Journal
JOURNAL OF APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY
Volume 108, Issue 5, Pages 1751-1756Publisher
WILEY-BLACKWELL
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2672.2009.04573.x
Keywords
decomposition stages; forensic medicine; forensic mycology; fungi; time of death
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Funding
- National Research Council (CNPq)
- Ceara State Foundation for Development of Science and Technology (FUNCAP) [9053/08]
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Aims: To investigate the presence of fungi during three human decomposition stages: bloated, putrefaction and skeletonization. Methods and Results: The samples were gathered in the city of Fortaleza, Ceara, Brazil, from the public morgue and cemeteries. The material was submitted to conventional mycological procedures by direct examination and macro/micro morphological and biochemical analyses. The main fungi isolated were Aspergillus spp., Penicillium spp. and Candida spp. in the bloated stage (n = 34 cadavers) and in the putrefaction stage (n = 6 cadavers), while in the skeletonization stage (n = 20 cadavers), the main fungi were Aspergillus spp., Penicillium spp. and Mucor sp. Conclusions: Aspergillus, Penicillium and Candida species were associated with decomposed human cadavers. Significance and Impact of the Study: These findings enable tracing out the profile of fungal communities of human cadavers for the first time. However, much more research will be necessary to develop this new segment of mycology and to enable its routine use in forensic science.
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