Natural limestone discolouration triggered by microbial activity—a contribution

Luís Dias; Tânia Rosado; Ana Coelho; Pedro Barrulas; Luís Lopes; Patrícia Moita; António Candeias; José Mirão; Ana Teresa Caldeira; Luís Dias; Tânia Rosado; Ana Coelho; Pedro Barrulas; Luís Lopes; Patrícia Moita; António Candeias; José Mirão; Ana Teresa Caldeira

doi:10.3934/microbiol.2018.4.594

AIMS Microbiology

2018, Volume 4, Issue 4: 594-607. doi: 10.3934/microbiol.2018.4.594

Previous Article Next Article

Research article Topical Sections

Natural limestone discolouration triggered by microbial activity—a contribution

1.
HERCULES Laboratory, University of Évora, Largo Marquês de Marialva 8, 7000-089 Évora, Portugal
2.
Chemistry Department, Sciences and Technology School, University of Évora, Rua Romão Ramalho 59, 7000-671 Évora, Portugal
3.
Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Évora, Rua Romão Ramalho 59, 7000-671 Évora, Portugal
4.
Geosciences Department, Sciences and Technology School, University of Évora, Rua Romão Ramalho 59, 7000-671 Évora, Portugal

Received: 30 April 2018 Accepted: 13 July 2018 Published: 10 August 2018

Colour is a major argument that drives the decision of an architect in a specific architecture project and one of the most important characteristics and perceptible aspects of natural building stones. “Blue” limestones are building rocks, with different geological ages, typically used in several countries, and are known for their vulnerability to alteration, which causes colour change and the occurrence of unaesthetic patterns. Owing to this vulnerability, the conservation-restoration works in monuments, or new buildings constructed with “blue” limestone is extremely costly. Considering that the main limitation of this lithological variation is the chromatic change, a multidisciplinary approach was envisaged in this study to allow a closer insight into the chemical and mineralogical alterations and the microbial communities. Results obtained suggest that the inorganic alteration in the “blue” limestone may create favourable conditions for microbial growth and could lead to an increment in deterioration process.
- building stone,
- limestone,
- alteration,
- colour,
- microbial contamination
Citation: Luís Dias, Tânia Rosado, Ana Coelho, Pedro Barrulas, Luís Lopes, Patrícia Moita, António Candeias, José Mirão, Ana Teresa Caldeira. Natural limestone discolouration triggered by microbial activity—a contribution[J]. AIMS Microbiology, 2018, 4(4): 594-607. doi: 10.3934/microbiol.2018.4.594

Related Papers:

Abstract

Colour is a major argument that drives the decision of an architect in a specific architecture project and one of the most important characteristics and perceptible aspects of natural building stones. “Blue” limestones are building rocks, with different geological ages, typically used in several countries, and are known for their vulnerability to alteration, which causes colour change and the occurrence of unaesthetic patterns. Owing to this vulnerability, the conservation-restoration works in monuments, or new buildings constructed with “blue” limestone is extremely costly. Considering that the main limitation of this lithological variation is the chromatic change, a multidisciplinary approach was envisaged in this study to allow a closer insight into the chemical and mineralogical alterations and the microbial communities. Results obtained suggest that the inorganic alteration in the “blue” limestone may create favourable conditions for microbial growth and could lead to an increment in deterioration process.

