Institute of Plant and Microbiology, University of Zürich, Zollikerstrasse 107, 8008 Zürich, Switzerland
School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Cardiff University, Park Place, Cardiff CF10 3AT, UK.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2018 Feb 5;373(1739). doi: 10.1098/rstb.2017.0146.
The affinities of have been debated ever since its fossils, some attaining tree-trunk proportions, were discovered in Canadian Lower Devonian rocks in 1859. Putative assignations include conifers, red and brown algae, liverworts and fungi (some lichenised). Detailed anatomical investigation led to the reconstruction of the type species, , as a giant sporophore (basidioma) of an agaricomycete (= holobasidiomycete), but evidence for its reproduction remained elusive. Tissues associated with in the Rhynie chert plus charcoalified fragments from southern Britain are investigated here to describe the reproductive characters and hence affinities of Thin sections and peels (Pragian Rhynie chert, Aberdeenshire) were examined using light and confocal microscopy; Přídolí and Lochkovian charcoalified samples (Welsh Borderland) were liberated from the rock and examined with scanning electron microscopy. possessed a superficial hymenium comprising an epihymenial layer, delicate septate paraphyses, inoperculate polysporic asci lacking croziers and a subhymenial layer composed predominantly of thin-walled hyphae and occasional larger hyphae. combines features of extant Taphrinomycotina (Neolectomycetes lacking croziers) and Pezizomycotina (epihymenial layer secreted by paraphyses) but is not an ancestor of the latter. Brief consideration is given to its nutrition and potential position in the phylogeny of the Ascomycota.This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'The Rhynie cherts: our earliest terrestrial ecosystem revisited'.
自从 1859 年在加拿大下泥盆纪岩石中发现具有树干比例的化石以来，其亲缘关系一直存在争议。假定的归属包括针叶树、红棕色藻类、地钱和真菌（一些为地衣）。详细的解剖学研究导致重建了模式种，作为一种 Agaricomycetes（= holobasidiomycetes）的巨型孢子体（basidioma），但仍难以确定其繁殖方式。这里研究了与 Rhynie 硅化木相关的组织，以及来自英国南部的碳化碎片，以描述 的繁殖特征和因此的亲缘关系。使用光学显微镜和共聚焦显微镜检查了薄切片和果皮（Praigian Rhynie 硅化木，阿伯丁郡）；从岩石中分离出 Přídolí 和 Lochkovian 碳化样本（威尔士边界地区），并用扫描电子显微镜进行了检查。 具有一个由外生膜层组成的浅层子实体，包含纤细的有隔假侧丝、无冠状体的多孢子囊和一个主要由薄壁菌丝和偶尔较大菌丝组成的子实下层。 结合了现生 Taphrinomycotina（缺乏冠状体的 Neolectomycetes）和 Pezizomycotina（假侧丝分泌的外生膜层）的特征，但不是后者的祖先。简要考虑了其营养和在子囊菌门系统发育中的潜在位置。本文是关于 Rhynie 硅化木的讨论会议的一部分：重新审视我们最早的陆地生态系统。
