The Rhynie chert land plant Aglaophyton majus harbored cyanobacteria in necrotic local lesions

Krings, Michael (2021): The Rhynie chert land plant Aglaophyton majus harbored cyanobacteria in necrotic local lesions. In: Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie-Abhandlungen, Vol. 300, No. 3: pp. 279-289

Abstract

Necrotic local lesions are common in axes of the early land plant Aglaophyton majus from the Lower Devonian Rhynie chert;they likely originated from injuries inflicted by animals. Here I report on rare occurrences of lesions containing cyanobacterial filaments assignable to Archaeothrix oscillatoriformis. The filaments are non-heterocystous, unbranched, and consist of simple trichomes (3.5-4.8 mu m wide) of discoid cells enveloped in a sheath. Well-suited present-day morphological equivalents are found in the traditional, broadly defined genus Phormidium (Oscillatoriaceae). On the outside of one lesion occur clustered filament fragments of a second, slightly larger cyanobacterium, suggesting that cyanobacteria migrated towards the disruptions, possibly because they were attracted to, and profited from, substances made available through the degradation of the necrotic tissue.

• Item Type: Journal article
• Faculties: Geosciences > Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
• Subjects: 500 Science > 550 Earth sciences and geology
• ISSN: 0077-7749
• Language: English