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Diversity of Microfossils, including Fungal Material, Associated with Early Tracheophytes in the Lower Devonian (Emsian) Battery Point Formation (Gaspé Bay, Quebec, Canada)

Premise of research. Fossil assemblages of the Battery Point Formation are among the most diverse occurrences of Early Devonian permineralized plants worldwide. The plant fossils host microbial, putative fungal, and fungal fossils that have not been surveyed previously. Here we provide a first synopsis of the morphological diversity of these fossils. Methodology. The fossils originate from the southern shore of Gaspé Bay (Quebec, Canada), where Emsian (400–395 Ma) layers deposited in fluvial to coastal environments host allochthonous fossil plant assemblages. Fossils were studied in serial anatomical sections produced with the cellulose acetate peel technique. Pivotal results. The fossils comprise spores, hyphae, and cellular aggregates found within zosterophyll, trimerophyte, and rhyniophyte axes. The spores include large types showing characters of extant glomeromycetes, small spores with wrinkly walls suggestive of algal cysts, and a variety of globose spores that occupy inter- and intracellular positions. The hyphae comprise septate and aseptate forms, some similar to Carboniferous plant endophytes, others associated with structures with potential blastocladiomycete affinities. Putative cellular aggregates, including elongated, spherical, and moniliform types, have morphologies suggestive of asexual fungal structures, prokaryotes, or protist colonies; some are distributed in concentric patterns by morphological type within a rhyniophyte axis. Miscellaneous structures interpreted as putative sexual reproductive structures, as well as animal eggs and egg cases and one suggestive of a larval case, are also present. Conclusions. The rich and diverse fossil assemblages of the Rhynie chert have been the only source of information on Early Devonian plant-fungal and plant-microbial interactions, until now. The new diverse fossils documented in the Battery Point Formation reemphasize the importance of permineralized fossils for uncovering plant-microorganism interactions, open a new window on the history of these interactions deep in the fossil record, and broaden the spectrum of plant-associated microorganisms known from the Early Devonian.