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Invasion of the French Paleolithic painted cave of Lascaux by members of the Fusarium solani species complex

     Département Systématique & Evolution, Unité Taxonomie-Collections, Muséum national d’histoire naturelle, CP 39, 57 rue Cuvier, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France

Faisl Bousta
Geneviève Orial

     Laboratoire de recherche des monuments historiques, Pôle microbiologie, 29 rue de Paris, 77420 Champs sur Marne, France

Corinne Cruaud
Arnaud Couloux

     Genoscope. Centre National de Sequençage. 2, rue Gaston Crémieux, CP5706, 91057 Evry Cedex, France²

Marie-France Roquebert

     Département Systématique & Evolution, Unité Taxonomie-Collections, Muséum national d’histoire naturelle, CP 39, 57 rue Cuvier, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France

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 1 gene (EF-1), 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.

Key words: Fusarium, identification, mural paintings, prehistoric cave art