References

[1]	Urosevic M, Sebastián E, Cardell C (2013) An experimental study on the influence of surface finishing on the weathering of a building low-porous limestone in coastal environments. Eng Geol 154: 131–141. doi: 10.1016/j.enggeo.2012.12.013
[2]	Mihajlovski A, Gabarre A, Seyer D, et al. (2017) Bacterial diversity on rock surface of the ruined part of a French historic monument: the Chaalis abbey. Int Biodeter Biodegr 120: 161–169. doi: 10.1016/j.ibiod.2017.02.019
[3]	Rosado T, Reis A, Mirão J, et al. (2014) Pink! Why not? On the unusual color of Évora Cathedral. Int Biodeter Biodegr 94: 121–127. doi: 10.1016/j.ibiod.2014.07.010
[4]	Rosado T, Gil M, Mirão J, et al. (2013) Oxalate biofilm formation in mural paintings due to microorganisms-A comprehensive study. Int Biodeter Biodegr 85: 1–7. doi: 10.1016/j.ibiod.2013.06.013
[5]	Gaylarde P, Gaylarde C (2004) Deterioration of siliceous stone monuments in Latin America: Microorganisms and mechanisms. Corros Rev 22: 395–415.
[6]	Gaylarde CC, Ortega-Morales BO, Bartolo-Perez P (2007) Biogenic black crusts on buildings in unpolluted environments. Curr Microbiol 54: 162–166. doi: 10.1007/s00284-006-0432-8
[7]	Scheerer S, Ortega-Morales O, Gaylarde C (2009) Microbial deterioration of stone monuments-An updated overview. Adv Appl Microbiol 66: 97–139. doi: 10.1016/S0065-2164(08)00805-8
[8]	Urzì C, De Leo F, Krakova L, et al. (2016) Effects of biocide treatments on the biofilm community in Domitilla's catacombs in Rome. Sci Total Environ 572: 252–262. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.07.195
[9]	Li Q, Zhang B, He Z, et al. (2016) Distribution and diversity of bacteria and fungi colonization in stone monuments analysed by high-throughput sequencing. PLoS One 11: e0163287.
[10]	Nowicka-Krawczyk P, Zelazna-Wieczorek J, Otlewska A, et al. (2014) Diversity of an aerial phototrophic coating of historic buildings in the former Auschwitz II-Birkenau concentration camp. Sci Total Environ 493: 116–123. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.05.113
[11]	Borderie F, Denis M, Barani A, et al. (2016) Microbial composition and ecological features of phototrophic biofilms proliferating in the Moidons Caves (France): investigation at the single-cell level. Environ Sci Pollut R 23: 12039–12049. doi: 10.1007/s11356-016-6414-x
[12]	Albertano P, Urzi C (1999) Structural interactions among epilithic cyanobacteria and heterotrophic microorganisms in Roman hypogea. Microb Ecol 38: 244–252. doi: 10.1007/s002489900174
[13]	Mosmann T (1983) Rapid colorimetric assay for cellular growth and survival: Application to proliferation and cytotoxicity assays. J Immunol Methods 65: 55–63. doi: 10.1016/0022-1759(83)90303-4
[14]	Herlemann DP, Labrenz M, Jurgens K, et al. (2011) Transitions in bacterial communities along the 2000 km salinity gradient of the Baltic Sea. ISME J 5: 1571–1579. doi: 10.1038/ismej.2011.41
[15]	Klindworth A, Pruesse E, Schweer T, et al. (2013) Evaluation of general 16S ribosomal RNA gene PCR primers for classical and next-generation sequencing-based diversity studies. Nucleic Acids Res 41: e1. doi: 10.1093/nar/gks808
[16]	Tedersoo L, Bahram M, Polme S, et al. (2014) Global diversity and geography of soil fungi. Science 346: 1078.
[17]	Schmieder R, Edwards R (2011) Quality control and preprocessing of metagenomic datasets. Bioinformatics 27: 863–864. doi: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btr026
[18]	Schubert M, Lindgreen S, Orlando L (2016) AdapterRemoval v2: rapid adapter trimming, identification, and read merging. BMC Res Notes 9: 88. doi: 10.1186/s13104-016-1900-2
[19]	Caporaso JG, Kuczynski J, Stombaugh J, et al. (2010) QIIME allows analysis of high-throughput community sequencing data. Nat Methods 7: 335–336. doi: 10.1038/nmeth.f.303
[20]	Edgar RC, Haas BJ, Clemente JC, et al. (2011) UCHIME improves sensitivity and speed of chimera detection. Bioinformatics 27: 2194–2200. doi: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btr381
[21]	DeSantis TZ, Hugenholtz P, Larsen N, et al. (2006) Greengenes, a chimera-checked 16S rRNA gene database and workbench compatible with ARB. Appl Environ Microbiol 72: 5069–5072. doi: 10.1128/AEM.03006-05
[22]	Abarenkov K, Henrik NR, Larsson K, et al. (2010) The UNITE database for molecular identification of fungi-recent updates and future perspectives. New Phytol 186: 281–285. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2009.03160.x
[23]	Muynck W, Leuridan S, Van Loo D, et al. (2011) Influence of Pore Structure on the effectiveness of a biogenic carbonate surface treatment for limestone conservation. Appl Environ Microbiol 77: 6808–6820. doi: 10.1128/AEM.00219-11
[24]	Rosado T, Martins MM, Pires M, et al. (2013) Enzymatic monitorization of mural paintings biodegradation and biodeterioration. Int J Conserv Sci 4: 603–612.
[25]	Vázquez-Nion D, Rodríguez-Castro J, López-Rodríguez MC, et al. (2016) Subaerial biofilms on granitic historic buildings: microbial diversity and development of phototrophic multi-species cultures. Biofouling 32: 657–669. doi: 10.1080/08927014.2016.1183121
[26]	Ogawa A, Celikkol-Aydin S, Gaylarde C, et al. (2017) Microbiomes of biofilms on decorative siliceous stone: drawbacks and advantages of next generation sequencing. Curr Microbiol 74: 848–853. doi: 10.1007/s00284-017-1257-3
[27]	Ettenauer J, Jurado V, Piñar G, et al. (2014) Halophilic microorganisms are responsible for the rosy discolouration of saline environments in three historical buildings with mural paintings. PLoS One 9: e103844.
[28]	Urzi C, Brusetti L, Salamone P, et al. (2001) Biodiversity of Geodermatophilaceae isolated from altered stones and monuments in the Mediterranean basin. Environ Microbiol 3: 471–479. doi: 10.1046/j.1462-2920.2001.00217.x
[29]	Gaylarde C, Baptista-Neto JA, Ogawa A, et al. (2017) Epilithic and endolithic microorganisms and deterioration on stone church facades subject to urban pollution in a sub-tropical climate. Biofouling 33: 113–127. doi: 10.1080/08927014.2016.1269893
[30]	Rosado T, Mirão J, Candeias A, et al. (2014) Microbial communities analysis assessed by pyrosequencing-a new approach applied to conservation state studies of mural paintings. Anal Bioanal Chem 406: 887–895. doi: 10.1007/s00216-013-7516-7

Reader Comments

Your name:*

Email:*
© 2018 the Author(s), licensee AIMS Press. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)