Biodiversity of photosynthetic micro-organisms dwelling on stone monuments

Tomaselli, L.; Lamenti, Gioia; Bosco, Marcella; Tiano, Piero

doi:10.1016/s0964-8305(00)00078-0

Cited by 174 publications

(86 citation statements)

References 8 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…This is because shear forces are diminished, and total surface area is higher on rougher surfaces (Morton et al, 1998;Donlan, 2002). Tomaselli et al (2000a) showed that high stone porosity and rough surface, together with environmental factors, played a greater role than mineral composition in promoting microbial establishment. The most important of the environmental factors is water availability.…”

Section: Survival Strategies Of Cyanobacteria and Algae On Stonementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Survival Strategies Of Cyanobacteria and Algae On Stonementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The most important of the environmental factors is water availability. Adequate temperature and solar irradiance, and type of atmospheric deposition, are also relevant factors (Tomaselli et al, 2000a).Endolithic colonization is also a successful survival strategy when surface environmental conditions are adverse for life on stone. The protection provided by the rock leads to the abundance of endolithic micro-organisms in extreme environments, such as cold and hot deserts, semiarid lands and even polar regions (Friedmann, 1982;Bell, 1993;Walker et al, 2005).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Biodiversity of cyanobacteria and green algae on monuments in the Mediterranean Basin: an overview

Macedo

Miller

Dionísio³

et al. 2009

Microbiology

235

130

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The presence and deteriorating action of micro-organisms on monuments and stone works of art have received considerable attention in the last few years. Knowledge of the microbial populations living on stone materials is the starting point for successful conservation treatment and control. This paper reviews the literature on cyanobacteria and chlorophyta that cause deterioration of stone cultural heritage (outdoor monuments and stone works of art) in European countries of the Mediterranean Basin. Some 45 case studies from 32 scientific papers published between 1976 and 2009 were analysed. Six lithotypes were considered: marble, limestone, travertine, dolomite, sandstone and granite. A wide range of stone monuments in the Mediterranean Basin support considerable colonization of cyanobacteria and chlorophyta, showing notable biodiversity. About 172 taxa have been described by different authors, including 37 genera of cyanobacteria and 48 genera of chlorophyta. The most widespread and commonly reported taxa on the stone cultural heritage in the Mediterranean Basin are, among cyanobacteria, Gloeocapsa, Phormidium and Chroococcus and, among chlorophyta, Chlorella, Stichococcus and Chlorococcum. The results suggest that cyanobacteria and chlorophyta colonize a wide variety of substrata and that this is related primarily to the physical characteristics of the stone surface, microclimate and environmental conditions and secondarily to the lithotype. IntroductionStone monuments, statues and historic buildings are exposed to the effects of physical, chemical and biological deteriorating factors. This review will focus on the damage caused by micro-organisms, in a process referred to as biodeterioration. Stone works of art can be colonized by different groups of micro-organisms, including bacteria, cyanobacteria, algae and fungi. Microbial populations present in a stone substratum are usually the result of successive colonization by different micro-organisms that has taken place over several years. It is a process that relies upon the capacity of a substratum to provide a protective niche on which micro-organisms can develop. According to several authors, cyanobacteria and chlorophyta (green algae) are considered the pioneering inhabitants in the colonization of stone (Ortega-Calvo et al., 1991;Tiano et al., 1995; Cecchi et al., 2000;Lamenti et al., 2000;Tomaselli et al., 2000b;Crispim & Gaylarde, 2005). Due to their photoautotrophic nature, these micro-organisms develop easily on stone surfaces, giving rise to coloured patinas and incrustations ( Fig. 1) (Tomaselli et al., 2000b). Identifying the micro-organisms involved in biodeterioration is one of the most important steps in the study of the microbial ecology of monumental stones. It can help us to understand the microbial biodiversity, the phases of colonization and the relationship among populations on the surfaces and between micro-organisms and substrata.Here we review the occurrence of cyanobacteria and green algae identified on stone monuments, statues and histo...

show abstract

Section: Survival Strategies Of Cyanobacteria and Algae On Stonementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Survival Strategies Of Cyanobacteria and Algae On Stonementioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Biodiversity of cyanobacteria and green algae on monuments in the Mediterranean Basin: an overview

Macedo

Miller

Dionísio³

et al. 2009

Microbiology

235

130

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…light intensity, air pollution, humidity) and microorganisms are not well understood. Among the components of the microbial communities, phototrophic organisms are the primary producers and play an important role in the colonization and deterioration of stone monuments, causing extensive aesthetic, physical and chemical damages (Tomaselli et al, 2000;Ciferri, 2002;Crispim and Gaylarde, 2005). In order to understand the biodeterioration process, laboratory experiments present the advantage of controlling environmental variables which simplifies the answering of important questions.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Reproducing stone monument photosynthetic-based colonization under laboratory conditions

