Tyloses in fossil plants: New data from a Mississippian tree, with a review of previous records

Abstract

ABSTRACT Tyloses are protoplasmic swellings of parenchyma cells into the lumen of adjacent conducting cells. They develop as part of the heartwood formation process, or in response to embolism or pathogen infection. Here, we report the oldest fossil evidence to date of tylosis formation that occurs in permineralized wood of the (pro)gymnosperm Dameria hueberi from the Tournaisian (lower Mississippian, ca. 350 Ma) of Australia. Different developmental stages of tylosis formation are recognizable that range from small bubble-like protrusions to dense tyloses entirely filling the lumen of the conducting cells. The trigger for the development of tyloses in D. hueberi remains unknown. A survey of the fossil record of tyloses shows their occurrence in most groups of vascular plants since the Carboniferous. Future research in this field will screen even older (Devonian) fossils for evidence of tyloses and aim to understand the roles these structures have had in plant–pathogen interactions and plant hydraulic properties in the past.