Abstract
Stone biodeterioration by cyanobacteria is a common issue in the field of cultural heritage. As they are considered the first stone colonizers, the need to control their growth has increased. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of kappa/iota carrageenans from the red seaweed Chondracanthus teedei var. lusitanicus against the limestone proliferation of the cyanobacterium Parakomarekiella sesnandensis, under laboratory conditions. For this purpose, 200 μL of kappa/iota carrageenans (0.01 g mL−1) were applied into the surface of the limestone replicas prior to their inoculation with P. sesnandensis. Results were evaluated after 4 months of incubation through visual inspection, stereomicroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and colorimetric analyses. The gathered data demonstrated that these types of carrageenans have the potential to reduce the colonization of P. sesnandensis. With one sole application, the aesthetical alterations caused by the proliferation of P. sesnandensis were drastically reduced. This study highlights the need to explore marine-based products, particularly those derived from seaweeds with antimicrobial properties, as alternative methods for biocleaning cultural heritage assets.
Highlights
Microalgae and cyanobacteria are photosynthetic organisms capable of colonizing aquatic, as well as a variety of terrestrial habitats, including barks of trees, soils and stone substrates [1]
The results obtained in this study demonstrated that, with just one application of
Visual examination demonstrated that in the non-treated stone replicas (Figure 1a,b), P. sesnandensis was able to colonize a more extensive area than in stone replicas submitted to carrageenans treatment (Figure 1c,d)
Summary
Microalgae and cyanobacteria are photosynthetic organisms capable of colonizing aquatic, as well as a variety of terrestrial habitats, including barks of trees, soils and stone substrates [1]. The majority of these procedures often involve the use of chemicals (biocides) that might cause even more damage to the substrata and/or do not produce long-lasting results, in addition to their potential negative impact in terms of environment and human health [10,11,12]. For this reason, there is an increased interest in the use of more eco-friendly, long-lasting and cost-effective treatments based on natural products derived from microorganisms and plants [11,12]. As progress with the use of natural compounds as biocide treatments has been made, to the best of our knowledge, there are still a variety of products, marine-derived compounds, largely unexplored in cultural heritage studies
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