Infraspecific variation of some brown Parmeliae (in Poland) – a comparison of ITS rDNA and non-molecular characters

Infraspecific variation of the ITS rDNA region of some brown Parmeliae occurring in Poland is studied and compared with non-molecular characters. Haplotype networks are used to illustrate the variability within the species. Both newly-produced sequences from Central Europe and from all over the world, downloaded from the GenBank, are used. The number of haplotypes found for each taxon ranged from five in Melaneliastygia to 12 in Melaneliahepatizon and Montaneliadisjuncta; however, their numbers correlate with the number of specimens tested. New haplotypes for Melaneliaagnata, M.hepatizon and Cetrariacommixta are found. Based on our 169-sample dataset, we could not infer any geographical correlation, either locally or world-wide. Many of the analysed haplotypes were widely distributed and the same haplotype was often shared between temperate and polar populations. A comparison of molecular, morphological, anatomical and chemical characters also shows no correlation.