flavoxanthin C-RI-H 5,8-epoxy-5,8-dihydro--,e-carotene-3,3-diol 12. Lutein C-R-D f,e-carotene-3,3'-diol 13. Lutein epoxide C-R-E 5,6-epoxy-5,6-dihydro--,e-carotene-3,3'-diol 14. Mutatoxanthin D-R2-H 5,8-epoxy-5,8-dihydro-f,f-carotene-3,3'-diol 15. Violaxanthin E-R-E 5,6,5',6'-diepoxy-5,6,5',6'-tetrahydro-j3,3-carotene-3,3'-diol 16. Zeaxanthin D-R-D (,f-carotene-3,3'-diol but his collecting sites were not revisited until quite recently (Hammer, unpubl.). Other collecting sites included in this paper reflect questions regarding numerous Cladonia species that appear to be limited in their distribution and perhaps endemic to western North America (Hammer 1989a,b, 1991; Hammer & Ahti 1990). Their circumscribed range suggests that these species may possess specific environmental requirements. The geographical isolation of some populations has led to a modified sibling-species hypothesis, which presumes the presence of unique secondary phenolics among certain members of geographically isolated populations (Hammer 1989b). Likewise, the presence of
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