Identifying keystone taxa and metabolisms of epilithic biofilms is crucial to the conservation of stone heritage from biodeterioration

BackgroundOutdoor stone heritage accounts for a large portion of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and is an essential carrier of the ancient civilization of our society. Unfortunately, they usually suffer from serious biodeterioration by diverse microbial colonizers, especially when the environment is av...

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Main Authors: Chenchen Ma, Xiaoying Zhang, Fasi Wu, Xiaobo Liu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-05-01
Series:Frontiers in Microbiology
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2025.1600865/full
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author Chenchen Ma
Xiaoying Zhang
Fasi Wu
Xiaobo Liu
author_facet Chenchen Ma
Xiaoying Zhang
Fasi Wu
Xiaobo Liu
author_sort Chenchen Ma
collection DOAJ
description BackgroundOutdoor stone heritage accounts for a large portion of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and is an essential carrier of the ancient civilization of our society. Unfortunately, they usually suffer from serious biodeterioration by diverse microbial colonizers, especially when the environment is available. As microbial communities evolve with the environment, it is important to link the bio-deteriogens to biodeterioration processes accurately.MethodsWe used an integrative high-throughput sequencing and comparative metabolomic approach to unravel the biodeterioration of the Leizhou Stone Dog monuments.ResultsThe divergence and similarity of the composition of microbial biofilms colonizing the monuments indicated that photoautotrophic bacteria (e.g., Leptolyngbya, Chroococcidiopsis, and Chloroplast) and nitrifying archaea (e.g., the family Nitrososphaeraceae) and/or bacteria (e.g., Massilia and Bacillus) are the keystone taxa governing the biodeterioration processes. Further, the correlation between the keystone taxa and physicochemical properties confirmed the consistency of the observations of the keystone metabolisms involved in the biodeterioration processes.ConclusionOur study highlights the necessity of a case-by-case diagnosis of the keystone taxa and metabolisms before any therapy, advancing the conservation science of cultural heritage.
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spelling doaj-art-06f7ba35af1a4e659330455f985677692025-08-20T02:33:43ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Microbiology1664-302X2025-05-011610.3389/fmicb.2025.16008651600865Identifying keystone taxa and metabolisms of epilithic biofilms is crucial to the conservation of stone heritage from biodeteriorationChenchen Ma0Xiaoying Zhang1Fasi Wu2Xiaobo Liu3School of Environmental and Biological Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, ChinaSchool of Environmental and Biological Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, ChinaDepartment of Conservation Research, National Research Center for Conservation of Ancient Wall Paintings and Earthen Sites, Dunhuang Academy, Dunhuang, ChinaSchool of Environmental and Biological Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, ChinaBackgroundOutdoor stone heritage accounts for a large portion of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and is an essential carrier of the ancient civilization of our society. Unfortunately, they usually suffer from serious biodeterioration by diverse microbial colonizers, especially when the environment is available. As microbial communities evolve with the environment, it is important to link the bio-deteriogens to biodeterioration processes accurately.MethodsWe used an integrative high-throughput sequencing and comparative metabolomic approach to unravel the biodeterioration of the Leizhou Stone Dog monuments.ResultsThe divergence and similarity of the composition of microbial biofilms colonizing the monuments indicated that photoautotrophic bacteria (e.g., Leptolyngbya, Chroococcidiopsis, and Chloroplast) and nitrifying archaea (e.g., the family Nitrososphaeraceae) and/or bacteria (e.g., Massilia and Bacillus) are the keystone taxa governing the biodeterioration processes. Further, the correlation between the keystone taxa and physicochemical properties confirmed the consistency of the observations of the keystone metabolisms involved in the biodeterioration processes.ConclusionOur study highlights the necessity of a case-by-case diagnosis of the keystone taxa and metabolisms before any therapy, advancing the conservation science of cultural heritage.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2025.1600865/fullbiodeteriorationepilithic biofilmsstone heritagekeystone taxaheritage conservation
spellingShingle Chenchen Ma
Xiaoying Zhang
Fasi Wu
Xiaobo Liu
Identifying keystone taxa and metabolisms of epilithic biofilms is crucial to the conservation of stone heritage from biodeterioration
Frontiers in Microbiology
biodeterioration
epilithic biofilms
stone heritage
keystone taxa
heritage conservation
title Identifying keystone taxa and metabolisms of epilithic biofilms is crucial to the conservation of stone heritage from biodeterioration
title_full Identifying keystone taxa and metabolisms of epilithic biofilms is crucial to the conservation of stone heritage from biodeterioration
title_fullStr Identifying keystone taxa and metabolisms of epilithic biofilms is crucial to the conservation of stone heritage from biodeterioration
title_full_unstemmed Identifying keystone taxa and metabolisms of epilithic biofilms is crucial to the conservation of stone heritage from biodeterioration
title_short Identifying keystone taxa and metabolisms of epilithic biofilms is crucial to the conservation of stone heritage from biodeterioration
title_sort identifying keystone taxa and metabolisms of epilithic biofilms is crucial to the conservation of stone heritage from biodeterioration
topic biodeterioration
epilithic biofilms
stone heritage
keystone taxa
heritage conservation
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2025.1600865/full
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