0000000000636437
AUTHOR
G. Barresi
Fungi and Bacteria in Indoor Cultural Heritage Environments: Microbial-related Risks for Artworks and Human Health
Cultural heritage constitutive materials can provide excellent substrates for microbial colonization, highly influenced by thermo-hygrometric parameters. In cultural heritage-related environments, a detrimental microbial load may be present both on manufacts surface and in the aerosol. In this study, bacterial and fungal colonisation has been investigated in three Sicilian confined environments (archive, cave and hypogea), each with peculiar structures and different thermo-hygrometric parameters. Particular attention has been paid to microorganisms able to induce artifacts biodeterioration and to release biological particles in the aerosol (spores, cellular debrides, toxins and allergens) p…
PLANT EXTRACTS AS GREEN POTENTIAL STRATEGIES TO CONTROL THE BIODETERIORATION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE
The biodeterioration of historic-artistic manufacts is related to several biological systems, including fungi and bacteria, whose metabolic activities and vegetative development have a direct consequence on the conservation of cultural assets. Generally, different chemical compounds are utilized as biocides in order to control biodeteriogens growth, but recently the attention has been focused on potential risks of their use towards human health (operators, visitors) and the environment. In order to develop alternative methods, various natural products have been tested, particularly to control the colonization by fungi and bacteria. In this study, antimicrobial activity of three different pl…
Non-invasive monitoring of microbial contamination on graphic collections preserved in museums, libraries and archives
Biological aerosol in indoor environments, such as museums, libraries and archives, can represent a hazard both for artworks, due to the presence of microorganisms, and for the health of operators and visitors, due to their potential infectious, allergenic or toxic effects. The detection of microbial colonization of air and surfaces, based on morphological and molecular analysis, is of fundamental importance for a correct preventive conservation and sustainable fruition. The results of the monitoring on both manufacts (prints, drawings), showing alterations potentially related to biological systems (foxing) and on furniture (metal cabinets, shelves, boxes) have been performed in the Central…
Innovative and Integrated Strategies: Case Studies
In this chapter, case studies related to biodeterioration, bioaerosol, biocide and biocleaning are reported. The aim is highlighting the role of biology and biotechnology tools for the preventive conservation of organic and inorganic artifacts, understanding how traditional as well as innovative methods can help the conservationists to develop integrated strategies considering works of art/environment/ humans as a dynamic system. Particularly, based on the experience acquired during the researches of Laboratory of Biology and Biotechnology for Cultural Heritage (LaBBCH), the authors suggest several approaches to reveal and identify biological systems able to induce biodeterioration of cultu…
IDENTIFICATION OF BACTERIAL TAXA IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL WATERLOGGED WOOD
Summary The microscopic and molecular techniques described in this study are aimed at understanding the degradation processes of the anatomical structure of submerged archaeological wood, correlating it to the degradation induced by bacteria. The SEM micrographs showed alterations of the wooden structure due to bacterial colonization, as well as the presence of pyrite framboids. The difficulty of extracting bacterial DNA from wooden fragments belonging to submerged finds is well-known, due to the presence of many inhibitors; this study describes some extraction and in vitro amplification protocols for wooden submerged finds. The results of the molecular investigations, based on the analysis…
Marine organisms as source of bioactive molecules applied in restoration projects
Abstract In recent decades research in the conservation and restoration field has provided sustainable alternatives to traditional procedures for cleaning or controlling the microbial colonization of works of art. In the present study, for the first time novel bioactive molecules extracted from marine invertebrate organisms (Anthozoa) were tested instead of chemical compounds for removing protein layers or as a biocide for controlling fungal or bacterial colonization. In particular, Bioactive Molecules with Protease activity (BMP), acting in a temperature range of 4- 30°C, were tested for the hydrolysis of protein layers on laboratory specimens. The cleaning protocol provides a selective pr…
CARATTERIZZAZIONE MOLECOLARE DI BATTERI IN REPERTI LIGNEI SOMMERSI
The focus of this study was the identification of bacterial colonies in waterlogged wood fragments from the rostrum of a excellent workmanship, that is very likely one of the wrecks attributed to Sextus Pompey fleet (36 BC) and discovered in Acqualadroni, Messina, Sicily, Italy (2008). The wood samples were analyzed by light and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), in vitro culture and molecular technique (DNA base techniques). The results, focused on bacterial consortia, allowed us to reveal the presence of Pseudomonas sp., Sphingomonas sp., Xanthomonas sp. besides Marinobacter sp. and Desulforudis audaxviator. A prompt and accurate characterization of bacterial colonization represents one …