Miller

Láiz

Gonzalez

et al. 2008

Science of The Total Environment

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In order to understand the biodeterioration process occurring on stone monuments, we analyzed the microbial communities involved in these processes and studied their ability to colonize stones under controlled laboratory experiments. In this study, a natural green biofilm from a limestone monument was cultivated, inoculated on stone probes of the same lithotype and incubated in a laboratory chamber. This incubation system, which exposes stone samples to intermittently sprinkling water, allowed the development of photosynthetic biofilms similar to those occurring on stone monuments. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis was used to evaluate the major microbial components of the laboratory biofilms. Cyanobacteria, green microalgae, bacteria and fungi were identified by DNA-based molecular analysis targeting the 16S and 18S ribosomal RNA genes. The natural green biofilm was mainly composed by the Chlorophyta Chlorella, Stichococcus, and Trebouxia, and by Cyanobacteria belonging to the genera Leptolyngbya and Pleurocapsa. A number of bacteria belonging to Alphaproteobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Verrucomicrobia were identified, as well as fungi from the Ascomycota. The laboratory colonization experiment on stone probes showed a colonization pattern similar to that occurring on stone monuments. The methodology described in this paper allowed to reproduce a colonization equivalent to the natural biodeteriorating process. IntroductionStone monuments represent an important part of our world's cultural heritage. Natural stones are weathered by physical, chemical and biological factors. One of the most complex problems in monument conservation is to contrast biological deterioration or biodeterioration Herrera et al., 2004;. The interactions between environmental factors affecting stone monuments (e.g. light intensity, air pollution, humidity) and microorganisms are not well understood. Among the components of the microbial communities, phototrophic organisms are the primary producers and play an important role in the colonization and deterioration of stone monuments, causing extensive aesthetic, physical and chemical damages (Tomaselli et al., 2000;Ciferri, 2002;Crispim and Gaylarde, 2005). In order to understand the biodeterioration process, laboratory experiments present the advantage of controlling environmental variables which simplifies the answering of important questions. A number of different laboratory-based experimental biofilm model systems have been developed (Guillitte and Dreesen, 1995;Tiano et al., 1995;Tomaselli et al., 2000; Monte,

show abstract

“…Biofilms on building surfaces can contain cyanobacteria, heterotrophic bacteria, algae, fungi, lichens, protozoa, and a variety of small animals (arthropods) and plants (briophyte) (Gaylarde & Gaylarde, 2005). Biological growth is influenced by both external conditions and intrinsic characteristics of the building material (Tomaselli et al, 2000). External conditions are represented by rainfall, wind, sunlight, temperature and humidity as these determinate the water availability, an essential element to the microbial metabolism: wet surfaces promote autotrophic organism growth, therefore a higher susceptibility to biofouling occurs in rainy regions, as well as in the heavy rain season (Tran et al, 2014).…”

Section: Biological Growth and Deterioration Of Building Surfacesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coupling of Solar Reflective Cool Roofing Solutions with Sub-Surface Phase Change Materials (PCM) to Avoid Condensation and Biological Growth

Muscio

2016

ESSD

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Cool roofs are effective solutions to counter the overheating of building roofs, inhabited spaces below and urban areas in which buildings are located thanks to their capability of reflecting solar radiation. Nonetheless, the relatively low surface temperatures that they induce can cause condensation of humidity and leave the surface wetted for large part of the day, thus promoting the growth of bacteria, algae and other biological fouling; this can cause a quick decay of the solar reflective performance. Biological growth is countered by surface treatments, which, however, may be toxic and forbidden in many countries and may also vanish quickly. It can also be countered by lowering the thermal emittance and thus decreasing heat transfer by infrared radiation to the sky and the consequent night undercooling, but this can decrease the performance of cool roofs. An alternative approach, which is analyzed in this work, is to embed in the first layer below the cool roof surface a phase change material (PCM) that absorbs heat during the daytime and then releases it in the nighttime. This can increase the minimum surface temperatures, thus reducing the occurrence humidity condensation and also the biological growth. In this work, preliminary results on the coupling of a cool roof surface with a PCM sublayer are presented, being obtained by theoretical investigation on commercial materials and taking into account the time evolution pattern of the environmental conditions.

show abstract

Biodiversity of photosynthetic micro-organisms dwelling on stone monuments

Cited by 174 publications

References 8 publications

Biodiversity of cyanobacteria and green algae on monuments in the Mediterranean Basin: an overview

Biodiversity of cyanobacteria and green algae on monuments in the Mediterranean Basin: an overview

Reproducing stone monument photosynthetic-based colonization under laboratory conditions

Coupling of Solar Reflective Cool Roofing Solutions with Sub-Surface Phase Change Materials (PCM) to Avoid Condensation and Biological Growth

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About