Natural biopatina on historical petroglyphs in the Austrian Alps: To clean or not to clean?

Laura Rabbachin; Guadalupe Piñar; Irit Nir; Ariel Kushmaro; Elisabeth Eitenberger; Monika Waldherr; Alexandra Graf; Katja Sterflinger

doi:10.1016/j.ibiod.2023.105632

Natural biopatina on historical petroglyphs in the Austrian Alps: To clean or not to clean?

Laura Rabbachin, Guadalupe Piñar, Irit Nir, Ariel Kushmaro, Elisabeth Eitenberger, Monika Waldherr, Alexandra Graf, Katja Sterflinger

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Some of Austria's most important petroglyphs are located in the alpine region of Dachstein, carved in the local limestone. Favored by the humid and shady environment, most of the engravings are covered by extensive biological colonization. In order to assess whether and to what extent the biopatinas present on the stone cause biodeterioration, we investigated their interactions with the rock substrate by microscopy methods (and PAS-staining), in combination with a metagenomic analysis to identify the biofilms' composition. The microscopy methods highlighted a general biodeterioration state of the stone and the great boring ability of the biofilms, especially of those with filamentous cyanobacteria (e.g., Nostocales and Oscillatoriales), and showed that a thick moss biofilm (with high abundance of Bacteroidota taxa) was the most harmful for the stone support, causing severe disruption of the underlying rock. Interestingly, the analysis of stone without visible biofilm revealed a microbiome dominated by ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOAs), probably indicating the presence of a previous degraded biofilm (source of ammonia), and a current state of deterioration (dissolution of calcium carbonate). Removal of the biopatinas, or their alteration, would expose an already altered surface, potentially giving rise to a new colonization and new cycles of biodeterioration.

Original language	English
Article number	105632
Journal	International Biodeterioration and Biodegradation
Volume	183
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibiod.2023.105632
State	Published - Sep 2023
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF - Der Wissenschaftsfonds) project I 4748-B “Stone cultural heritage in Austria and Israel”.The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests:Laura Rabbachin reports financial support was provided by Austrian Science Fund.The authors gratefully acknowledge the Austrian Science Fund (FWF, Der Wissenschaftsfonds) and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), Israel for funding the project. We would also like to acknowledge the Ilse Katz Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev for WDXRF and XRD analyses. Finally, we would like to thank the district manager of the Kemetgebirge forest district, Andreas Pircher (Austrian Federal Forests), and our mountain guide Manfred Lindtner for their great support.

Funding Information:
The authors gratefully acknowledge the Austrian Science Fund (FWF, Der Wissenschaftsfonds) and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), Israel for funding the project. We would also like to acknowledge the Ilse Katz Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev for WDXRF and XRD analyses. Finally, we would like to thank the district manager of the Kemetgebirge forest district, Andreas Pircher (Austrian Federal Forests), and our mountain guide Manfred Lindtner for their great support.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors

Keywords

Biopatinas
Limestone
Metagenomics
Microscopy
Petroglyphs
Stone biodeterioration

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Microbiology
Biomaterials
Waste Management and Disposal

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10.1016/j.ibiod.2023.105632

Cite this

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title = "Natural biopatina on historical petroglyphs in the Austrian Alps: To clean or not to clean?",

abstract = "Some of Austria's most important petroglyphs are located in the alpine region of Dachstein, carved in the local limestone. Favored by the humid and shady environment, most of the engravings are covered by extensive biological colonization. In order to assess whether and to what extent the biopatinas present on the stone cause biodeterioration, we investigated their interactions with the rock substrate by microscopy methods (and PAS-staining), in combination with a metagenomic analysis to identify the biofilms' composition. The microscopy methods highlighted a general biodeterioration state of the stone and the great boring ability of the biofilms, especially of those with filamentous cyanobacteria (e.g., Nostocales and Oscillatoriales), and showed that a thick moss biofilm (with high abundance of Bacteroidota taxa) was the most harmful for the stone support, causing severe disruption of the underlying rock. Interestingly, the analysis of stone without visible biofilm revealed a microbiome dominated by ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOAs), probably indicating the presence of a previous degraded biofilm (source of ammonia), and a current state of deterioration (dissolution of calcium carbonate). Removal of the biopatinas, or their alteration, would expose an already altered surface, potentially giving rise to a new colonization and new cycles of biodeterioration.",

