IMA Fungus 15(1): e34081, doi: 10.1186/s43008-024-00162-9
A new leaf inhabiting ascomycete from the Jurassic (ca 170 Mya) of Yorkshire, UK, and insights into the appearance and diversification of filamentous Ascomycota
Ludovic Le Renard ‡, Christine Strullu-Derrien§, Mary Berbee|, Mario Coiro¶‡ Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada, Vancouver BC, Canada§ The Natural History Museum, Science Group, London| University of British Columbia, Department of Botany, Vancouver, Canada¶ University of Vienna, Department of Paleontology, Vienna, Austria
© Ludovic Le Renard , Christine Strullu-Derrien, Mary Berbee, Mario Coiro. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY-NC 4.0), which permits to copy and distribute the article for non-commercial purposes, provided that the article is not altered or modified and the original author and source are credited. Citation:
Le Renard L, Strullu-Derrien C, Berbee M, Coiro M (2024) A new leaf inhabiting ascomycete from the Jurassic (ca 170 Mya) of Yorkshire, UK, and insights into the appearance and diversification of filamentous Ascomycota. IMA Fungus 15(1): e34081. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43008-024-00162-9 |  |
Abstract
Leaf-associated fungi, the fungi that depend on leaves to sporulate, have a rich Cenozoic record, however their earlier diversity is poorly characterized. Here we describe Harristroma eboracense gen. et sp. nov., a Middle Jurassic leaf-associated fungus colonizing the leaf cuticle of Nilssonia tenuicaulis (cycadophyte). To place our newly described species into a picture of the diversification of Mesozoic fungi, we reassess fossils with leaf-associated stromata in the context of fungal molecular phylogeny. Being melanized, with radiate stromata, and on leaves, H. eboracense and other fossils from the Jurassic and earlier periods are probably related to filamentous Ascomycota in the superclass Leotiomyceta. Characters needed for further resolution of leaf-associated fungal biology and classification, such as the presence of an ostiole for spore discharge and appressoria for entry into leaf tissue first appear in the Mesozoic fossil record. Among Early Cretaceous fossils, Spataporthe taylorii represents the oldest unambiguous evidence of perithecial Sordariomycetes while Protographum luttrellii and Bleximothyrium ostiolatum are the oldest Dothideomycetes thyriothecia. Environmental observations show that broad leaved gymnosperms (especially cycadophytes) growing in warm temperate wet forests might have been the first environment for the radiation of Leotiomyceta.
Keywords
Fossil fungi, Pezizomycotina, Cycadophytes, Environmental conditions, New taxon