HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Cryomyces antarcticus'' is a
fungus A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately fr ...
of uncertain placement in the class
Dothideomycetes Dothideomycetes is the largest and most diverse class of ascomycete fungi. It comprises 11 orders 90 families, 1300 genera and over 19,000 known species. Traditionally, most of its members were included in the loculoascomycetes, which is not pa ...
, division
Ascomycota Ascomycota is a phylum of the kingdom Fungi that, together with the Basidiomycota, forms the subkingdom Dikarya. Its members are commonly known as the sac fungi or ascomycetes. It is the largest phylum of Fungi, with over 64,000 species. The defi ...
. Found in
Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...
, it was described as new to science in 2005. It has been found to be able to survive the harsh outer space environment and
cosmic radiation Cosmic rays are high-energy particles or clusters of particles (primarily represented by protons or atomic nuclei) that move through space at nearly the speed of light. They originate from the Sun, from outside of the Solar System in our ow ...
. A proposed mechanistic contributor to the unique resilience observed in ''C. antarcticus'' is the presence of its thick and highly melanized cell walls. This melanin may act to protect DNA from damage while ''C. antarcticus'' is exposed to conditions that are unsuitable for typical
DNA repair DNA repair is a collection of processes by which a cell identifies and corrects damage to the DNA molecules that encode its genome. In human cells, both normal metabolic activities and environmental factors such as radiation can cause DNA d ...
systems to function.


References


External links

* Dothideomycetes enigmatic taxa Fungi described in 2005 Fungi of Antarctica {{astrobiology-stub