# Ainoa

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ainoa
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ainoa.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ainoa
> Source revision: 1301913224
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|Genus of fungi}}
{{for|the shopping centre in Espoo, Finland|Ainoa (shopping centre)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=June 2025}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Ainoa geochroa 1616150454.jpg
| image_caption = ''Ainoa geochroa''
| taxon = Ainoa
| authority = [Lumbsch](/source/Lumbsch) & I.Schmitt (2001)
| type_species = ''Ainoa geochroa''
| type_species_authority = ([Körb.](/source/K%C3%B6rb.)) [Lumbsch](/source/Helge_Thorsten_Lumbsch) & I.Schmitt (2001)
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = ''[A. bella](/source/Ainoa_bella)''<br />
''[A. geochroa](/source/Ainoa_geochroa)''<br />
''[A. mooreana](/source/Ainoa_mooreana)''
}}

'''''Ainoa''''' is a [genus](/source/genus) of [lichen](/source/lichen)s in the family [Baeomycetaceae](/source/Baeomycetaceae).<ref name="CoL_R6T"/> It was named in honour of the German lichenologist [Aino Henssen](/source/Aino_Henssen). These [rock-dwelling](/source/saxicolous_lichen) lichens form thin [crusts](/source/crustose_lichen) that break into small flakes and are distinguished by their abundant dark brown to black button-like fruiting bodies that sit on short stalks. The genus includes three species found in cool [mountainous](/source/montane_ecosystem) regions, where they grow on hard [siliceous rock](/source/siliceous_rock)s and can withstand repeated cycles of wetting and drying.

==Taxonomy==

The genus was [circumscribed](/source/circumscription_(taxonomy)) in 2001 by [H. Thorsten Lumbsch](/source/H._Thorsten_Lumbsch) and Imke Schmitt to contain two species that were formerly placed in genus ''[Trapelia](/source/Trapelia)''.<ref name="Lumbsch 2001"/> A third species,  ''[Ainoa bella](/source/Ainoa_bella)'' from eastern North America, was added to the genus in 2015.<ref name="Brodo & Lendemer 2015"/>

==Description==

''Ainoa'' forms a thin, crust-like lichen body ([thallus](/source/thallus)) that adheres tightly to bare rock. In some specimens the surface breaks along stress lines ({{lichengloss|schizidia}}), producing minute flakes that can act as vegetative [propagule](/source/propagule)s. A translucent {{lichengloss|epinecral layer}} of dead fungal cells coats the crust and gives it a slightly frost-like appearance, while any outer {{lichengloss|prothallus}} is absent. The internal [photosynthetic](/source/photosynthesis) partner is a simple, spherical [green alga](/source/green_alga) (a {{lichengloss|chlorococcoid}} photobiont) that sits just beneath the surface; this arrangement means the lichen shows no orange tint when scratched, unlike species that harbour ''[Trentepohlia](/source/Trentepohlia_(alga))''.<ref name="Cannon et al. 2023"/>

Fertile structures are abundant and conspicuous. Each [apothecium](/source/apothecium) (fruiting body) is a small, round {{lichengloss|disc}} that sits directly on the thallus but narrows to a stalk-like base, giving it a button-on-a-pin profile. The disc itself is dark brown to almost black, flat to slightly cupped, and surrounded by a raised margin that persists for the life of the fruit body. Supporting this margin is a cup-shaped layer (the {{lichengloss|exciple}}) composed of long, thick-walled [hypha](/source/hypha)e that darken with age. Above the exciple lies a clear spore-bearing layer ([hymenium](/source/hymenium)) 90–150&nbsp;μm tall; it is threaded by slender, [septate](/source/septum) filaments ([paraphyses](/source/paraphyses)) that branch sparingly and separate readily when mounted in water, a trait that helps distinguish the genus. The [asci](/source/ascus) are cylindrical, hold eight [ascospore](/source/ascospore)s, and have a faintly blue-[staining](/source/staining) apical dome typical of the ''[Trapelia](/source/Trapelia)'' type. Spores are narrowly [ellipsoid](/source/ellipsoid)al, colourless, and lack both internal septa and the gelatinous sheath seen in many other [crustose lichen](/source/crustose_lichen)s.<ref name="Cannon et al. 2023"/>

''Ainoa'' also produces [asexual](/source/asexual_reproduction) spores in tiny flask-shaped [pycnidia](/source/pycnidia) embedded within wart-like swellings of the thallus. These pycnidia release very small, rod-shaped [conidia](/source/conidia). Chemically the genus is simple: the only consistently detected compound is [gyrophoric acid](/source/gyrophoric_acid), and even that is confined to the fruit bodies and pycnidia rather than permeating the entire crust.<ref name="Cannon et al. 2023"/>

==Ecology==

All known species are [saxicolous](/source/saxicolous_lichen), preferring hard, [siliceous rock](/source/siliceous_rock) in cool, often [alpine](/source/alpine_climate) environments where periodic wetting and drying favour lichens that can cling closely to their [substrate](/source/substrate_(biology)).<ref name="Cannon et al. 2023"/>

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=

<ref name="Brodo & Lendemer 2015">{{cite journal |last1=Brodo |first1=Irwin M. |last2=Lendemer |first2=James C. |title=A revision of the saxicolous, esorediate species of ''Ainoa'' and ''Trapelia'' (Baeomycetaceae and Trapeliaceae, lichenized Ascomycota) in North America, with the description of two new species |journal=The Bryologist |volume=118 |issue=4 |year=2015 |pages=385–399 |doi=10.1639/0007-2745-119.1.385}}</ref>

<ref name="Cannon et al. 2023">{{cite book |last1=Cannon |first1=P. |last2=Aptroot |first2=A. |last3=Coppins |first3=B. |last4=Ertz |first4=D. |last5=Sanderson |first5=N. |last6=Simkin |first6=J. |last7=Wolseley |first7=P. |year=2023 |title=Arthoniales: Roccellaceae [revision 1], including the genera ''Cresponea'', ''Dendrographa'', ''Dirina'', ''Enterographa'', ''Gyrographa'', ''Lecanactis'', ''Ocellomma'', ''Pseudoschismatomma'', ''Psoronactis'', ''Roccella'', ''Schismatomma'' and ''Syncesia'' |series=Revisions of British and Irish Lichens |volume=32 |page=5 |url=https://britishlichensociety.org.uk/sites/default/files/Roccellaceae%20rev%201.pdf}}{{Open access}}</ref>

<ref name="CoL_R6T">{{Catalogue of Life |id=R6T |title=''Ainoa'' |access-date=16 June 2025}}</ref>

<ref name="Lumbsch 2001">{{cite journal |last1=Lumbsch |first1=H. Thorsten |last2=Schmitt |first2=Imke |last3=Döring |first3=Heidi |last4=Wedin |first4=Mats |title=ITS sequence data suggest variability of ascus types and support ontogenetic characters as phylogenetic discriminators in the Agyriales (Ascomycota) |journal=Mycological Research |volume=105 |issue=3 |year=2001 |pages=265–274 |doi=10.1017/S0953756201003483}}</ref>

}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q4697464}}

Category:Baeomycetales
Category:Baeomycetales genera
Category:Lichen genera
Category:Taxa described in 2001
Category:Taxa named by Helge Thorsten Lumbsch

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ainoa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ainoa) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ainoa?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.