These water samples, which come from deep, subsurface sites as far as 1,640 feet (approximately 500m) below ground, teem with fungi and support complex ecosystems<\/a> of other tiny organisms.<\/p>\n From the water samples, Moon and his colleagues identified 689 unique species of fungi \u2013 13 of which proved to be entirely new, previously undiscovered species. Using high-powered microscopes and a series of genetic tools, the researchers were able to work out that a single drop of this subsurface water contained roughly 250 fungal cells, which is around the same as a drop of ocean water.<\/p>\n Fungi wasn\u2019t the only form of life detected in the water samples; Moon also found tardigrades<\/a> \u2013 unbelievably cute microscopic organisms nicknamed \u2018water bears\u2019 \u2013 and tiny, segmented worms. It\u2019s thought these microorganisms<\/a>, along with the abundance of fungi they were found alongside, form complex, underground food webs, with some serving as the ecosystem\u2019s predators, some prey, and others perhaps as parasites.<\/p>\n \u201cOur study challenges the idea that it\u2019s inhospitable for more complex life like fungi in the deep subsurface, and under favorable conditions, eukaryotes can actually be quite abundant,\u201d Moon said. \u201cWe propose in the paper that we may be meaningfully underestimating the biomass and diversity of fungi on the planet because we\u2019ve never incorporated the subsurface into estimates of global fungal biodiversity.\u201d<\/p>\n How did the organisms get there?<\/p>\n How these microorganisms found themselves hundreds of feet below Earth\u2019s surface was a mystery, but one that the researchers involved in the latest study were determined to solve. <\/p>\n To work out exactly where this biologically rich water came from, they analysed its stable isotopes to determine its origin and age. They found that it most likely came from the melting of ice sheets that covered Michigan at the end of the last Ice Age, roughly 11,000 years ago.<\/p>\n According to Moon and his colleagues, the abundance of melting glacial water likely carried fungi and other microorganisms down through porous and fractured rock layers, until they settled in cracks of the Antrim Shale – a formation of organic-rich rocks that were originally laid down in the Late Devonian, roughly 380 million years ago. It\u2019s from the Antrim Shale that Moon and colleagues extracted water samples.<\/p>\n The organisms were identified from water samples taken from gas well sites in the Great Lakes, North America. Credit: Ianm35\/Getty Images![\"Deep](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Deep-subsurface-fungi.jpeg\")
A research team led by University of Michigan isolated and grew more than 200 kinds of fungi (such as the one pictured) from the deep subsurface. Credit: Quinn Moon University of Michigan<\/p>\n
\nRock-eating fungi<\/p>\n