Diplosphaera chodatii (Proschold & Darienko, 2020)

Veselá, Veronika, Malavasi, Veronica & Škaloud, Pavel, 2024, A synopsis of green-algal lichen symbionts with an emphasis on their free-living lifestyle, Phycologia 63 (3), pp. 317-338 : 325

Diplosphaera chodatii

is one of the most common species of photobionts which can be encountered in free-living state. Molecular data reveal its presence in sand and on rocks ( Mikhailyuk et al. 2018a), on tree bark and freshwater habitats ( Pröschold & Darienko 2020). Morphologically, it has been reported from a variety of environments and substrates. Indeed, it can be found both in deserts ( Vinogradova et al. 2004; Büdel et al. 2009), representing the only Stichococcus - related species that occurs in this habitat ( Hodač et al. 2016), and in environments that are mostly covered by snow and ice ( Elster et al. 1999; Borchhardt et al. 2017; Ilchibaeva et al. 2018). It also survives in soils significantly altered by anthropogenic activities ( Lukešová & Hoffmann 1996; Lukešová 2001; Neustupa & Škaloud 2005; Škaloud et al. 2008a) and sometimes even belongs to the most abundant species in such places ( Sommer et al. 2020). It does not even mind the air of big cities ( Freystein et al. 2008) and inhabits facades ( Hofbauer 2007; Hofbauer & Gärtner 2021) as well as sand dunes ( Schulz et al. 2016). It grows on a variety of substrates: soil ( Zimonina 1998; Neustupa 2001; Škaloud et al. 2008b), tree bark ( Johansen et al. 2007; Štifterová & Neustupa 2017), moss ( Škaloud 2009) and rocks and caves ( Vinogradova & Mikhailyuk 2009; Vinogradova et al. 2009). In some localities, it is a very abundant species ( Elster et al. 1999; Mikhailyuk et al. 2003; Samolov et al. 2020).