February - April 2001 Ester Gaya Departament de Biologia Vegetal. Unitat de Botànica. Facultat de Biologia. Universitat de Barcelona. Av. Diagonal 645 ES-08013 Barcelona, Spain During my three-month stay at the Field Museum I collaborated with François Lutzoni (Botany) to gather molecular data from the Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) region of nuclear ribosomal RNA tandem repeat unit and from RNA polymerase II (RPB2). The main goal was to increase the knowledge of the phylogeny of the lichen genus Caloplaca. This genus is composed of 500-1,000 (depending on the authors) crustose species which mostly grow on well-lit, ± nutrient-rich or -enriched rocks and trees, rarely soil and wood, that are common and widespread on most continents. Caloplaca (Teloschistaceae, lichenized ascomycetes) can be considered as one of the most complex and diversified genus among the crustose lichens. The taxonomic delimitation of Caloplaca has been always problematic, especially due to its resemblance to other genera of the same family, particularly Xanthoria and Fulgensia. Because of these problems (the range of the genera, the similarity between taxa) the revision of Caloplaca has never been fully achieved. Until now the systematic studies were defined on the basis of thallus morphology and spore septation, but these characters have been assumed to be overvalued. Based on the molecular data, it is hoped to ascertain the position of Caloplaca in the Teloschistaceae and to provide a comprehensive framework for examining relationships of Caloplaca species with species from other genera that are also part of the Teloschistaceae.
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