Fungal microbiota dynamics as a postmortem investigation tool: focus on Aspergillus, Penicillium and Candida species

• Autor(a) principal: Caetano, Erica Pacheco
• Data de Publicação: 2010
• Outros Autores: Sidrim, José Júlio Costa, Moreira Filho, Renato Evando, Cordeiro, Rossana de Aguiar, Rocha, Marcos Fábio Gadelha, Monteiro, Andre Jalles, Brilhante, Raimunda Sâmia Nogueira
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC)
• Texto Completo: http://www.repositorio.ufc.br/handle/riufc/5022
• topic: Fungos; Aspergillus

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.