Vendian Aquatic Fungi

Well-preserved microfossils were found in the columnar stromatolites of the Vendian Byuk Formation in the Berezovsky Trough in the south of the Siberian Platform. They were interpreted using the classical comparative morphological method as microorganisms, non-cellular lamellar green algae and lower microscopic aquatic yeast, yeast-mycelial/mycelial-yeast and mycelial fungi parasitizing algal thalli. The columnar stromatolites were formed due to the influence of tidal processes in a periodically changing shallow coastal zone of an epicontinental sea. As a result of periodic exposure and drying of their surfaces, some of the aquatic fungi became partially adapted to a dry land environment. Utilizing dynamic forms of variability, they transitioned to the mycelial-yeast lifestyle, and then to the mycelial lifestyle. The result obtained contributes to our knowledge of the early (Vendian) environmental path of survival and development of fungi in changing habitat conditions, and shows the significant adaptive potential of these fungi.