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Mycological Research in Cultural Heritage Protection
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Mycological Research in Cultural Heritage Protection

A special issue of Journal of Fungi (ISSN 2309-608X). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental and Ecological Interactions of Fungi".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2026 | Viewed by 1480

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Jiao Pan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute for Cultural Heritage and History of Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China
Interests: cultural heritage protection; microbiology; biochemistry; molecular biology; genomics; proteomics; metabolomics; bioinformatics; biological corrosion mechanism; biological prevention and control

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the protection of cultural relics, the problem of biological corrosion caused by microorganisms, especially fungi, cannot be ignored. The cultural heritage includes organic and inorganic cultural relics, such as wooden relics, stone relics, earth relics, murals, pottery figurine, silk relics, leather relics, bamboo slip and paper relics, etc. The aim and scope of this Special Issue are to provide an academic platform for study on mycological research in cultural heritage protection. Through the application of microbiology, biochemistry, molecular biology, genetics, genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, bioinformatics, and immunology techniques, scientists conduct research to analyze the population structure characteristics of microbial plaques on cultural relics, elucidate the biological corrosion mechanisms of cultural relics by fungi, clarify the relationship between fungi and the unearthed or preserved environment of cultural relics, and ultimately make conservation plans and take measures to prevent and control the fungal corrosion of cultural relics. 

Prof. Dr. Jiao Pan
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Fungi is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • organic and inorganic cultural relics
  • fungal corrosion
  • microbiology
  • biochemistry
  • molecular biology

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

14 pages, 13425 KB  
Article
Evaluation of Wood Decay and Identification of Fungi Found in the USS Cairo, a Historic American Civil War Ironclad Gunboat
by Robert A. Blanchette, Benjamin W. Held, Claudia Chemello and Paul Mardikian
J. Fungi 2025, 11(10), 732; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof11100732 - 11 Oct 2025
Viewed by 1199
Abstract
Studies of microbial degradation of historic woods are essential to help protect and preserve these important cultural properties. The USS Cairo is a historic Civil War gunboat and one of the first steam-powered and ironclad ships used in the American Civil War. Built [...] Read more.
Studies of microbial degradation of historic woods are essential to help protect and preserve these important cultural properties. The USS Cairo is a historic Civil War gunboat and one of the first steam-powered and ironclad ships used in the American Civil War. Built in 1861, the ship sank in the Yazoo River of Mississippi in 1862 after a mine detonated and tore a hole in the port bow. The ship remained on the river bottom and was gradually buried with sediments for over 98 years. After recovery of the ship, it remained exposed to the environment before the first roofed structure was completed in 1980, and it has been displayed under a tensile fabric canopy with open sides at the Vicksburg National Military Park in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Concerns over the long-term preservation of the ship initiated this investigation to document the current condition of the wooden timbers, identify the fungi that may be present, and determine the elemental composition resulting from past wood-preservative treatments. Micromorphological characteristics observed using scanning electron microscopy showed that many of the timbers were in advanced stages of degradation. Eroded secondary cell walls leaving a weak framework of middle lamella were commonly observed. Soft rot attack was prevalent, and evidence of white and brown rot degradation was found in some wood. DNA extraction and sequencing of the ITS region led to the identification of a large group of diverse fungi that were isolated from ship timbers. Soft rot fungi, including Alternaria, Chaetomium, Cladosporium, Curvularia, Xylaria and others, and white rot fungi, including Bjerkandera, Odontoefibula, Phanerodontia, Phlebiopsis, Trametes and others, were found. No brown rot fungi were isolated. Elemental analyses using induced coupled plasma spectroscopy revealed elevated levels of all elements as compared to sound modern types of wood. High concentrations of boron, copper, iron, lead, zinc and other elements were found, and viable fungi were isolated from this wood. Biodegradation issues are discussed to help long-term conservation efforts to preserve the historic ship for future generations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mycological Research in Cultural Heritage Protection)
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