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Lead soaps formation and biodiversity in a XVIII Century wax seal coloured with minium |
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| Authors: | Katarína Šoltys Matej Planý Paola Biocca Valentina Vianello Mária Bučková Andrea Puškárová Maria Carla Sclocchi Piero Colaizzi Marina Bicchieri Domenico Pangallo Flavia Pinzari |
| Institution: | 1. Comenius University in Bratislava, Comenius University Science Park, Ilkovičova 8, Bratislava, 84104 Slovakia
Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Molecular Biology, Comenius University in Bratislava, Mlynská dolina Ilkovičova 6, Bratislava, 84215 Slovakia;2. Institute of Molecular Biology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 21, Bratislava, 84551 Slovakia;3. Department of Chemistry, Istituto centrale restauro conservazione patrimonio archivistico librario, Via Milano 76, 00184, Roma, Italy;4. Department of Restoration, Istituto centrale restauro conservazione patrimonio archivistico librario, Via Milano 76, 00184, Roma, Italy;5. Department of Biology, Istituto centrale restauro conservazione patrimonio archivistico librario, Via Milano 76, 00184, Roma, Italy;6. Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, Research Centre for Agriculture and Environment, Via della Navicella 2-4, 00184, Rome, Italy Life Sciences Department, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, SW7 5BD, London, UK |
| Abstract: | A multidisciplinary approach was carried out in order to study the biodeterioration and the associated microbiome of a XVIII Century wax seal coloured with minium. A small wax seal fragment was observed by scanning electron microscopy combined with energy dispersive spectroscopy in non-destructive mode. The same object was analysed by Raman and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The identification of the microbiota growing on the seal was performed with both a culture-dependent strategy, combined with hydrolytic assays, and high-throughput sequencing using the MinION platform. The whole bacterial 16S rRNA gene and the fungal markers ITS and 28S rRNA were targeted. It was observed that the carnauba wax coloured with lead tetroxide (minium) was covered by a biofilm consisting of a network of filaments and other structures of microbial origin. The culture-dependent and culture-independent investigations showed the presence of a complex microbiota composed mainly by fungal members, which demonstrated interesting properties related to lipids and lead processing. The formation of lead soaps and secondary biogenic minerals was also described. |
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