LECTURE: Anna Gorbushina (BAM – Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing & Free University of Berlin), Microbes, Monuments and the Environmental Change: Microbiological Side of Material Sciences, Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (Room 1), Warburgstraße 26, Hamburg, Thursday, 3 July 2014 at 6 pm.
Cultural heritage objects (e.g. stone monuments) are exposed to natural and man-made hazards for considerable time spans and we would like to preserve them unaltered for even longer periods. On the other hand, there is a growing concern that living ecosystems respond to anthropogenic changes of environment not only by gradual changes, but also by abrupt stage shifts. In favorable environmental conditions microscopic growth accumulations dominated by microorganisms develop on all material/atmosphere interfaces and are referred to as “subaerial biofilms”. These biofilms are frequently dominated by microbes that play an important role in the biodeterioration of objects made of organic (wood, polymers, paper and textiles) as well as inorganic materials (stones, glass and metals).
The microbial diversity of these biofilms represents an equilibrated multi-component ecosystem sensitively reacting to all environmental and material-dependent factors. All parts of these communities react to such external changes as (i) microclimatic conditions and (ii) organic deposition from the material, the restoration treatment or the atmosphere/environment. These changes can be sensitively monitored and analyzed using up-to-date microbiological and molecular biological methods. Our special concern is given to the bioindicative and biodeteriorative potential of these unique material-bound microbial communities which will be discussed in this presentation.