Exceptional Preservation of Fungi as H2-Bearing Fluid Inclusions in an Early Quaternary Paleo-Hydrothermal System at Cape Vani, Milos, GreeceShow others and affiliations
2019 (English)In: Minerals, E-ISSN 2075-163X, Vol. 9, no 12, p. 1-33, article id 749Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
The production of H-2 in hydrothermal systems and subsurface settings is almost exclusively assumed a result of abiotic processes, particularly serpentinization of ultramafic rocks. The origin of H-2 in environments not hosted in ultramafic rocks is, as a rule, unjustifiably linked to abiotic processes. Additionally, multiple microbiological processes among both prokaryotes and eukaryotes are known to involve H-2-production, of which anaerobic fungi have been put forward as a potential source of H-2 in subsurface environments, which is still unconfirmed. Here, we report fungal remains exceptionally preserved as fluid inclusions in hydrothermal quartz from feeder quartz-barite veins from the Cape Vani Fe-Ba-Mn ore on the Greek island of Milos. The inclusions possess filamentous or near-spheroidal morphologies interpreted as remains of fungal hyphae and spores, respectively. They were characterized by microthermometry, Raman spectroscopy, and staining of exposed inclusions with WGA-FITC under fluorescence microscopy. The spheroidal aqueous inclusions interpreted as fungal spores are unique by their coating of Mn-oxide birnessite, and gas phase H-2. A biological origin of the H-2 resulting from anaerobic fungal respiration is suggested. We propose that biologically produced H-2 by micro-eukaryotes is an unrecognized source of H-2 in hydrothermal systems that may support communities of H-2-dependent prokaryotes.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
MDPI, 2019. Vol. 9, no 12, p. 1-33, article id 749
Keywords [en]
fungi, hydrothermal system, molecular hydrogen
National Category
Earth and Related Environmental Sciences
Research subject
Environmental Science, Paleoecology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-91807DOI: 10.3390/min9120749ISI: 000506636900033Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85076428672OAI: oai:DiVA.org:lnu-91807DiVA, id: diva2:1391300
2020-02-042020-02-042024-01-17Bibliographically approved