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Identification of bacterial communities on different surface materials of museum artefacts using high throughput sequencing

Saridaki Aggeliki, Katsivela Eleftheria, Glytsos Theodoros, Tsiamis George, Violaki Evaggelia, Kaloutsakis Agisilaos, Kalogerakis Nikos, Lazaridis Michail

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Summary

Bacteria represent a well-established source of art objects biodeterioration, often resulting in aesthetical deterioration of the surface, chemical corrosion or mechanical damage. The present study investigated the bacterial communities present on the surface of museum artefacts made of wood, marble, painted plaster (fresco), two paintings coated with synthetic resin, as well as passive filters exposed for one year using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. High variation of bacterial composition and diversity was observed between different objects sampled. A hundred and fifty-five operational taxonomic units (OTUs) classified into a hundred and one genera were identified. Sixty-one out of these genera were common among all samples and accounted for 67.3–89.3% of total relative abundance. Paracoccus was the most abundant genus in all art objects except the ones made of marble and painted plaster, where Modestobacter and Streptococcus dominated respectively. Fresco was the artefact with the lowest species richness and bacterial diversity, yet a high variation of the bacterial profile was observed across its surface. Statistical analysis showed that significantly different clusters were formed when samples were grouped considering the surface material. Samples corresponding to the same surface material but collected from different exhibition halls, did not form statistically different clusters. Forty-six OTUs were identified as discriminant taxa of the surface materials under investigation. The presented data demonstrate the direct impact of the surface material on the bacterial profile of museum artefacts.

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