Abstract
The goal of this research was to analyze the fungal community responsible for the biodeterioration of a pirogue in the National Maritime Museum of China and to make recommendations for the protection of this artifact. Molecular identification of fungal strains isolated from the surface of the pirogue and the air of the storage room that were most closely related to Cladosporium, Penicillium, Talaromyces and Trichoderma spp. DNA extracted from the samples was sequenced on the Illumina MiSeq platform. The results showed that the predominant fungal genera present were Penicillium sp., Cladosporium sp. and Exophiala sp. Thereafter, cellulose degradation experiments were carried out on the predominant fungi screened by pure culturing. Finally, we tested the sensitivity of the predominant fungal isolates to four biocides. This work suggests that we should pay more attention to Penicillium sp. and Cladosporium sp. in the protection of wooden artifacts, and environmental control is recommended as the main means of protecting the pirogue.
Highlights
The canoe, as the earliest water transportation vehicle in ancient China, has irreplaceable research value
Phylogenetic tree results showed that the four fungi belonging to Penicillium sp. presented relatively independent evolutionary branches, which was consistent with the results of sequence alignment
Fungal mycelia have begun to colonize the surface of the canoe due fungal flora that propagated on the wood to examine possible biodegradative fungi that might become to excavation work, transportation, storage, surveys, and exhibition activities
Summary
The canoe, as the earliest water transportation vehicle in ancient China, has irreplaceable research value. By studying the canoes of different ages unearthed in different places, we can infer information about ancient people’s life scenes, manufacturing processes and use of tools. The National Maritime Museum’s collection includes a canoe produced in the Tang Dynasty of. China (618–907 A.D.) with a length of 13.8 m and a ventral diameter of approximately 95 cm. The canoe was unearthed in Guangdong province. This is China’s largest surviving canoe made by hollowing out a single piece of a wood trunk, and its overall preservation is basically complete. The wood has been identified as Rhodamnia dumetorum
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