The movement of carbohydrate from alga to fungus in lichens

Abstract

Carbohydrate movement from alga to fungus is the salient feature of the physiology of the lichen symbiosis. A survey of 26 lichen species showed that the type of carbohydrate moving between the symbionts depends on the type of alga. In lichens with Cyanophyceac, it is glucose; in lichens with Chlorophyceae, polyhydric alcohols move. The ability of the alga to synthesize and excrete these carbohydrates is lost soon after isolation from the thallus. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.