Invasion of the French paleolithic painted cave of Lascaux by members of the Fusarium solani species complex.
A major fungal invasion was discovered in the prehistoric painted cave of Lascaux in France in Sep 2001. At least three species of the Fusarium solani complex were isolated and identified with a portion of the translation elongation factor 1alpha gene (EF-1alpha), a portion of the nuclear large subunit rDNA (LSU) and nuclear ribosomal intergenic spacer region (ITS). This study represents the first time that Fusarium species have been reported from a cave containing prehistoric paintings. Significant interspecific molecular variability was observed, suggesting that there might have been repeated introduction of the species, possibly carried by water from soils above the cave.
Département Systématique & Evolution, Unité Taxonomie-Collections, Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, CP 39, 57 rue Cuvier,75231 Paris Cedex 05, France. jdupont@mnhn.fr
Joëlle
J
Dupont
Claire
C
Jacquet
Bruno
B
Dennetière
Sandrine
S
Lacoste
Faisl
F
Bousta
Geneviève
G
Orial
Corinne
C
Cruaud
Arnaud
A
Couloux
Marie-France
MF
Roquebert
D001106:Archaeology; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000032:analysis / Q000302:isolation & purification; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / Q000032:analysis; D005602:France; D005670:Fusarium / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010151:Paintings; D020648:Peptide Elongation Factor 1 / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
D004271:DNA, Fungal; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer; D020648:Peptide Elongation Factor 1