The oldest pathogenic fungus has been named in honor of Beatrix Potter

The species named after the writer was first found back in 2015 when scientists noticed hitherto unseen reproductive structures of conidiophores in these fungi. The specimen studied came from Rhenium traits, sediment sediment deposits at a geological site near Aberdeen, Scotland, where extremely early species of plants, bacteria and fungi are preserved. The scientists found that the fungus was literally frozen in time when it attacked a plant of the species Asteroxylon mackiei. The discovery made by the specialists will make it possible to trace evolutionary lines to the present.