Palaeoglomus Explained

Palaeoglomus ("ancient ball") is a genus of microscopic mycorrhizal fossil, found in palynological preparations of rocks which separate out organic remains by acid dissolution.

Description

Palaeoglomus has large spherical to ellipsoidal spores with multilayered walls, as well as irregularly shaped vesicles, attached to aseptate hyphae.

Species

Palaeoglomus grayi type species from the Middle Ordovician Guttenberg Formation near Platteville, Wisconsin.

Palaeoglomus boullardi from the Early Devonian Rhynie Chert bear Rhynie, Scotland.^[1]

Palaeoglomus strotheri from the Middle Ordovician (Darriwilian, 460 million years old) Douglas Lake Member of the Lenoir Limestone from Douglas Dam, Tennessee.

Biological affinities

Palaeoglomus is similar to modern mycorrhizae such as Glomus.

Notes and References

1. Fungal associations in Horneophyton ligneri from the Rhynie Chert (c. 407 million year old) closely resemble those in extant lower land plants: novel insights into ancestral plant–fungus symbioses. New Phytologist. 2014. 203. 964–9797. Strullu-Derrien, C.. Kenrick, P.. Pressel, S.. Duckett, J.G.. Rioult, J.P.. Strullu, D.G.. 3. 10.1111/nph.12805. 24750009. free.