Fungal decay in Permian glossopteridalean stem and root wood from Antarctica

International audience Evidence of fungal decay is frequently encountered in silicified wood. However, studies focusing on fossil fungal wood degradation remain rare. A characteristic pattern of degradation and decay symptoms congruent with present-day white pocket rot occur in Late Permian silicifi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IAWA Journal
Main Authors: Harper, Carla J., Decombeix, Anne-Laure, Taylor, Edith L., Taylor, Thomas N, Krings, Michael
Other Authors: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, University of Kansas Lawrence (KU), Botanique et Modélisation de l'Architecture des Plantes et des Végétations (UMR AMAP), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD France-Sud ), Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie und GeoBio-Center, Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation (3.1-USA/1160852 STP to CJH), the National Science Foundation (EAR-0949947 to TNT and MK; OPP-0943934 to ELT and TNT)
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: HAL CCSD 2017
Subjects:
Palaeobotany
Glossopteridales
Skaar Ridge
degradation pattern
Basidiomycota
Australoxylon
Vertebraria
white pocket rot
Fossil plants
Antarctic
[SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology
Antarc*
Antarctica
Online Access:https://sde.hal.science/hal-01481964
https://doi.org/10.1163/22941932-20170155
Description
Summary:International audience Evidence of fungal decay is frequently encountered in silicified wood. However, studies focusing on fossil fungal wood degradation remain rare. A characteristic pattern of degradation and decay symptoms congruent with present-day white pocket rot occur in Late Permian silicified glossopteridalean stem and root wood (Australoxylon sp.) from Skaar Ridge, Antarctica. Co-occurring with the decay symptoms are fungal hyphae with clamp connections. Hyphae usually progress through the pit apertures, but some may also penetrate tracheid walls. The individual wall layers in some of the infected tracheids are separated from each other, apparently forming appositions. Small, opaque bodies (?arthropod coprolites) occur in some of the decay pockets. The abundance of infected specimens among the silicified woods from Skaar Ridge suggests that white pocket rot fungi were important decomposers in late Paleozoic high-latitude forest ecosystems.

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