keywords = "Biopatinas, Limestone, Metagenomics, Microscopy, Petroglyphs, Stone biodeterioration",

author = "Laura Rabbachin and Guadalupe Pi{\~n}ar and Irit Nir and Ariel Kushmaro and Elisabeth Eitenberger and Monika Waldherr and Alexandra Graf and Katja Sterflinger",

note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF - Der Wissenschaftsfonds) project I 4748-B “Stone cultural heritage in Austria and Israel”.The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests:Laura Rabbachin reports financial support was provided by Austrian Science Fund.The authors gratefully acknowledge the Austrian Science Fund (FWF, Der Wissenschaftsfonds) and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), Israel for funding the project. We would also like to acknowledge the Ilse Katz Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev for WDXRF and XRD analyses. Finally, we would like to thank the district manager of the Kemetgebirge forest district, Andreas Pircher (Austrian Federal Forests), and our mountain guide Manfred Lindtner for their great support. Funding Information: The authors gratefully acknowledge the Austrian Science Fund (FWF, Der Wissenschaftsfonds) and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), Israel for funding the project. We would also like to acknowledge the Ilse Katz Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev for WDXRF and XRD analyses. Finally, we would like to thank the district manager of the Kemetgebirge forest district, Andreas Pircher (Austrian Federal Forests), and our mountain guide Manfred Lindtner for their great support. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 The Authors",

year = "2023",

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doi = "10.1016/j.ibiod.2023.105632",

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T2 - To clean or not to clean?

AU - Rabbachin, Laura

AU - Piñar, Guadalupe

AU - Nir, Irit

AU - Kushmaro, Ariel

AU - Eitenberger, Elisabeth

AU - Waldherr, Monika

AU - Graf, Alexandra

AU - Sterflinger, Katja

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF - Der Wissenschaftsfonds) project I 4748-B “Stone cultural heritage in Austria and Israel”.The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests:Laura Rabbachin reports financial support was provided by Austrian Science Fund.The authors gratefully acknowledge the Austrian Science Fund (FWF, Der Wissenschaftsfonds) and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), Israel for funding the project. We would also like to acknowledge the Ilse Katz Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev for WDXRF and XRD analyses. Finally, we would like to thank the district manager of the Kemetgebirge forest district, Andreas Pircher (Austrian Federal Forests), and our mountain guide Manfred Lindtner for their great support. Funding Information: The authors gratefully acknowledge the Austrian Science Fund (FWF, Der Wissenschaftsfonds) and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), Israel for funding the project. We would also like to acknowledge the Ilse Katz Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev for WDXRF and XRD analyses. Finally, we would like to thank the district manager of the Kemetgebirge forest district, Andreas Pircher (Austrian Federal Forests), and our mountain guide Manfred Lindtner for their great support. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors

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N2 - Some of Austria's most important petroglyphs are located in the alpine region of Dachstein, carved in the local limestone. Favored by the humid and shady environment, most of the engravings are covered by extensive biological colonization. In order to assess whether and to what extent the biopatinas present on the stone cause biodeterioration, we investigated their interactions with the rock substrate by microscopy methods (and PAS-staining), in combination with a metagenomic analysis to identify the biofilms' composition. The microscopy methods highlighted a general biodeterioration state of the stone and the great boring ability of the biofilms, especially of those with filamentous cyanobacteria (e.g., Nostocales and Oscillatoriales), and showed that a thick moss biofilm (with high abundance of Bacteroidota taxa) was the most harmful for the stone support, causing severe disruption of the underlying rock. Interestingly, the analysis of stone without visible biofilm revealed a microbiome dominated by ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOAs), probably indicating the presence of a previous degraded biofilm (source of ammonia), and a current state of deterioration (dissolution of calcium carbonate). Removal of the biopatinas, or their alteration, would expose an already altered surface, potentially giving rise to a new colonization and new cycles of biodeterioration.

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KW - Metagenomics

KW - Microscopy

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Natural biopatina on historical petroglyphs in the Austrian Alps: To clean or not to clean?

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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