Take Note: Yeast Turns the Lichen Duet of Fungi and Algae into a Trio

Abstract

Microbiologists recently realized that lichens, formerly defined as pairings of fungi and algae (cyanobacteria), instead include a third component—yeast. Indeed, yeast cells are found embedded in the cortexes of lichens collected on six continents—thus overturning a definition for lichens that was established about 150 years ago, according to Tony Spribille at the University of Montana (UM) in Missoula and his collaborators at several institutions. Details appeared 29 July 2016 in Science (doi.org/10.1126/science.aaf8287).