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- Title
Fungal colonization of the rooting system of the early land plant Asteroxylon mackiei from the 407-Myr-old Rhynie Chert ( Scotland, UK).
- Authors
Strullu-Derrien, Christine; Wawrzyniak, Zuzanna; Goral, Tomasz; Kenrick, Paul
- Abstract
Associations between plants and fungi were an important and varied feature of early terrestrial ecosystems, but in most instances their biological functions remain poorly understood. We document a new species of fungus colonizing the rooting system of the early lycopod Asteroxylon mackiei, based on exceptionally well-preserved fossils from the Rhynie Chert. We investigated historical petrographic thin sections using standard optical microscopy and confocal laser scanning microscopy. P alaeozoosporites renaultii gen. nov., sp. nov. colonized the inner cortex of the plant rooting system. The fungus had an aseptate thallus with isotomous or sympodial branching. The mycelium bore distinctive porate, globose to elongated structures that we interpret as zoosporangia and resting sporangia. Doubts remain over the precise systematic affinity of P. renaultii, which closely resembles chytrids. Whereas most of the Rhynie Chert plants developed symbiotic associations of the mycorrhizal type, it seems that this was not the case for Asteroxylon mackiei, which possessed the most evolved rooting system among the Rhynie Chert plants. We argue that the new root-borne fungus was probably parasitic. © 2015 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2015, 179, 201-213.
- Subjects
RHYNIE Chert (Scotland); LYCOPHYTES; FUNGAL colonies; ECOSYSTEMS; MYCELIUM; MYCORRHIZAL fungi; CONFOCAL microscopy
- Publication
Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2015, Vol 179, Issue 1, p201
- ISSN
0024-4074
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/boj.12307