Patterns of photobiont diversity were examined in some Nostoc-containing li
chens using the nucleotide sequence of the cyanobacterial tRNA(Leu)(UAA) in
tron. Lichen specimens collected in northwestern USA were analysed and the
sequence data were compared with tRNA(Leu)(UAA) intron sequences previously
obtained from lichens in northern Europe. Generally, it is the species ide
ntity of a lichen rather than the geographical origin of the specimen that
determines the identity of the cyanobiont. Identical intron sequences were
found in Peltigera membranacea specimens collected in Oregon (USA) and in S
weden, and very similar sequences were also found in Nephroma resupinatum t
halli collected in Oregon and Finland. Furthermore, in mixed assemblages wh
ere two Peltigera species grew in physical contact with each other, the dif
ferent lichen species housed different photobiont strains. There is however
not a one-to-one relation between mycobiont and photobiont as some intron
sequences were found in more than one lichen species, and different intron
sequences were found in different samples of some lichen taxa. Peltigera ve
nosa exhibited a higher level of photobiont diversity than any other lichen
species studied, and several intron sequences could for the first time be
obtained from a single thallus. It is not clear whether this is evidence of
lower cyanobiont specificity, or reflects an ability to exhibit different
degrees of lichenization with different Nostoc strains. In one specimen of
P. venosa, which contained bipartite cyanosymbiodemes and tripartite, cepha
lodiate thalli, both thallus types contained the same intron sequence.