Microbial Community Composition and Dominant Fungal Deterioration in Waterlogged versus Dried Archaeological Bamboo Slips

The changes of cultural relic preserving conditions are the environment factor that shift the microbial communities. However, the precise identities, functional traits, and eco-logical mechanisms of the dominant agents driving stage-specific deterioration remain unknown. This study investigated microbial communities and dominant fungal de-graders in waterlogged versus dried bamboo slips using amplicon sequencing, multi-variate statistics, and microbial isolation. Results revealed fundamentally distinct communities, with dried slips sharing few operational taxonomic units (OTUs) with waterlogged slips. A key discovery was the dominance of Fonsecaea minima (92% rela-tive abundance) at the water-solid-air interface of partially submerged slips. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) confirmed that this fungus produces melanized biofilms, a key trait for surface colonization and stress resistance. In contrast, the fungal isolated from dried bamboo slips was characterized by Apiospora saccharicola, a potential degrader inferred to possess xylanase activity, while the xerophilic Xerogeomyces pulvereus dominated (relative abundance 99%) the storage box environment. Our findings demonstrate that preservation niches act as a strong environmental filter, selecting for fungi with specific functional traits, ultimately leading to stage-specific biodegradation. This underscores the necessity for tailored preservation strategies that target distinct microbial threats in each specific conservation context.