Diversity and Biomineralization Potential of the Epilithic Bacterial Communities Inhabiting the Oldest Public Stone Monument of Cluj-Napoca (Transylvania, Romania)
Adrian-Ştefan Andrei, Manuela R. Păuşan, Tudor Tămaş, Nicolae Har, Lucian Barbu-Tudoran, Nicolae Leopold, Horia L. Banciu
Abstract
In this study, we investigated the biomineralization potential and diversity of the epilithic bacterial communities dwelling on the limestone statue of Saint Donatus, the oldest public monument of Cluj-Napoca city (Transylvania region, NW Romania). Their spatial distribution together with phylogenetic and metabolic diversity, as well as their capacity to precipitate calcium carbonate was evaluated by combining molecular and phenotypic fingerprinting methods with X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and scanning electron-microscopy analyses. The results of real-time quantitative PCR, molecular fingerprinting and community-level physiological profiling showed that diverse and abundant bacterial assemblages that differ in relation to their collection site colonized the statue. The cultivation and molecular identification procedures allowed the characterization of 79 bacterial isolates belonging to Proteobacteria (73.4%), Firmicutes (19%), and Actinobacteria (7.6%). Amongst them, the 22 strains identified as being capable of calcium carbonate precipitation were found to belong mostly to Bacillus and Pseudomonas genera. We found that bacteria acted as nucleation sites, inducing the formation of nanoscale aggregates that were shown to be principally composed of vaterite. Furthermore, we expanded the current knowledge on culturable diversity of carbonatogenic bacteria by providing evidence for biogenic vaterite/calcite formation mediated by: Pseudomonas synxantha, P. graminis, Brevibacterium iodinum, Streptomyces albidoflavus, and Stenotrophomonas chelatiphaga. Overall, this study highlights the need to evaluate the carbonatogenetic potential of all the bacterial communities present on stone artwork prior to designing an efficient conservation treatment based on biomineralization.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 2. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 30 March 2017.
All research outputs
#15,400,836
of 22,961,203 outputs
Outputs from Frontiers in Microbiology
#15,195
of 24,999 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#194,100
of 308,002 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Frontiers in Microbiology
#338
of 486 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 22,961,203 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 32nd percentile – i.e., 32% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 24,999 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 6.3. This one is in the 38th percentile – i.e., 38% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 308,002 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 36th percentile – i.e., 36% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 486 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 30th percentile – i.e., 30% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
