Iron is an essential inorganic micronutrient. Because of its low toxicity only a few studies have dealt with the importance of iron in fungal physiology. Most of the studies published so far focus on iron sequestration by animal fungal pathogens, iron uptake by mycorrhizal fungi, or iron redox activities by fungal wood degraders. However, a general overview on the relationship between fungal physiology and iron is still lacking. In this review we present a summary of the types of physiological activities that participate in iron homeostasis in fungi and how these activities can be used for the development of original biotechnological applications in relationship to iron-containing matrices. Concrete examples of biotechnological applications involving iron and fungi are also discussed. In the last part, a specific research project in biotechnology focusing on the use of fungi for the conservation of archaeological objects in iron is described in detail. This project aims at developing a new conservation-restoration method to preserve archaeological iron artifacts exploiting the ability of fungi to transform and uptake iron. Preliminary results obtained in this project regarding iron-reduction, iron uptake, and biogenic formation of iron minerals are presented and discussed.

铁是必需的无机微量营养素。由于其毒性低，只有很少的研究涉及铁在真菌生理学中的重要性。迄今为止，大多数研究集中在动物真菌病原体对铁的螯合，菌根真菌对铁的吸收或真菌木降解剂对铁的氧化还原活性的研究上。但是，仍缺乏关于真菌生理学与铁之间关系的一般概述。在这篇综述中，我们总结了参与真菌中铁稳态的生理活动的类型，以及如何将这些活动用于与含铁基质相关的原始生物技术应用的开发。还讨论了涉及铁和真菌的生物技术应用的具体例子。在最后一部分中，详细描述了一个生物技术的特定研究项目，该项目侧重于使用真菌保护铁中的考古对象。该项目旨在开发一种新的保护修复方法，以利用真菌转化和吸收铁的能力来保护考古铁器物。该项目在减少铁，吸收铁，