Hybridization and reticulate evolution in fungi. A perspective from the lichen genus Pyrenodesmia

Fernando FERNANDEZ MENDOZA (Graz): The concept of species, often understood as genetically isolated evolutionary enti-ties or lineages, has recently become a subject of strong controversy thanks to the growing availability of genomic data, which shows a stronger signal of non-genealogical evolution and horizontal gene transfer than expected. While traditional taxonomists have long been aware of the importance of hybridization, the reduced toolkits provided by phylogenetic methods to molecular taxonomists and systematic biologists strongly hampered their ability to discriminate processes other than pure genealogical descent. We discuss hybridization in the lichen genus Pyrenodesmia from a multilevel perspective and provide evidence of its consequences in terms of genomic architecture.