Journal of Microbiology

Journal Article

Fungal Catastrophe of a Specimen Room: Just One Week is Enough to Eradicate Traces of Thousands of Animals: Ji Seon Kim , Yoonhee Cho , Chang Wan Seo , Ki Hyung Park , Shin Nam Yoo , Jun Won Lee , Sung Hyun Kim , Wonjun Lee , Young Woon Lim; J. Microbiol. 2023;61(2):189-197. Published online February 6, 2023; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12275-023-00017-9

52 View
0 Download
3 Web of Science
2 Crossref

Indoor fungi obtain carbon sources from natural sources and even recalcitrant biodegradable materials, such as plastics and synthetic dye. Their vigorous activity may have negative consequences, such as structural damage to building materials or the destruction of precious cultural materials. The animal specimen room of the Seoul National University stocked 36,000 animal resources that had been well-maintained for over 80 years. Due to abandonment without the management of temperature and humidity during the rainy summer season, many stuffed animal specimens had been heavily colonized by fungi. To investigate the fungal species responsible for the destruction of the historical specimens, we isolated fungi from the stuffed animal specimens and identified them at the species level based on morphology and molecular analysis of the β-tubulin (BenA) gene. A total of 365 strains were isolated and identified as 26 species in Aspergillus (10 spp.), Penicillium (14 spp.), and Talaromyces (2 spp.). Penicillium brocae and Aspergillus sydowii were isolated from most sections of the animal specimens and have damaged the feathers and beaks of valuable specimens. Our findings indicate that within a week of mismanagement, it takes only a few fungal species to wipe out the decades of history of animal diversity. The important lesson here is to prevent this catastrophe from occurring again through a continued interest, not to put all previous efforts to waste.

Citations

Citations to this article as recorded by

Investigating the Role of Microclimate and Microorganisms in the Deterioration of Stone Heritage: The Case of Rupestrian Church from Jac, Romania
Dorina Camelia Ilieș, Andrei-Ionuț Apopei, Cristina Mircea, Alexandru Ilieș, Tudor Caciora, Berdenov Zharas, Lucian Barbu-Tudoran, Nicolaie Hodor, Alexandru Turza, Ana Cornelia Pereș, Thowayeb H. Hassan, Bahodirhon Safarov, Ioan-Cristian Noje
Applied Sciences.2024; 14(18): 8136. CrossRef
Fungal biodeterioration and preservation of cultural heritage, artwork, and historical artifacts: extremophily and adaptation
Geoffrey Michael Gadd, Marina Fomina, Flavia Pinzari, Mark D. Rose
Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews.2024;[Epub] CrossRef

First
Prev
Page of 1
Next
Last

Search