The Role of Fungi in Biodeterioration of Cultural Heritage: New Insights for Their Control

Dear Colleagues,

Cultural heritage in contemporary societies has a leading role in the promotion of important values such as knowledge, respect for diversity, intercultural dialogue, as well as economic and social growth. Therefore, the adoption of appropriate strategies for the preservation of cultural heritage is of the utmost importance.

Fungi occupy a wide variety of ecological niches in the biosphere (terrestrial and aquatic) and, due to their incredible metabolic versatility, significantly contribute to the deterioration of a huge number of substrates/materials, either organic or inorganic/natural or synthetic. Living on the surface, or just under it, fungi can cause serious problems, making the adoption of preventive and conservative strategies critical. Knowledge of the species involved in deterioration processes is undoubtedly useful, although not sufficient or decisive for discovering their ecological role and, above all, their involvement in deterioration processes.

Fungal control in cultural heritage artefacts is a major challenge for both biologists and restorers. The search for appropriate and efficient methods to stop or mitigate the progressive spread of fungi, while at the same time respecting the operator and the environment, is now a necessity.

With this Special Issue, we aim to publish outstanding papers with cutting-edge advances in the most advanced methods to study and control the fungi involved in the biodeterioration of cultural heritage.

Dr. Filomena De Leo
Dr. Daniela Isola
Guest Editors

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