title: Microbial Life and Death in a Foxing Stain: a Suggested Mechanism of Photographic Prints Defacement.
abstract: The gelatin-silver halide black and white prints represent an enormous photography heritage with a great value. Unaesthetic phenomena, the foxing stains that are caused by microbial growth on surface, have been described in stamps, drawings, books, and tissues but, until now, scarcely for photographic materials. In this study, a combination of various techniques, including culture-dependent and culture-independent approaches (RNA and DNA analysis), scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) and μ-Raman spectroscopy supported by X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF), permitted to describe the microbial contamination dynamics of foxing stains present on the surface of two gelatin-silver halide photographs. The investigation provided also information on the effects of microbial activity on the materials' chemistry of the two prints. The action of microbial community resulted locally in either (a) formation of mixed aluminum-iron-potassium phosphate compounds that could be attributed to the hydrolytic activity of bacteria, (b) leaching of barite,
authors.affiliation: Istituto Centrale Restauro e Conservazione Patrimonio Archivistico e Librario (ICRCPAL),MIBACT, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria Carla
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Sclocchi
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Biology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kraková
authors.affiliation: Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l'analisi dell'economia agraria, Centro di ricerca per lo studio delle Relazioni tra Pianta e Suolo (CREA-RPS), Rome, Italy.|Life Sciences Department, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK.
authors.forename: Flavia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pinzari
authors.affiliation: Istituto Centrale Restauro e Conservazione Patrimonio Archivistico e Librario (ICRCPAL),MIBACT, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Piero
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Colaizzi
authors.affiliation: Istituto Centrale Restauro e Conservazione Patrimonio Archivistico e Librario (ICRCPAL),MIBACT, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bicchieri
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Biology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Nikoleta
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Šaková
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Biology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia. domenico.pangallo@savba.sk.
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pangallo
mesh_terms: D000535:Aluminum / Q000378:metabolism; D001419:Bacteria / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion; D001483:Base Sequence; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods; D004396:Coloring Agents / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis; D005658:Fungi / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D005780:Gelatin / Q000378:metabolism; D007501:Iron / Q000378:metabolism; D059013:Microbial Consortia; D050296:Microbial Viability; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning / Q000379:methods; D010710:Phosphates / Q000378:metabolism; D010781:Photography; D017680:Potassium Compounds / Q000378:metabolism; D012313:RNA / Q000032:analysis; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D012339:RNA, Ribosomal, 28S / Q000235:genetics; D012834:Silver / Q000378:metabolism; D013052:Spectrometry, X-Ray Emission / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D004396:Coloring Agents; D010710:Phosphates; D017680:Potassium Compounds; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D012339:RNA, Ribosomal, 28S; D012834:Silver; D012313:RNA; D005780:Gelatin; D004247:DNA; C013216:potassium phosphate; D000535:Aluminum; D007501:Iron
keywords: Foxing; Gelatin-silver print; Molds; Nucleic acids analysis; SEM; μ-Raman