Three dominating hypocrealean fungi of the ‘white mold spots’ on acrylic varnish coatings of the murals in a Koguryo tomb in China

Researchers have identified three dominant hypocrealean fungi responsible for the seasonal 'white mold spots' on acrylic varnish coatings used to protect murals in the Wu-Kui Tomb, a Koguryo World Heritage Site. Two known species, Acremonium camptosporum and Sarocladium kiliense, along with a novel taxon, Leptobacillium muralicola, were distinguished through morphological comparison and phylogenetic analysis of LSU and ITS sequence data. The study employed both culture-dependent and culture-independent approaches to characterize the fungal community, revealing that L. muralicola can be differentiated by its colonial color changes from greyish white to greenish white over time and a distinct conidial length-to-width ratio. This finding sheds light on the microbial factors contributing to the deterioration of cultural heritage sites.

SUN, J.-Z., GE, Q.-Y., ZHU, Z.-B., ZHANG, X.-L., & LIU, X.-Z. (2019). Three dominating hypocrealean fungi of the ‘white mold spots’ on acrylic varnish coatings of the murals in a Koguryo tomb in China. Phytotaxa, 397(3). https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.397.3.2