Studies of Paleozoic Fungi. Iv. Wood‐decaying Fungi in Callixylon Newberryi From the Upper Devonian

Abstract

An extensive fungal infection is present in silicified specimens of Callixylon newberryi (Dawson) Elkins and Wieland from the Upper Devonian of Indiana. Fungi are represented by branched, septate filaments with both terminal and intercalary chlamydospores. Clamp connections were not observed. Tracheids of the secondary xylem, decayed in varying degrees, show erosion troughs, cavities, and extensive lysis of tracheid walls. The pattern of decay is most similar to modem-day white rots, which are typically caused by basidiomycetes, while hyphal features are characteristic of either ascomycetes or basidiomycetes. The presence of wood decay coupled with a septate mycelium suggests the presence of higher fungi in the Devonian and indicates a more diverse Devonian mycoflora than has previously been recognized.

First record of fossil basidiomycete clamp connections in cordaitalean stems from the Asselian–Sakmarian (lower Permian) of Shanxi Province, North China

“…Mutualism, saprophytism and parasitism have been reported in fossil plants from the Palaeozoic and Mesozoic (e.g. Stubblefield et al, 1985;Stubblefield and Taylor, 1986;Taylor, 1993;Krings et al, 2007;Harper et al, 2012). Nevertheless, in most cases the relationship between a fossil fungus and its host is difficult to determine because the only available information is the morphology of a single phase of the life cycle of the fungus (Stubblefield et al, 1984;Taylor and Krings, 2005).…”

“…Nevertheless, basidiomycetes are sparsely documented in the late Palaeozoic fossil record. Cell wall alterations in the progymnosperm wood Callixylon newberryi (Dawson) Elkins et Wieland from the Upper Devonian of North America represent the oldest indirect fossil evidence for the existence of Basidiomycota (Stubblefield et al, 1985). The other indirect fossil evidence of basidiomycete activity is the pattern of secondary xylem decay in some middle Permian to Middle Triassic gymnosperm woods from Antarctica (Stubblefield and Taylor, 1986;Weaver et al, 1997).…”

Know your farmer: Ancient origins and multiple independent domestications of ambrosia beetle fungal cultivars

“…To date the resulting phylogeny, six different fossils spanning Basidiomycete/Ascomycete split (Dikaryons) were used as minimum constraints on nodes. Two of these were in the Basidiomycetes and correspond to a minimum age of 90 My for the Agaricales (Hibbett, Grimaldi, & Donoghue, ) and a minimum age of 360 My (Stubblefield, Taylor, & Beck, ) for the Basidiomycota in general. The remaining four fossils were all of Ascomycete origin.…”

The burial of organic carbon as affected by the evolution of land plants

“…Fungi are thought to have appeared on land before the evolution of vascular plants, and there is indication of wood (but not necessarily Iignin) decay by fungi in the Devonian (Stubblefield et al, 1985). Schopf (1952) notes that fungal decay is much more apparent in Mesozoic and Tertiary coals than in coals of the Paleozoic.…”