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2025 Vol.57, Issue 6 Preview Page

Original Paper

The First Record of Cleistothecial Thermoascus crustaceus isolated from Dried Hardwood Pulp in Korea
Sunirmal Sheet12
,
Marma Mamaching3
,
Yang Soo Lee4†
1Department of Wood Science and Technology, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Jeonbuk National University, Researcher
2Animal Genomics and Bioinformatics Division, National Institute of Animal Science, RDA, Researcher
3Department of Wood Science and Technology, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Jeonbuk National University, Student
4Department of Wood Science and Technology, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Jeonbuk National University, Professor
†Corresponding Author: E-mail: ysoolee@jbnu.ac.kr (Address: Department of Wood Science and Technology, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju, 54896, Republic of Korea)
30 December 2025. pp. 94-102
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Abstract

Radish-brown spots of fungal contamination was detected on dried hardwood pulp sheets during storage at a paper manufacturing company in Korea. Therefore, this study was conducted to identify and characterize the fungal contaminant responsible for the discoloration observed in the stored hardwood pulp sheets. A new thermophilic cleistothecial fungal isolate recovered from these affected regions was identified as Thermoascus crustaceus by sequencing of the partial D1–D2 region of the long rRNA gene, which exhibited 100% identity with the reference strains JF922031.1, FJ358289.1, and EU021597.1. Morphological analyses by light microscopy revealed prolific conidial clusters and extensive hyphal networks colonizing the discolored hardwood pulp surfaces. The isolate demonstrated optimal growth at 50°C, consistent with adaptation to the high processing temperatures used during papermaking. This study reports the first documented isolation of T. crustaceus related to fungal contamination and discoloration in hardwood pulp sheets from Korea and emphasizes the ecological and industrial significance of thermophilic Ascomycota in high-temperature manufacturing environments.

Keywords
Thermoascus crustaceus
hardwood pulp
thermophilic fungus
rDNA
Korea
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Information
  • Publisher :Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
  • Publisher(Ko) :한국펄프종이공학회
  • Journal Title :Journal of Korea TAPPI
  • Journal Title(Ko) :펄프종이기술
  • Volume : 57
  • No :6
  • Pages :94-102
  • Received Date : 2025-11-03
  • Revised Date : 2025-11-20
  • Accepted Date : 2025-11-21
  • DOI :https://doi.org/10.7584/JKTAPPI.2025.12.57.6.94
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