An Updated Checklist of Cadaver-Associated Culturable Fungi, Along with the Isolation of Microfungi from a 70-Year-Old Male Cadaver

Forensic mycology investigates the role of fungi in human decomposition and may provide useful information on the postmortem interval (PMI), environmental conditions, and possible body movement. However, cadaver-associated fungal communities remain insufficiently investigated, particularly in terms of culturable taxa and their preservation in reference collections. To address this gap, we present an updated checklist of cadaver-associated culturable fungi spanning 1923–2026, compiled from 27 literature sources across 12 countries and comprising 883 records (879 from the literature and 4 from this study), including previously overlooked early 20th-century Italian records recovered from historical archives. The checklist includes four new isolates obtained from a 70-year-old male cadaver found in a basement in the putrefaction stage. Visible fungal growth was sampled from the left hand, left cheek, and right calf, cultured on Sabouraud and Rose Bengal media, and identified through morphological analysis and DNA barcoding: Penicillium brevicompactum, Penicillium chrysogenum, Mucor saturninus, and Aspergillus versicolor. Notably, A. versicolor was recovered from a cadaver in the putrefaction stage, expanding current knowledge of its forensic relevance. All isolates were deposited in the ColD UNIGE JRU MIRRI-IT collection, contributing to the development of forensic mycological databases.