title: Halophilic microorganisms are responsible for the rosy discolouration of saline environments in three historical buildings with mural paintings.
abstract: A number of mural paintings and building materials from monuments located in central and south Europe are characterized by the presence of an intriguing rosy discolouration phenomenon. Although some similarities were observed among the bacterial and archaeal microbiota detected in these monuments, their origin and nature is still unknown. In order to get a complete overview of this biodeterioration process, we investigated the microbial communities in saline environments causing the rosy discolouration of mural paintings in three Austrian historical buildings using a combination of culture-dependent and -independent techniques as well as microscopic techniques. The bacterial communities were dominated by halophilic members of Actinobacteria, mainly of the genus Rubrobacter. Representatives of the Archaea were also detected with the predominating genera Halobacterium, Halococcus and Halalkalicoccus. Furthermore, halophilic bacterial strains, mainly of the phylum Firmicutes, could be retrieved from two monuments using special culture media. Inoculation of building materials (limestone and gypsum plaster) with selected isolates reproduced the unaesthetic rosy effect and biodeterioration in the laboratory.
authors.affiliation: VIBT-BOKU, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Department of Biotechnology, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Jörg D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Ettenauer
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiologia, IRNAS-CSIC, Sevilla, Spain.
authors.forename: Valme
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Jurado
authors.affiliation: VIBT-BOKU, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Department of Biotechnology, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Guadalupe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Piñar
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiologia, IRNAS-CSIC, Sevilla, Spain; CEPGIST/CERENA, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Ana Z
authors.initials: AZ
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.affiliation: Bundesdenkmalamt, Abteilung für Konservierung und Restaurierung, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Santner
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiologia, IRNAS-CSIC, Sevilla, Spain.
authors.forename: Cesareo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Saiz-Jimenez
authors.affiliation: VIBT-BOKU, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Department of Biotechnology, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Katja
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sterflinger
mesh_terms: D039903:Actinobacteria; D004396:Coloring Agents / Q000378:metabolism*; D006217:Halobacterium / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D019625:Halococcus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D049690:History, Ancient; D049691:History, Medieval; D010150:Paint / Q000382:microbiology*; D010151:Paintings / Q000266:history
chemical_list: D004396:Coloring Agents
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