molds in museum environments: biodeterioration of art photographs and wooden sculptures

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  • 8/11/2019 MOLDS IN MUSEUM ENVIRONMENTS: BIODETERIORATION OF ART PHOTOGRAPHS AND WOODEN SCULPTURES

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    Arch. Biol. Sci., Belgrade, 65 (3), 955-962, 2013 DOI:10.2298/ABS1303955G

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    MOLDS IN MUSEUM ENVIRONMENTS: BIODETERIORATION OF ART PHOTOGRAPHS

    AND WOODEN SCULPTURES

    MILICA LJALJEVI GRBI*1, M. SUPAR1, JELENA VUKOJEVI1, IVANA MARII2andNAAA BUNGUR1

    1 University of Belgrade, Faculty of Biology, Institute of Botany and Botanical Garden Jevremovac, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia2Museum of Contemporary Art, Ue 10, Blok 15, 11070 Novi Beograd, Belgrade, Serbia

    Abstract - Pieces o art stored in museum depots and display rooms are subject to ungal colonization that leads to bio-deterioration processes. Deteriorated wooden sculptures and art photographs temporarily stored in the quarantine room

    o the Cultural Center o Belgrade were subject to mycological analyses. welve ungal species were identified on thewooden substratum and five species were detected on photograph suraces. Trichoderma viride, Chaetomium globosumandAlternariasp. were the ungi with proven cellulolytic activity detected on the examined cellulose substrata. Indoor airmycobiota were estimated to 210.09 8.06 CFU m-3, and the conidia o ungusAspergillus nigerwere the dominant ungalpropagules in the air o the examined room.

    Key words:art objects, biodeterioration, cellulose substrata, ungi, indoor air, museum environment.

    INRODUCION

    Te ungal colonization o pieces o art presented indisplay rooms o museums, galleries or stored in de-pots is nowadays a significant problem or culturalheritage conservators (Sterflinger, 2010). Pieces oart are made o all types o organic and inorganicmaterials. It is well known that ungi are capableo colonizing, altering and degrading all kinds omaterials, and pieces o art are no exception. Tereare many reports concerning the ungal deteriora-tion o art objects such as paintings (Vukojevi andLjaljevi Grbi, 2011), stone monuments and mason-ry (Ljaljevi Grbi et al., 2010), wooden sculptures(Fazio et al., 2011), paper and parchment materials(Cappiteli and Sorlini, 2005), cinematographic films(Abrusci et al., 2005), textiles (Szostak-Kotowa, 2004)etc. Viable ungi isolated rom pieces o art presentedin an indoor environment in most cases come rom

    the indoor air. Te dominant ungal structures in in-door air are the conidia o mitosporic ungi (Florian,2002). Fungi can be introduced into an indoor envi-ronment such as museum depots through transportby workers and visitors via their bodies, clothes andcarried items or with outdoor air through naturalgates such as doors and windows (Niesler et al.,2010). Incorrectly operating air-conditioning systemmay also be a source o ungal propagules (LjaljeviGrbi et al., 2008). Te presence o ungal propagulesin indoor air causes adverse health effects, especial-ly allergies and asthma (Bush and Portnoy, 2001).When ungal propagules in an indoor environmentsettle on different surace conidia germination andmycelia ormation can occur. Te key actors that de-termine the germination and growth o ungi are thechemical and structural composition and water ac-tivity o the substratum and prevailing environmen-tal actors o temperature, gas composition, pH and

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    956 MILICA LJALJEVI GRBI E AL.

    light (Saiz-Jimenez, 1993). A ungal inestation on apiece o art contains ungal structures and metabolic

    products, such as enzymes, citric acid cycle products,secondary metabolites, pigments, odors, etc. Mate-rials colonized by ungi usually undergo changes intheir chemical and physical characteristics (Florian,2002). Fungal inestation on pieces o art leads to bi-odeterioration and must not be neglected due to theincreasing aesthetic value o art objects as well as theimpact on health o conservators.

    MAERIALS AND MEHODS

    Case report

    Te collection consisted o deteriorated art photo-graphs (Fig. 1B), 24 pieces o two artworks Skyand Earth made by the eminent photographerAleksandar Raajlovi (part o the collection o theMuseum o Contemporary Art in Belgrade), wood-en sculptures (Fig. 1A) made by the artist MarkoCrnobrnja as well as different textile and terracottaartworks. Te deteriorated wooden sculptures and

    photographs were subjected to mycological analyses.Te artworks were sent to Istanbul (urkey) or an

    exhibition, Belgrades experience: Te October Sa-lon, as reputable pieces o contemporary art in Ser-bia. During the process o preparing the exhibitionIstanbul was devastated by a flood and seawater seri-ously impaired the condition o the photographs andsculptures and they lost their artistic value. Te sam-pling took place in a quarantine room o the CulturalCenter o Belgrade (CCB) where the deteriorated artobjects were temporarily stored.

