Morphological and Functional Stasis in Mycorrhizal Root Nodules as Exhibited by a Triassic Conifer
Issue Date
2011Author
Schwendemann, Andrew Benjamin
Decombeix, Anne-Laure
Taylor, Thomas N.
Taylor, Edith L.
Krings, Michael
Publisher
National Academy of Sciences
Type
Article
Article Version
Scholarly/refereed, publisher version
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Mycorrhizal root nodules occur in the conifer families Araucariaceae,
Podocarpaceae, and Sciadopityaceae. Although the fossil
record of these families can be traced back into the early Mesozoic,
the oldest fossil evidence of root nodules previously came from
the Cretaceous. Here we report on cellularly preserved root
nodules of the early conifer Notophytum from Middle Triassic permineralized
peat of Antarctica. These fossil root nodules contain
fungal arbuscules, hyphal coils, and vesicles in their cortex. Numerous
glomoid-type spores are found in the peat matrix surrounding
the nodules. This discovery indicates that mutualistic associations
between conifer root nodules and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
date back to at least the early Mesozoic, the period during which
most of the modern conifer families first appeared. Notophytum
root nodules predate the next known appearance of this association
by 100 million years, indicating that this specialized form of
mycorrhizal symbiosis has ancient origins.
Description
This is the publisher's version, which is being shared with permission. The original version is available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1110677108
Collections
Citation
Schwendemann, A. B., Decombeix, A., Taylor, T. N., Taylor, E.L., and Krings, M. 2011. Morphological and Functional Stasis in Mycorrhizal Root Nodules as Exhibited by a Triassic Conifer. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108(33): 13630-13634.
Items in KU ScholarWorks are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.
We want to hear from you! Please share your stories about how Open Access to this item benefits YOU.