| |
The STUDIA UNIVERSITATIS BABEŞ-BOLYAI issue article summary
The summary of the selected article appears at the bottom of the page. In order to get back to the contents of the issue this article belongs to you have to access the link from the title. In order to see all the articles of the archive which have as author/co-author one of the authors mentioned below, you have to access the link from the author's name. |
|
| |
Abstract: The Humor Monastery located in Suceava County, Romania has been included since 1993 in the UNESCO heritage, as a cultural site. Due to the presence of efflorescences and improper microclimate conditions for conservation, pink pigmented areas showed on the wall surface, both in the prenave of the monastery and in the Burial Chamber, up to a height of 0,7 m from the ground.
The aims of the present study were to establish the origin of pink pigmentation and to test colloidal solutions of gold and silver nanoparticles in order to establish a decontamination strategy for the affected areas and a treatment to prevent future colonisations. Moderately halophilic and halotolerant bacterial strains were isolated from samples of infilling mortar. They were morphologically characterised by optical microscopy and SEM, tested for salinity, pH and temperature optimal values for growth, enzyme synthesis, antibiotic susceptibility and capacity to form biofilms. The pigments produced by the isolated bacterial strains were extracted for FT-IR analysis, and some vegetal origin colloidal silver and gold nanoparticle solutions were tested for their inhibitory effect on the biodeteriogens growth. Based on the results obtained we suggest a bacterial origin of the pink discoloration responsible for the biodeterioration process in Humor Monastery. The efficiency of silver nanoparticles, obtained from white strawberry callus extract, in inhibiting the growth of carotenoid-producing halotolerant strains recommends them for decontamination treatment and for incorporation into infilling mortars used in restoration in order to prevent the biodeterioration process.
Keywords: biofilm, biopigmentation, halophiles, Humor Monastery |
|
