Legal Medicine 9 (2007) 287
www.elsevier.com/locate/legalmed
Letter to the Editor
The importance of forensic mycology
To the Editor,
The letter from Menezes et al. raised the issue of forensic
mycology for the readers [1]. It is well known that human
cadavers are gradually eaten by various kinds of fly larvae,
other zoosaprophagae, and carnivores. Especially in fresh
cadavers, since the relationship between developmental
stage of fly larvae and ambient temperature has been well
studied, the forensic entomology is established as a useful
scientific tool which provides us practical clues to estimate
post mortem interval (PMI). However, in severely decom-
posed human cadavers, the above methods are not avail-
able to assess the PMI.
At inquests or autopsies, forensic pathologists some-
times find fungus colonies on decomposed cadavers at
the various stages. However, neither the identification
of species of the fungi nor their practical application
has been done. Therefore, the fungi could not be used
alone as a forensic tool for the lack of scientific
evidences. We have examined the possibility of fungi to
apply for estimating PMI and, to our knowledge, first
determined the species of fungi found on human cadav-
ers [2]. In addition, we reported a forensic autopsy case
in which colonies of Penicillium sp. and Aspergillus sp.
were found on the cadaver [3]. In this case, although
no insects could be found, suspected PMI, about 10 days,
was in accordance with the characteristics of the fungi in
which they prefer the condition with moisture and nutri-
ent and can generally colonize 3–7 days after attaching
on the subjects [4,5]. Because the identification of fungi
could induce more information, we reported that fungi
provided supportive data to estimate PMI. Although
there are some unsolved problems about fungi, for
example, mechanisms of fungi (growing rate and fungi
1344-6223/$ - see front matter Ó 2007 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.legalmed.2007.04.002
flora) on human cadavers, we expect that the fungi might
become a reliable forensic tool.
Therefore, to develop forensic mycology, we forensic
scientists should try to examine the species of fungi
detected on human cadavers in future.
References
[1] Menezes RG, Jain A, Kanchan T, Monterio FNP, Manipady S, Rao
PPJ. Forensic mycology. Leg Med 2007;9:48.
[2] Ishii K, Hitosugi M, Kido M, Yaguchi T, Nishimura K, Hosoya T,
et al.. Analysis of fungi detected in human cadavers. Leg Med
2006;8:188–90.
[3] Hitosugi M, Ishii K, Yaguchi T, Chigusa Y, Kurosu A, Kido M,
et al.. Fungi can be a useful forensic tool. Leg Med 2006;8:240–2.
[4] Klich MA. Identification of common Aspergillus species. Utrecht:
Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures, 2002, p. 1–116.
[5] Pitt JI. A laboratory guide to common Penicillium species. North
Ryde, Food Science Australia, 2000, p. 1–197.
Kiyoshi Ishii a,*
Masahito Hitosugi b
Takashi Yaguchi c
Shogo Tokudome b
a
Department of Natural Science (Biology),
School of Medicine, Dokkyo Medical University,
Tochigi 321-0293, Japan
b
Department of Legal Medicine, School of Medicine,
Dokkyo Medical University, Tochigi 321-0293, Japan
c
Chiba University Research Center for Pathogenic Fungi
and Microbial Toxicoses, Chiba 260-8673, Japan
E-mail address: k-ishii@dokkyomed.ac.jp (K. Ishii).
Received 1 March 2007; revised 10 April 2007; accepted 11
April 2007
Available online 11 June 2007
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +81 282 87 2118; fax: +81 282 86 6214.