Kingdom Fungi Class Dothideomycetes Family incertae sedis Rank Species | Division Ascomycota Order incertae sedis Genus Cryomyces | |
Similar Xanthoria elegans, Rhizocarpon geographicum, Xanthoria, Rhizocarpon, Acarospora | ||
Cryomyces minteri is a fungus of uncertain placement in the class Dothideomycetes, division Ascomycota. The rock-inhabiting fungus that was discovered in the McMurdo Dry Valleys located in Antarctica, on fragments of rock colonized by a local cryptoendolithic community.
In 2008, Cryomyces minteri and Cryomyces antarcticus were simultaneously tested in low earth orbit conditions on the EXPOSE-E facility on the EuTEF (European Technology Exposure Facility) platform outside the International Space Station for 18 months.
It was also tested in a space vacuum along with polychromatic UV radiation to simulate a Martian environment. The two fungi survived both of the simulations.
References
Cryomyces minteri Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA