Fungal impact on archaeological materials collected at Byers Peninsula Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica

• Published in: Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências
• Main Authors: GRACIÉLE C.A. DE MENEZES, BÁRBARA A. PORTO, GERUSA A. RADICCHI, FERNANDA C. SOARES, ANDRÉS ZARANKIN, LUIZ H. ROSA
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Academia Brasileira de Ciências 2022
• Subjects: Antarctic heritage; degradation; fungi; taxonomy; Science; Q; Antarctic; The Antarctic; South Shetland Islands; Livingston Island; Byers; Byers peninsula; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1590/0001-3765202220210218; https://doaj.org/article/c02e77639c0e4aa09006915269c05e0a

Abstract We identified cultivable fungi present on the surface of five archaeological sealers’ artifacts from the beginning of the 19th century collected on Livingston Island, Antarctica. Twenty fungal isolates were recovered and identified using biology molecular methods as taxa of Antarctomyces, Linnemannia, Penicillium, Mortierella, Talaromyces, and Trichoderma. Penicillium was dominant on artifacts stored at 10 and 25 °C. In contrast, Antarctomyces, Linnemania, Mortierella, and Trichoderma occurred only on artifacts stored between 8 °C and 10 °C. Our results showed that the Antarctic artifacts harboured cosmopolitan mesophilic, cold-tolerant, and endemic psychrophilic fungal taxa. The mesophilic fungi might have contaminated the artifacts in situ, during sampling, transport, and/or storage in the laboratory collection or represent dormant but viable form capable to grow on the objects. However, the detection of cold-tolerant and endemic fungi shows that these fungi, when stored between 8 ° and 10 °C, continue growing on the objects, which may supply them with organic nutrients; this may accelerate degradation of artifacts in the collection. Preventive steps should be adopted to avoid further microbial contamination. Sterilised microbiological conditions can be followed during fieldwork and transportation to Brazil. The preventive protocol may represent a better alternative to avoid artifact microbial proliferation to preserve rare Antarctic archaeological heritage.