Affiliations: 1 Institute of Molecular Biosciences, NAWI Graz, University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
2 BioHealth Graz, Graz, Austria.
3 BioTechMed Graz, Graz 8010, Austria.
Keywords:
biocleaning, tangible cultural heritage, microbial deterioration, biodeterioration, biotreatment, bacteria, fungi, biofilm.
Corresponding Author(s):
Frank Madeo, Humboldtstrasse 50/EG, 8010 Graz, Austria; frank.madeo@uni-graz.at
Didac Carmona-Gutierrez, Humboldtstrasse 50/EG, 8010 Graz, Austria; carmonag@uni-graz.at
Conflict of interest statement:
No competing financial interests exist.
Please cite this article as:
Maria A. Bauer, Katharina Kainz, Didac Carmona-Gutierrez and Frank Madeo (2021). Murals meet microbes: at the crossroads of microbiology and cultural heritage. Microbial Cell 8(12): 276-279. doi: 10.15698/mic2021.12.765
© 2021 Bauer et al. This is an open-access article released under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, which allows the unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduc-tion in any medium, provided the original author and source are acknowledged.
Murals meet microbes: at the crossroads of microbiology and cultural heritage
Authors:Maria A. Bauer1, Katharina Kainz1, Christoph Ruckenstuhl1, Frank Madeo1-3 and Didac Carmona-Gutierrez1
doi: 10.15698/mic2021.12.765
Volume 8, pp. 276 to 279, published 06/12/2021.
1 Institute of Molecular Biosciences, NAWI Graz, University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
2 BioHealth Graz, Graz, Austria.
3 BioTechMed Graz, Graz 8010, Austria.
Keywords:
biocleaning, tangible cultural heritage, microbial deterioration, biodeterioration, biotreatment, bacteria, fungi, biofilm.
Corresponding Author(s):
Conflict of interest statement:
No competing financial interests exist.
Please cite this article as:
Maria A. Bauer, Katharina Kainz, Didac Carmona-Gutierrez and Frank Madeo (2021). Murals meet microbes: at the crossroads of microbiology and cultural heritage. Microbial Cell 8(12): 276-279. doi: 10.15698/mic2021.12.765
© 2021 Bauer et al. This is an open-access article released under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, which allows the unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduc-tion in any medium, provided the original author and source are acknowledged.
Abstract:
Our cultural heritage consists of manifold cultural expressions and represents a defining feature of our societies that needs to be further inherited to future generations. Even though humankind always fought a daily struggle for survival, at the same time, it seemed to have a spiritual need that went far beyond mere materialistic satisfaction and nowadays manifests in sometimes very ancient, yet brilliant artistic works. This fundamental legacy is endangered by several instances, including biodeterioration. Indeed, microorganisms play a significant role in the decline of all forms of tangible cultural heritage, including movable, immovable and underwater cultural heritage. Microbial colonization, biofilm formation and damaging metabolite production eventually result in critical decay. Thus, efforts to mitigate the negative impact of damaging microorganisms have been pursued with diverse physical, chemical and biological approaches. Intriguingly, recent advances have unveiled that specific microorganisms and microbial-based technologies also have the potential for cultural heritage preservation and present unique advantages. This short piece provides a quick overview on the duality of microorganisms in the conservation and restoration of cultural heritage.