Cai Yaofeng, Zhang Hua, Pan Biao
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China.
College of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, 159 Longpan Road, Nanjing 210037, China.
iScience. 2024 May 15;27(6):110000. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.110000. eCollection 2024 Jun 21.
Wood decomposition through fungal activity is essential to the natural carbon cycle. There are three primary patterns of wood decay: white rot, brown rot, and soft rot. However, geological records of wood decay mainly originate from fossil woods, which exclusively describe white rot before the Cenozoic. Fossilized charcoal is another excellent medium for preserving pre-charring decay structures. In this study, we collected numerous charcoals from the upper Permian and observed multiple microstructures indicative of wood decay. The distinctive characteristics closely resemble the symptoms of contemporary wood-rotting types, including the removal of the middle lamella and channel-like lysis seen in white rot, shot-like holes and wavy cell walls in brown rot, and cavities within the secondary walls in soft rot. This study documents the early occurrences of multiple wood-rotting types during the Late Paleozoic and provides insights into the range of fungal metabolic strategies employed during this period.
通过真菌活动进行的木材分解对自然碳循环至关重要。木材腐烂主要有三种基本模式：白腐、褐腐和软腐。然而，木材腐烂的地质记录主要来自化石木材，这些记录仅描述了新生代之前的白腐情况。化石木炭是保存炭化前腐烂结构的另一种极佳介质。在本研究中，我们从二叠纪晚期收集了大量木炭，并观察到多种表明木材腐烂的微观结构。这些独特特征与当代木材腐烂类型的症状极为相似，包括白腐中中层的去除和通道状溶解、褐腐中的点状孔和波浪状细胞壁，以及软腐中次生壁内的空洞。本研究记录了晚古生代多种木材腐烂类型的早期出现情况，并为该时期所采用的真菌代谢策略范围提供了见解。
