Michigan Researchers Find 689 Fungal Species in Antrim Shale, Including 13 New Ones
Updated
Updated · Michigan Advance · Aug 8
Michigan Researchers Find 689 Fungal Species in Antrim Shale, Including 13 New Ones
3 articles · Updated · Michigan Advance · Aug 8
Summary
University of Michigan researchers found evidence of 689 likely fungal species in northern Michigan’s Antrim Shale, isolated 205 in culture and identified 13 potentially new species.
Water samples taken about one-third of a mile underground showed abundant life in a 350-million-year-old rock formation long thought too dark and oxygen-poor to support fungi.
The findings suggest Earth’s deep subsurface may be as diverse as ocean water and could open new research into how much fungal life exists beyond the roughly 5% already documented.
Methane-producing microbial activity in the shale may also shape natural-gas deposits and complicate assumptions that about 90% of Earth’s organic carbon remains safely locked underground.