Fossil Mycorrhizae: A Case for Symbiosis

• Published in: Science
• Main Authors: Stubblefield, Sara P., Taylor, T. N., Trappe, James M.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 1987
• Subjects: Multidisciplinary; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.237.4810.59; https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.237.4810.59

Vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizae are significant in the physiology and ecology of extant vascular plants, and they may also have played a major role in the origin of the vascular land flora. The case for fossil vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizae rests upon hyphae and chlamydospore-like bodies in several Paleozoic taxa, but fossil arbuscles are unknown to date. Specimens from the Triassic of Antarctica represent the first known occurrence of arbuscles in the fossil record.