Biotechnology and Cultural Heritage Conservation

Abstract

The deterioration of cultural asset is induced by biological, chemical, and physical factors, influenced by anthropogenic activity and environmental conditions. In this study, the contribution of biotechnology is emphasized to define the conservation strategy, for a marble Fountain (Two Dragons, XV century) located in Palermo city center, based on an integrated approach and eco-friendly procedures. Biotechnological protocols are preliminarily applied as an integrated approach, based on microscopy observation, in vitro culture and genomic DNA analysis to recognize and characterize microbial communities. Several biological systems have been identified: green algae (Chlorella) and cyanobacteria (Cyanobium, Oscillatoria); bacteria (Arthrobacter, Bacillus, Micrococcus, Paracoccus); fungi (Alternaria, Aspergillus, Penicillium, Phoma, Fusarium, Cladosporium). In order to address biological colonization, the commercial Tea Tree Oil (Melaleuca alternifolia) and laboratory-distilled (Calamintha nepeta and Allium sativum) EOs, have been assayed by in vitro Agar disc diffusion, Well-plates diffusion, and Micro-dilution methods; the result allows to define the most appropriate EOs concentration to use. In a green conservation prospective, this study highlighted that EOs can potentially replace the traditional biocides, but the activity must be preliminary evaluated by centring the choose specifically on each microbial taxon identified.

Fungal Community Analyses of a Pirogue from the Tang Dynasty in the National Maritime Museum of China

“…High-throughput sequencing revealed 105 fungal genera; Basidiomycota and Ascomycota accounted for almost all the reads for each sample, and the sum of the two proportions reached 95%. Many articles reported that Ascomycota, Zygomycota, Chytridiomycota, and Rozellomycota can be found on the wooden relics deteriorated by microorganisms [25][26][27].…”

Essential Oils as Natural Biocides in Conservation of Cultural Heritage

“…Combining microscopy analysis, in vitro culture, and molecular biology investigation [19,20], a diffused Aspergillus flavus colonization was identified on the base of a wooden sculpture (BWS), as shown in Figure 1, while A. punctatum (Anobiidae family) infestation was revealed in wooden puppet heads (WPHs), as seen in Figure 2. The infestation represents a grave risk to the conservation of wooden artifacts, since those insects can digest cellulose substrates and several generations can re-infest the same wooden structure.…”

“…Sterile cotton swabs were utilized to perform the sampling on the colonized base of a wooden sculpture and for the following inoculation of Sabouraud agar plate (dextrose agar + chloramphenicol); after incubation for 24/36 h at 30 • C, single fungal colonies were isolated. The characterization was carried out by a multidisciplinary approach based on microscopy observation, in vitro culture ( Figure 1C), and molecular investigation [20], allowing the characterization of Aspergillus flavus colonies spread on the BWS surface. The molecular investigation was performed by analyzing the genomic DNA target sequences.…”

Biocleaning of starch glues from textiles by means of α-amylase-based treatments

“…For the preservation of textile artefacts, therefore, it is essential to remove completely aged consolidants and glues. In this context, the hydrolytic action of enzymes is very promising, as they exhibit great selectivity in the cleaning of unwanted materials, without compromising the historic and artistic substrates (Bosch-Roig and Ranalli 2014;Cremonesi 2013;Decoux 2002;Mazzoli et al 2018;Palla and Barresi 2017). Due to their negligible toxicity, their use as substitutes of organic solvents is widely reported on different substrates, such as wall paintings (Beutel et al 2002;Ranalli et al 2005), paintings on canvas (Pereira et al 2013), paper (Decoux 2002;Mazzuca et al 2014Mazzuca et al , 2017Schwarz et al 1999), textiles (Ahmed and Kolisis 2011;Bott 1990;Chapman 1986;Ferrari et al 2017;Shibayama and Eastop 1996), stones (Valentini et al 2010(Valentini et al , 2012, and acrylic-based graffiti and coatings (Bellucci et al 1999;Germinario et al 2017).…”