Fungi in subterranean environments

Reitner, Joachim; Schumann, Gabriela; Pedersen, Karsten

doi:10.1017/cbo9780511550522.017

Cited by 30 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 92 publications

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“…While the biogeochemical significance of fungi is frequently perceived as being most evident in aerobic regions of the terrestrial environment such as aerobic soils and sediments, the plant root zone, and rock and mineral surfaces (Gadd, ), it is now known that fungi can be detected in anaerobic environments normally thought to be quite inhospitable for growth and activity (Orsi et al ., ; Ivarsson et al ., ,b; Gadd ,b; ). Such locations include the seafloor, deep sea sediments, igneous oceanic crust, hydrothermal vents and methane cold seeps (Reitner et al ., ; Ivarsson, ; Bengtson et al ., ; Ivarsson et al . ,b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Colonization, penetration and transformation of manganese oxide nodules by Aspergillus niger

Ferrier

Yang

Csetényi

et al. 2019

Environmental Microbiology

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SummaryIn this study, the ability of the geoactive fungus Aspergillus niger to colonize and transform manganese nodules from the Clarion‐Clipperton Zone in both solid and liquid media was investigated. Aspergillus niger was able to colonize and penetrate manganese nodules embedded in solid medium and effect extensive transformation of the mineral in both fragmented and powder forms, precipitating manganese and calcium oxalates. Transformation of manganese nodule powder also occurred in a liquid medium in which A. niger was able to remove the fine particles from suspension which were accumulated within the central region of the resulting mycelial pellets and transformed into manganese oxalate dihydrate (lindbergite) and calcium oxalate dihydrate (weddellite). These findings contribute to an understanding of environmental processes involving insoluble manganese oxides, with practical relevance to chemoorganotrophic mineral bioprocessing applications, and, to the best of our knowledge, represent the first demonstration of fundamental direct and indirect interactions between geoactive fungi and manganese nodules.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Colonization, penetration and transformation of manganese oxide nodules by Aspergillus niger

Ferrier

Yang

Csetényi

et al. 2019

Environmental Microbiology

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“…Schumann et al (2004) observed fossilized filamentous fungi in carbonate-filled veins in basalts from the North Pacific (ODP Site 1224), and Reitner et al (2006) reported similar filamentous fungal structures in basalts from the Holocene oceanic basement of the Kolbeinsey Ridge (north of Iceland) at a depth of 1500 meters below sea level. These fossilized filamentous structures were interpreted as fungi based on morphological observations only.…”

Section: Fungi In Subseafloor Settingsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Putative Fossilized Fungi from the Lithified Volcaniclastic Apron of Gran Canaria, Spain

Ivarsson

Broman²,

Holmström³

et al. 2011

Astrobiology

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We report the discovery of fossilized filamentous structures in samples of the lithified, volcaniclastic apron of Gran Canaria, which were obtained during Leg 157 of the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP). These filamentous structures are 2-15 μm in diameter and several hundred micrometers in length and are composed of Si, Al, Fe, Ca, Mg, Na, Ti, and C. Chitin was detected in the filamentous structures by staining with wheat germ agglutinin dye conjugated with fluorescein isothiocyanate (WGA-FITC), which suggests that they are fossilized fungal hyphae. The further elucidation of typical filamentous fungal morphological features, such as septa, hyphal bridges, and anastomosis and their respective sizes, support this interpretation. Characteristic structures that we interpreted as fossilized spores were also observed in association with the putative hyphae. The fungal hyphae were found in pyroxene phenocrysts and in siderite pseudomorphs of a basalt breccia. The fungal colonization of the basalt clasts occurred after the brecciation but prior to the final emplacement and lithification of the sediment at ∼16-14 Ma. The siderite appears to have been partially dissolved by the presence of fungal hyphae, and the fungi preferentially colonized Fe-rich carbonates over Fe-poor carbonates (aragonite). Our findings indicate that fungi may be an important geobiological agent in subseafloor environments and an important component of the deep subseafloor biosphere, and that hydrothermal environments associated with volcanism can support a diverse ecosystem, including eukaryotes.

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“…Fungi have long been studied in freshwater lakes, soils, surface sediments and, more recently, marine deep subsurface sediments (Nagano et al, 2010;Edgcomb et al, 2011), but are currently not known to be important players in the continental subsurface. In the marine deep subsurface, fungi appear to be reducing nitrate and degrading lignin (Cathrine and Raghukumar, 2009;Gubernatorova and Dolgonosov, 2010), and have been reported in biological samples collected from the deep continental subsurface (Sinclair and Ghiorse, 1989;Reitner et al, 2005). Other eukaryotic components found in the deep continental biosphere include yeasts (Ekendahl et al, 2003), protists (Sinclair and Ghiorse, 1989), and nematodes (Borgonie et al, 2011).…”

Section: The Deep Biospherementioning

confidence: 96%