Why Mycophoris is not an orchid seedling, and why Synaptomitus is not a fungal symbiont within this fossil

Marc-Andre Selosse; Mark Brundrett; John Dearnaley; Vincent S. F. T. Merckx; Finn Rasmussen; Lawrence W. Zettler; Hanne N. Rasmussen

doi:10.1139/cjb-2017-0038

Why Mycophoris is not an orchid seedling, and why Synaptomitus is not a fungal symbiont within this fossil

Marc-Andre Selosse, Mark Brundrett, John Dearnaley, Vincent S. F. T. Merckx, Finn Rasmussen, Lawrence W. Zettler, Hanne N. Rasmussen

School of Biological Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial › peer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A recent publication in Botany introduced two new taxa: a fossil orchid seed (Mycophoris) and a fossilized basidiomycete fungus (Synaptomitus) in an alleged relationship with this orchid, encased in 15-20 million year old Dominican amber (Poinar, G. 2017. Two new genera, Mycophoris gen. nov., (Orchidaceae) and Synaptomitus gen. nov. (Basidiomycota) based on a fossil seed with developing embryo and associated fungus in Dominican amber. Botany, 95: 1-8). From the working knowledge of extant orchid seeds, seedlings, and mycorrhiza shared among us, we cannot support these interpretations. Here we analyse: (i) why Mycophoris may not be an orchid seed, (ii) why Mycophoris is not a germinating seed, (iii) why fungal hyphae and a symbiotic fungus are absent in Mycophoris, and (iv) why Synaptomitus is likely not a fossil basidiomycete.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	865-868
Number of pages	4
Journal	Botany
Volume	95
Issue number	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1139/cjb-2017-0038
Publication status	Published - Sept 2017

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@article{a2893c2b96ac4e99ab03e9ccfeedc184,

title = "Why Mycophoris is not an orchid seedling, and why Synaptomitus is not a fungal symbiont within this fossil",

abstract = "A recent publication in Botany introduced two new taxa: a fossil orchid seed (Mycophoris) and a fossilized basidiomycete fungus (Synaptomitus) in an alleged relationship with this orchid, encased in 15-20 million year old Dominican amber (Poinar, G. 2017. Two new genera, Mycophoris gen. nov., (Orchidaceae) and Synaptomitus gen. nov. (Basidiomycota) based on a fossil seed with developing embryo and associated fungus in Dominican amber. Botany, 95: 1-8). From the working knowledge of extant orchid seeds, seedlings, and mycorrhiza shared among us, we cannot support these interpretations. Here we analyse: (i) why Mycophoris may not be an orchid seed, (ii) why Mycophoris is not a germinating seed, (iii) why fungal hyphae and a symbiotic fungus are absent in Mycophoris, and (iv) why Synaptomitus is likely not a fossil basidiomycete.",

keywords = "Dominican amber, microspermy, Mycophoris, orchid mycorrhizal fungi, Synaptomitus, AMBER, POLLINARIA, DOMINICAN, ORIGIN, SEEDS",

author = "Marc-Andre Selosse and Mark Brundrett and John Dearnaley and Merckx, {Vincent S. F. T.} and Finn Rasmussen and Zettler, {Lawrence W.} and Rasmussen, {Hanne N.}",

year = "2017",

month = sep,

doi = "10.1139/cjb-2017-0038",

language = "English",

volume = "95",

pages = "865--868",

journal = "Canadian Journal of Botany",

issn = "0008-4026",

publisher = "CANADIAN SCIENCE PUBLISHING, NRC RESEARCH PRESS",

number = "9",

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T1 - Why Mycophoris is not an orchid seedling, and why Synaptomitus is not a fungal symbiont within this fossil

AU - Selosse, Marc-Andre

AU - Brundrett, Mark

AU - Dearnaley, John

AU - Merckx, Vincent S. F. T.

AU - Rasmussen, Finn

AU - Zettler, Lawrence W.

AU - Rasmussen, Hanne N.

PY - 2017/9

Y1 - 2017/9

N2 - A recent publication in Botany introduced two new taxa: a fossil orchid seed (Mycophoris) and a fossilized basidiomycete fungus (Synaptomitus) in an alleged relationship with this orchid, encased in 15-20 million year old Dominican amber (Poinar, G. 2017. Two new genera, Mycophoris gen. nov., (Orchidaceae) and Synaptomitus gen. nov. (Basidiomycota) based on a fossil seed with developing embryo and associated fungus in Dominican amber. Botany, 95: 1-8). From the working knowledge of extant orchid seeds, seedlings, and mycorrhiza shared among us, we cannot support these interpretations. Here we analyse: (i) why Mycophoris may not be an orchid seed, (ii) why Mycophoris is not a germinating seed, (iii) why fungal hyphae and a symbiotic fungus are absent in Mycophoris, and (iv) why Synaptomitus is likely not a fossil basidiomycete.

AB - A recent publication in Botany introduced two new taxa: a fossil orchid seed (Mycophoris) and a fossilized basidiomycete fungus (Synaptomitus) in an alleged relationship with this orchid, encased in 15-20 million year old Dominican amber (Poinar, G. 2017. Two new genera, Mycophoris gen. nov., (Orchidaceae) and Synaptomitus gen. nov. (Basidiomycota) based on a fossil seed with developing embryo and associated fungus in Dominican amber. Botany, 95: 1-8). From the working knowledge of extant orchid seeds, seedlings, and mycorrhiza shared among us, we cannot support these interpretations. Here we analyse: (i) why Mycophoris may not be an orchid seed, (ii) why Mycophoris is not a germinating seed, (iii) why fungal hyphae and a symbiotic fungus are absent in Mycophoris, and (iv) why Synaptomitus is likely not a fossil basidiomycete.

KW - Dominican amber

KW - microspermy

KW - Mycophoris

KW - orchid mycorrhizal fungi

KW - Synaptomitus

KW - AMBER

KW - POLLINARIA

KW - DOMINICAN

KW - ORIGIN

KW - SEEDS

U2 - 10.1139/cjb-2017-0038

DO - 10.1139/cjb-2017-0038

M3 - Editorial

SN - 0008-4026

VL - 95

SP - 865

EP - 868

JO - Canadian Journal of Botany

JF - Canadian Journal of Botany

IS - 9

ER -

Why Mycophoris is not an orchid seedling, and why Synaptomitus is not a fungal symbiont within this fossil

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