Fungal virulence at the time of the end-Permian biosphere crisis?
Henk Visscher1,*,
Mark A. Sephton2 and
Cindy V. Looy3
+ Author Affiliations
1Laboratory of Palaeobotany and Palynology, Faculty of Science, Utrecht University, Budapestlaan 4, 3584CD Utrecht, Netherlands
2Impacts and Astromaterials Research Centre, Department of Earth Science and Engineering, South Kensington Campus, Imperial College, London SW7 2AZ, UK
3Department of Integrative Biology and Museum of Paleontology, University of California?Berkeley, 3060 Valley Life Science Building, Berkeley, California 94720-3140, USA
Abstract
Throughout the world, latest Permian records of organic-walled microfossils are characterized by the common presence of remains of filamentous organisms, usually referred to the palynomorph genus Reduviasporonites. Although generally regarded as indicators of global ecological crisis, fundamental controversy still exists over the biological and ecological identity of the remains. Both fungal and algal affinities have been proposed. We seek to resolve this enigma by demonstrating close morphological similarity of the microfossils to resting structures (monilioid hyphae, sclerotia) of Rhizoctonia, a modern complex of soil-borne filamentous fungi that includes ubiquitous plant pathogens. By analogy with present-day forest decline, these findings suggest that fungal virulence may have been a significant contributing factor to widespread devastation of arboreal vegetation at the close of the Permian Period.
Received 15 February 2011.
Revision received 31 March 2011.
Accepted 19 April 2011.
First published online August 5, 2011, doi: 10.1130/G32178.1 v. 39 no. 9 p. 883-886
? 2011 Geological Society of America
