Ecological and genetical diversity of black fungus- Aspergillus sp. inhabiting stone monuments of Mughal dynasty in Agra (UP) analysed by RAPD method

Abstract

Biodeterioration is an inevitable degradation inflicted to the soil of buildings by microbial colonisation. Due to their tremendous enzymatic behaviour and their capacity to cultivate fungi, sculptures, cement and other items used for ancient works of art may be occupied and decayed. Culture-independent techniques have been utilized globally today, and microbial work that focuses entirely on approaches to cultivation cannot be deemed accurate. Using RAPD analysis, the microbial variability and community characteristic of isolated microorganisms is identifiable. Our work aims to identify the filamentous fungi that colonize the different sampling sites using the RAPD method to explore the diversity and occurrence patterns of the filamentous fungi that colonize different stone monuments. Out of the fifteen primers used, the average number of fragments detected is 8.73 and 8.47 and average no. of polymorphic fragments is 6.80 and 6.06 for Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus fumigatus, respectively.