Filamentous cyanobacteria preserved in masses of fungal hyphae from the Triassic of Antarctica

PeerJ

article

Carla J. Harper¹  Edith L. Taylor²  Michael Krings¹ 

[1] SNSB-Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie;Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum, University of Kansas;Botany Department, Trinity College Dublin;Department für Geo- und Umweltwissenschaften, Paläontologie und Geobiologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität

关键词: Endochaetophora antarctica;    Fungal reproduction;    Lichen;    Mesozoic;    Mucoromycota;    Oscillatoriaceae;    Palaeolyngbya;    Peat;    Symbiosis;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.8660

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Permineralized peat from the central Transantarctic Mountains of Antarctica has provided a wealth of information on plant and fungal diversity in Middle Triassic high-latitude forest paleoecosystems; however, there are no reports as yet of algae or cyanobacteria. The first record of a fossil filamentous cyanobacterium in this peat consists of wide, uniseriate trichomes composed of discoid cells up to 25 µm wide, and enveloped in a distinct sheath. Filament morphology, structurally preserved by permineralization and mineral replacement, corresponds to the fossil genus Palaeo-lyngbya, a predominantly Precambrian equivalent of the extant Lyngbya sensu lato (Oscillatoriaceae, Oscillatoriales). Specimens occur exclusively in masses of interwoven hyphae produced by the fungus Endochaetophora antarctica, suggesting that a special micro-environmental setting was required to preserve the filaments. Whether some form of symbiotic relationship existed between the fungus and cyanobacterium remains unknown.

【 授权许可】

CC BY