Study finds diverse fungi deep beneath northern Michigan

University of Michigan researchers found evidence of 689 likely fungal species in water samples from the Antrim Shale, a major underground rock formation in northern Michigan and one of the state’s largest sources of natural gas.

The team collected samples from about one-third of a mile below the surface and isolated 205 species in culture. Researchers also identified 13 potentially new fungal species, challenging assumptions that the deep, low-oxygen formation could not support abundant fungal life.

The findings could have implications for how methane and other climate-warming gases move from underground carbon deposits toward the surface. Researchers not involved in the study said the work raises questions about how microbes may affect long-term carbon storage below ground.

Read the full story at michiganadvance.com.