Abstract
The Parmelia saxatilis group comprises four species in Europe with true isidia that share similar morphology, chemistry, and ecology. These include the widely distributed P. ernstiae, P. saxatilis, and P. serrana, and the potentially endemic species P. rojoi (excluded from the study). They are often referred to as semi-cryptic species, which significantly hinders their proper identification. The present study objectives were (1) to confirm the presence of galbinic acid in Parmelia taxa using the RP-HPLC method; (2) to verify if galbinic acid samples form a clade within the phylogenetic tree; and (3) to provide the first comprehensive chemical profiles of secondary metabolites present in isidiate Parmelia species. The study based on ca. 600 specimens focused on the chemical variability of these three species, paying particular attention to the presence of galbinic acid, rarely reported from this group of lichens. We detected galbinic acid in all studied species, mostly in P. saxatilis, then in P. ernstiae and for the first time in P. serrana. Fourteen chemotypes were identified in the studied samples, including eight detected for the first time. Nine chemotypes have been identified in P. ernstiae. Parmelia saxatilis shows seven chemotypes, often with galbinic acid and always without fatty acids. Parmelia serrana shows eight chemotypes. Phylogenetic relationships between specimens containing galbinic acid revealed that they do not cluster together. Based on the study new species P. tobolewskiana is proposed.
Similar content being viewed by others
Integrating untargeted volatile metabolomics and molecular evidence supporting chemotaxonomy in Kaempferia species for more effective identification
Phytochemical analysis in some Iranian Scutellaria spp., a chemotaxonomic approach
Plant-derived phenolic acids in Shilajit: a comparative HPLC–MS/MS analysis across five regions
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank all the collectors for making the specimens available for our study. We are also very grateful to Einar Timdal and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments. We are grateful to John A. Elix for sharing the literature on galbinic acid. This research was funded by the National Science Centre, grant number 2012/07/N/NZ8/00061. The authors regret to inform that dr Katarzyna Guzow, co-author of this article, passed away in 2024. She made a significant contribution to the conception and preparation of this work. The authors wish to express their sincere gratitude for her invaluable input and collaboration.
Funding
This research was funded by the National Science Centre, grant number 2012/07/N/NZ8/00061.The APC is financed by Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences and University of Gdańsk.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Supplementary Material 1 (download XLSX )
Supplementary Material 2
Rights and permissions
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
Reprints and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ossowska, E.A., Guzow, K., Bylińska, I. et al. Hidden diversity and chemical variation within Parmelia saxatilis group (Lecanorales, lichenized Ascomycota) and description of a new species P. tobolewskiana.
Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-47869-w
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-47869-w
Keywords
Parmeliaceae
- Lichens
- Phylogenetic relationship
- Galbinic acid
- Chemotaxonomy
- New species
- Chemotypes
- RP-HPLC method
Source: Ecology - nature.com
