Did fossil fungi help plants establish on land for the first time?
• Fungi at Chernobyl Recent monitoring work on the devasted ruin of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant has noted significant fungal growth on the walls of inner sanctum of the ruin of the power plant. Over 37 species have been recorded mainly of deuteromycetes. Some species like Alternaria alternata, Cladosporium sphaerospermum and Penicillum hirsutum were found more typically in the severely contaminated areas and it is suggested in the research that they may be active biodestructors of extremely radioactive substrates. The radiation levels there are about 10000 times that that would be fatal in humans! For full details of this research, see Zhdanova, N., Zakonechnaya, V.A., Vember, V.V. & Nakonechnaya, L.T.: Fungi from Chernobyl. Mycological Research 104 (2000), p.1421-1426.
