TY - JOUR A1 - Gerrits, Ruben A1 - Stepec, Biwen An A1 - Bäßler, Ralph A1 - Becker, Roland A1 - Dimper, Matthias A1 - Feldmann, Ines A1 - Goff, Kira L. A1 - Günster, Jens A1 - Hofmann, Andrea A1 - Hesse, René A1 - Kirstein, Sarah A1 - Klein, Ulrich A1 - Mauch, Tatjana A1 - Neumann-Schaal, Meina A1 - Özcan Sandikcioglu, Özlem A1 - Taylor, Nicole M. A1 - Schumacher, Julia A1 - Shen, Yin A1 - Strehlau, Heike A1 - Weise, Matthias A1 - Wolf, Jacqueline A1 - Yurkov, Andrey A1 - Gieg, Lisa M. A1 - Gorbushina, Anna T1 - A 30-year-old diesel tank: Fungal-dominated biofilms cause local corrosion of galvanised steel N2 - The increased use of biodiesel is expected to lead to more microbial corrosion, fouling and fuel degradation issues. In this context, we have analysed the metal, fuel and microbiology of a fouled diesel tank which had been in service for over 30 years. The fuel itself, a B7 biodiesel blend, was not degraded, and—although no free water phase was visible—contained a water content of ~60 ppm. The microbial community was dominated by the fungus Amorphotheca resinae, which formed thick, patchy biofilms on the tank bottom and walls. The tank sheets, composed of galvanised carbon steel, were locally corroded underneath the biofilms, up to a depth of a third of the sheet thickness. On the biofilm-free surfaces, Zn coatings could still be observed. Taken together, A. resinae was shown to thrive in these water-poor conditions, likely enhancing corrosion through the removal of the protective Zn coatings. KW - Fungal biofilms KW - Biodiesel degradation mechanisms PY - 2026 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-655014 DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41529-025-00731-2 SN - 2397-2106 VL - 10 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 14 PB - Springer Science and Business Media LLC AN - OPUS4-65501 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -