Sprecher
Beschreibung
The Borkowice-Radestów ceramic clay mine in Borkowice village is located near Przysucha in the Holy Cross Mountains subbasin in Poland. The exposed sediments belong to the middle-upper part of the late Hettangian Przysucha ore-bearing Formation and represent marginal marine sediments of barrier–lagoon origin. The sample gathered from kaolinitic clays, provided by the late prof. G. Pieńkowski, contains spores and pollen grains and plant macroremains, mainly ginkgophyte Czekanowskia leaves, some with endophytic fungi.
Spores and pollen grains belong to various plant groups, including bryophytes, lycophytes, sphenophytes, ferns, cycadaleans, bennettitaleans, caytonialeans and other seed ferns, erdtmanithecaleans, and conifers. Palynological analysis shows differences between samples of the same age from other localities from the northern Mesozoic margin of the Holy Cross Mts and indicates that the plant cover in the Borkowice area differs from other places, probably due to local conditions.
Preliminary identification of plant macroremains points to a rather poorly diversified flora dominated by Czekanowskia and other ginkgophyte taxa. Badly preserved Neocalamites sandstone casts, associated with dinosaur tracks, were also found.
Dark septate endophytic (DSE) fungi colonising the tissues of Czekanowskia leaves were investigated. A characteristic feature of DSE fungi is the production of microsclerotia. The Jurassic microsclerotia from Borkowice resemble the leaf-like morphotypes of modern DSE microsclerotia and constitute a new and important fossil record of plant–fungal interactions in the Mesozoic.
This research was funded by the National Science Centre (grant no. 2022/45/B/NZ8/02000) and by statutory funds of the W. Szafer Institute of Botany, Polish Academy of Sciences.