NMR Studies of Fossilized Wood

International audienc

Prokaryotic diversity in biodeteriorated wood coming from the Bükkábrány fossil forest

The oldest standing paleo-forest in the world is located at Bükkábrány in Hungary. Some 7 million years ago a sudden and rapid deposition of sands from a prograding delta resulted in rise of the level of Lake Pannon that covered the landscape. The flood created an anoxic burial environment which preserved unmineralised tree trunks to the present day. Examination of wood sample coming from these trunks using light and scanning electron microscopy revealed extended wood biodeterioration. Culture-independent molecular methods were used to study prokaryotic diversity present in biodeteriorated wood. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S gene clone libraries and 454 pyrosequencing analysis revealed the presence of prokaryotes, including methylotrophic bacteria and bacteria that could be members of the indigenous microbiota found inside the trunk. The rest of identified bacteria are commonly isolated from freshwater habitats possibly reflecting the shift of bacterial biota that occurred in the wood and its close environment after the rise of Lake Pannon. Moreover Archaea were detected in biodeteriorated wood for the first time. The detection of Archaea raises for the first time the question of their possible implication in wood biodeterioration as well as their possible interactions with bacterial communities that colonize wood. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd

Microbial diversity in biodeteriorated Greek historical documents dating back to the 19th and 20th century: A case study

Paper documents in archives, libraries, and museums often undergo biodeterioration by microorganisms. Fungi and less often bacteria have been described to advance paper staining, so called “foxing” and degradation of paper substrates. In this study, for the first time, the fungal and bacterial diversity in biodeteriorated paper documents of Hellenic General State Archives dating back to the 19th and 20th century has been assessed by culture-dependent and independent methods. The internally transcribed spacer (ITS) region and 16S rRNA gene were amplified by PCR from fungal and bacterial isolates and amplicons were sequenced. Sequence analysis and phylogeny revealed fungal phylotypes like Penicillium sp., Cladosporium sp., Penicillium citrinum, Alternaria infectoria, Alternaria alternata, Epicoccum nigrum, and Penicillium chrysogenum which are often implicated in paper deterioration. Bacterial phylotypes closely related to known biodeteriogenic bacteria such as Bacillus spp., Micrococcus spp., Kocuria sp. in accordance with previous studies were characterized. Among the fungal phylotypes described in this study are included well-known allergens such as Penicillium spp., Alternaria spp., and Cladosporium spp. that impose a serious health threat on staff members and scholars. Furthermore, fungal isolates such as Chalastospora gossypii and Trametes ochracea have been identified and implicated in biodeterioration of historical paper manuscripts in this study for the first time. Certain new or less known fungi and bacteria implicated in paper degradation were retrieved, indicating that particular ambient conditions, substrate chemistry, or even location might influence the composition of colonizing microbiota. © 2018 The Authors. MicrobiologyOpen published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Volos in the Middle Ages: A Proposal for the Rescue of a Cultural Heritage

In this paper the history of the ‘unknown’ Medieval Volos will be studied and an attempt will be made to promote the cultural heritage of the Byzantine era. The effort will be completed with the proposal to create a thematic museum in the area of the Castle of Palea and a cultural route through the points of interest we have identified. The aim of the survey is to create a tourist attraction and thus to improve cultural tourism. Furthermore, knowing the history of our region means to know the evolution followed by the society. This is important because many people ignore the history of this period. For the region of Volos we have a lot of historical evidence for earlier historical periods, such as Neolithic and Classical. However, it remains unknown what happened in the region during the medieval period from the 4th to the 15th century AD. © 2019, Springer Nature Switzerland AG