Ancient fungus 'revived' in lab

Fungus from a deep-sea sediment core that is hundreds of thousands of years
old can grow when placed in culture, scientists have discovered.
Indian researchers say the fungi come from sediments that are between
180,000 and 430,000 years old.

The finding adds to growing evidence for the impressive survival
capabilities of many microorganisms.

They are the oldest known fungi that will grow on a nutrient medium, the
scientists say in Deep Sea Research I.

The core was drilled from a depth of 5,904m in the Indian Ocean's Chagos
Trench.

Like other ocean trenches, it is oriented parallel to a volcanic arc and is
one of the deepest regions of the Indian Ocean.

On board their research vessel, Dr Chandralata Raghukumar and colleagues
from the National Institute of Oceanography in Goa, India, and the Indian
Institute of Chemical Technology in Hyderabad carefully deposited 5cm-long
portions of the core into plastic bags which they then sealed to avoid
contamination with present-day microbes.

The scientists then attempted to isolate bacteria and fungi from the middle
of the 5cm-long "subsamples", because this region had not been in contact
with the pipe used to extract the core - and therefore any modern
microorganisms on it.

Full Text at BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3754090.stm

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