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A discovery of riphean heterotrophs in the Lakhanda group of Siberia

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Abstract

New fossil remains have been discovered from the well-known Lakhanda Microbiota (1015–1025 Ma, Uchur-Maya Region, Southeastern Siberia). The microfossils have characters observed in microscopic fungi, such as a reticulate mycelium, formed by anastomizing hyphae of non-cellular structure and of variable width. The fungal mycelium shows that hyphae grew in a certain direction, both forwards and backwards. As their length increased, the hyphae became curved and merged with neighboring hyphae to form enclosed spaces. The presence on hyphae of knoblike trapping structures and secretion of adhesive enzymes suggest a similarity with modern nematophagous fungi. Microorganisms associated with the adhesive hyphae consist of colonial green unicellular algae and thin bacterial sheaths, which may indicate mutually beneficial relationships between morphologically and biologically different partners. Microfossils of fungal origin are systematically described. They include Aimonema ramosa gen. et sp. nov. and the green unicellular alga Eoprotoderma neruenica gen. et sp. nov., forming a symbiotic association.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Precambrian Geology and Geochronology, Russian Academy of Sciences, nab. Makarova 2, St. Petersburg, 199034, Russia

    T. N. Hermann & V. N. Podkovyrov

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  1. T. N. Hermann
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  2. V. N. Podkovyrov
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Correspondence to V. N. Podkovyrov.

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Original Russian Text © T.N. Hermann, V.N. Podkovyrov, 2010, published in Paleontologicheskii Zhurnal, 2010, No. 4, pp. 15–23.

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Hermann, T.N., Podkovyrov, V.N. A discovery of riphean heterotrophs in the Lakhanda group of Siberia. Paleontol. J. 44, 374–383 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030110040027

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