Microbial Community Analyses of the Deteriorated Storeroom Objects in the Tianjin Museum Using Culture-Independent and Culture-Dependent Approaches

Abstract

In the storeroom C7 of the Tianjin Museum, one wooden desk and two leather luggages dated back to Qing dynasty (1644-1912 AD) presented viable microbial contamination. The aim of the present study was to investigate microbial communities responsible for the biodeterioration of storeroom objects using a combination of culture-independent and culture-dependent methods as well microscopic techniques. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that the microflora on three storeroom objects were characterized by a marked presence of Eurotium halophilicum. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) analysis proved that fungi were the main causative agents behind the biodeterioration in this case. Fungal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) amplicon sequencing documented the presence of two main fungi — Eurotium halophilicum and Aspergillus penicillioides. Molecular identification of fungal strains isolated from the surfaces and the air of the storeroom were most closely related to Chaetomium, Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Fusarium, showing discrepancies in fungal taxa compared to ITS amplicon sequencing. The most isolated bacterial phylum was Firmicutes, mostly Bacillus members. In addition, four biocide products — Preventol® D 7, P 91, 20 N and Euxyl® K 100 were selected to test their capability against fungal strains isolated from the surfaces. According to the susceptibility assay, Preventol® D 7 based on isothiazolinones was the most effective against fungal isolates. Findings from this study provided a knowledge about storeroom fungi, and exemplify a type of preliminary test that may be conducted before planning any biocide treatment, which may be useful to mitigate the fungal deterioration for further conservation of the museum.

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

“…The dominant contaminant fungi belonged to the genus Penicillium, followed by Aspergillus and Cladosporium [32]. The genera Penicillium, Aspergillus and Chaetomium have been detected on organic objects such as wooden square stools and suitcases in a museum [6]. Piotrowska et al observed that the most important degrading component taxa were fungi of the genera Penicillium and Cladosporium [33].…”

“…Finally, the PCR products were used for library construction, and sequencing was performed on the Illumina HiSeq2500 PE250 platform. Specific methods of operation can be found in the literature described by Liu et al [6].…”

“…Fungi has also been discovered on wooden historical objects in a regional museum [5]. Zijun Liu et al observed that a wooden desk dated to the Qing dynasty presented viable fungal contamination in the Tianjin Museum [6]. The 'M2' Mausoleum of the Dingtao King, the best-preserved large-scale huangchang ticou tomb, is located Shandong Heze City of China.…”

Learning from the past, intervening in the present: the role of conservation science in the challenging restoration of the wall painting Marriage at Cana by Luca Longhi (Ravenna, Italy)

“…This peculiar organism is an obligate xerophilic fungus with high tolerance to water stress. The minimum water activity for its germination and growth of this 0.675, and growth does not occur above 0.935 [26]. Recently, it has been associated with paper and books biodeterioration in museums, libraries or archives [13,27].…”

Xerotolerant strain of Penicillium chrysogenum MF18_10 isolated from the damaged walls of Saint Sophia’s Cathedral, Kyiv

“…Recently, the dark-stained deterioration has been discovered in some parts of the unique medieval murals of Saint Sophia's Cathedral in Kyiv, Ukraine, which could be caused by micromycetes. The knowledge of the nature of deterioration and the microorganisms involved is essential for fighting microbial invasion and saving cultural and historical heritage [1][2][3][4][5].…”