ABSTRACT
Being uniquely poikilohydric eukaryotes, the fungi can tolerate desiccation. Their desiccated thalli survive the onslaught of exposure to 60°C, but the hydrated thalli die even at 35°C. The fungi can generate subitaneous or dormant spores. The latter germinate only within the dormant period of < 14 d at 4°C in the laboratory. During dormancy, fungal metabolism is depressed to 50% only, in comparison to 0.0005% in Artemia cyst. Consequently, the viability of dormant spores does not last long. However, on burial of the spores at different densities, some dormant spores germinate even after 99 yr. On the other hand, the long-lasting dormancy is reported for the sedimented/buried fungal hyphae from polar permafrost. Only at – 8.3°C, the permafrost preserves the fungal hyphae sedimented at 60 – 70 cm depth. However, the safest preservation of the largest number of hyphal species occurs at – 1°C at 970 cm depth. More interestingly, the conidial spores of Aspergillus terreus buried at 5,700 m depth in the Indian Ocean has been revived to life after dormancy over a period of 180,000 yr.
