|
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
http://hdl.handle.net/10174/31955
|
Title: | Biodegradation and Microbial Contamination of Limestone Surfaces: An Experimental Study from Batalha Monastery, Portugal |
Authors: | Schiavon, Nicola Ding, Y. Salvador, Cátia Caldeira, A.T. Angelini, E. |
Keywords: | biodeterioration Batalha Monastery limestone decay lichen microbiomes |
Issue Date: | Jan-2021 |
Publisher: | Corrosion and Materials degradation - MDPI |
Citation: | Ding, Y.; Salvador, C.S.C.;
Caldeira, A.T.; Angelini, E.; Schiavon,
N. Biodegradation and Microbial
Contamination of Limestone Surfaces:
An Experimental Study from Batalha
Monastery, Portugal. Corros. Mater.
Degrad. 2021, 2, 31–45. |
Abstract: | An experimental study was conducted to assess the nature and extent of the biodeterioration
of the limestone in the Batalha Monastery in Portugal. Stone fragments covered with
microbial biofilms and lichenous crusts were investigated using Optical Microscopy (OM), Low
Vacuum Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (LV-SEM + EDS),
and X-ray micro-Diffractometry ( -XRD). Microbial samples were collected from the stone surface,
cultured, and analyzed with NGS metagenomic DNA test to classify the bacterial communities
associated with the formation of the biofilms. Particulate air pollutants collected on Pall GN-6 paper
filters using a cascade impactor were characterized by SEM-EDS + NGS. The results showed that
lichens play a major role in biodeterioration by promoting both physical and chemical attack on
the limestone substrate via hyphae mechanical penetration along calcite inter-crystalline spaces,
the dissolution/leaching of calcite minerals, and the precipitation of secondary minerals such as
Ca-oxalates within the stone porosity framework. DNA analyses identified the bacterial communities
within the biofilms and their relative abundances. Air quality monitoring results suggest that the
microbial population colonizing the monastery limestone could at least partially be derived from the
dry and wet deposition of airborne biological particles on the stone surfaces and that S, N, and P-rich
air pollutants may have provided nutrients and energy for the bacteria communities, thus indirectly
facilitating biofilm formation, the growth of a lichenous crusts, and limestone biodeterioration effects. |
URI: | https://www.mdpi.com/2624-5558/2/1/2 http://hdl.handle.net/10174/31955 |
Type: | article |
Appears in Collections: | HERCULES - Publicações - Artigos em Revistas Internacionais Com Arbitragem Científica
|
Items in DSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.
|