Am. J. Bot. Join the BSA
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (37)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Taylor, T. N.
Right arrow Articles by Kerp, H.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Taylor, T. N.
Right arrow Articles by Kerp, H.
GeoRef
Right arrow GeoRef Citation
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Taylor, T. N.
Right arrow Articles by Kerp, H.

American Journal of Botany, Vol 84, 992, Copyright © 1997 by Botanical Society of America, Inc.

PALEOMYCOLOGY AND PALEOBOTANY

A cyanolichen from the Lower Devonian Rhynie chert

TN Taylor, H Hass and H Kerp

The 400 million-year-old Rhynie chert has provided a wealth of information about various types of fungal interactions that existed in this Early Devonian paleoecosystem. In this paper we report the first unequivocal evidence of a lichen symbiosis from the Rhynie chert. Specimens of a new genus, Winfrenatia, consist of a thallus of superimposed layers of aseptate hyphae and, on the upper surface, numerous uniform depressions. Extending into the base of each depression are hyphae that form a three-dimensional netlike structure. Enclosed within each of the net spaces is a coccoid cyanobacterium, each cell of which is surrounded by a thick sheath. These photobiont cells divide in three planes, resulting in cell clusters of up to perhaps 64 individuals. The photobiont is parasitized by the fungus in the base of each net as new cyanobacterial cells are formed distally. Reproduction is by endospores and soredia. Affinities of the mycobiont appear closest to members of the Zygomycetes, while the photobiont is most similar to coccoid cyanobacteria of the Gloeocapsa and Chroococcidiopsis types. We speculate that this cyanobacterial symbiosis was well adapted to exploit and colonize new ecological niches, especially in the periodically desiccated environment postulated for the Rhynie chert paleoecosystem.


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J Exp BotHome page
J. Rikkinen and G. O. Poinar Jr
A new species of Phyllopsora (Lecanorales, lichen-forming Ascomycota) from Dominican amber, with remarks on the fossil history of lichens
J. Exp. Bot., March 3, 2008; (2008) ern004v1.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 ScienceHome page
X. Yuan, S. Xiao, and T. N. Taylor
Lichen-Like Symbiosis 600 Million Years Ago
Science, May 13, 2005; 308(5724): 1017 - 1020.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
T. N. Taylor, H. Kerp, and H. Hass
From the Cover: Life history biology of early land plants: Deciphering the gametophyte phase
PNAS, April 19, 2005; 102(16): 5892 - 5897.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 MycologiaHome page
T.N. Taylor, H. Hass, H. Kerp, M. Krings, and R.T. Hanlin
Perithecial ascomycetes from the 400 million year old Rhynie chert: an example of ancestral polymorphism
Mycologia, January 1, 2005; 97(1): 269 - 285.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 MycologiaHome page
J. Rikkinen
Calicioid lichens from European Tertiary amber
Mycologia, November 1, 2003; 95(6): 1032 - 1036.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Journal of the Geological SocietyHome page
C. M. Rice, C. M. RICE, N. H. TREWIN, and L. I. ANDERSON
Geological setting of the Early Devonian Rhynie cherts, Aberdeenshire, Scotland: an early terrestrial hot spring system
Journal of the Geological Society, March 1, 2002; 159(2): 203 - 214.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 1997 by the Botanical Society of America, Inc.