    Sampling of aeromycobiota

    Sampling o aeromycobiota was carried out in a tem-porary quarantine room o the CCB by the passivesedimentation method described by Omeliansky(1940). Petri dishes containing malt extract agar(MEA) were placed open at approximately 2 m abovethe floor and were exposed or 30 min. Te antibioticstreptomycin was added during the preparation othe medium in order to suppress bacterial growth.Afer 7 days o cultivation at 25C the ungal colo-

    Fig. 1.Sampling objects or mycological analyses. A. Educational sculpture by Marko Crnobrnja, B. Art photograph rom collectionEarth by Aleksandar Raajlovi.

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    MOLDS IN MUSEUM ENVIRONMENS 957

    nies were counted. Te CFU (colony-orming unit)number per cubic meter o air (CFU m -3) was esti-

    mated according to Omelyanskys ormula:N=5a x 104(bt)-1

    where N is ungal CFU m-3, a is the number o un-gal colonies per Petri dish, b is the Petri dish surace(cm2), t is the exposure time (min). Relative ungaldistribution was conducted according to Smith (1980)i.e. the number o colonies o genera or species/totalnumber o colonies o all genera or species x 100.

    Sampling of surface mycobiota

    According to the suraces, the examined sampleswere classified as photographic paper and woodensamples. Sampling was perormed rom 2 cm2 oeach photograph and each wooden sculpture withsterile cotton swabs.

    Isolation and identification of fungi

    Te swabs were immersed and homogenized in asterile physiological solution and serial dilutions were

    made. Each dilution was inoculated (0.1 ml) on MEAwith streptomycin added. Afer 7 days o cultivationat 25C, identification o the ungi was perormed.Cultural and micromorphological characteristics oungal colonies were observed and identification wasperormed using identification keys (Ainsworth etal., 1973; Arx, 1974; Ellis and Ellis, 1997; Pitt, 1979;Raper, and Fennel 1965; Samson et al., 2004).

    RESULS

    Te ungal concentration o air in the quarantineroom o the CCB was estimated at 210.09 8.06 CFUm-3. Te prevailing ungal species documented in theair wasAspergillus niger iegh (62.5%), ollowed byNeurospora crassa Shear & B.O. Dodge (25%) andTrichoderma viridePers. (12.5%) (Fig 2).

    Te examined objects in quarantine room o theCCB showed clear signs o biodeterioration. Super-ficial colonies o ungi were clearly visible and abun-

    dant on the wooden sculptures and boxes (Fig 3A, B,

    C). Te lightening o original dyes and discolorationphenomena occurred on some parts o the photo-graphs (Fig. 3D).

    A total o 16 ungal species were identified romall analyzed samples with 12 taxa identified on thewooden substratum, ollowed by 5 taxa identifiedon photographs (able 1, Fig. 4). Fungi documentedon the wooden substratum belonged to the generaAbsidia, Alternaria, Aspergillus, Chaetomium, Neu-rospora, Penicillium, Rhizopus, Syncephalastrumand

    Trichoderma (Fig 4.), while Fusarium, Humicola,Paecilomyces, Trichoderma and Ulocladium specieswere isolated rom the photographs (Fig. 4).

    Te most abundant group o ungi, regardlesso the substratum, was Hyphomycetes with 11 taxa.Absidia corymbifera (Cohn) Sacc. & rotter, Rhizo-pus stolonifer (Ehrenb.) Vuill. and Syncephalastrumracemosum Cohn were Zygomycetes identified onwooden substratum. Chaetomium globosum Kunzeand Neurospora crassawere the Ascomycetes identi-fied on the wooden substratum. During the cultiva-tion on MEA, the development o Chrysonilia crassa(Shear & B.O. Dodge) Arx, an anamorphic state o N.crassa, was recorded.

    DISCUSSION

    In this investigation, air sampling was done by passivesedimentation, and microbial prevalence was deter-mined using Omelianskys ormula. Although there

    Fig. 2.Relative distribution (%) o ungal species documented inair o quarantine room o the Cultural Center o Belgrade.

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    are no data available to correlate Omelianskys meth-od with other active sampling methods, passive sedi-mentation was used only to compare obtained resultso indoor mycobiota concentration in the quarantineroom o the CCB with international standards o in-door air quality. Omelianskys method is requentlyreported or the estimation o ungal prevalence in

    indoor air. Borrego et al. (2010) used Omelianskysmethod to determine ungal prevalence inside thebuilding o the Photographic Library o the NationalArchive o the Republic o Cuba and o the Histori-cal Archive o the Museum o La Plata. Bogomolovaand Kirtsideli (2009) estimated ungal prevalencein our stations o the St. Petersburg railway under-

    Fig. 3. Biodeterioration o art photographs and wooden sculptures in quarantine room in the Cultural Center o Belgrade. A, B, C. Vis-ible mold growth on wooden substrata. D. Discoloration o photograph.

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    MOLDS IN MUSEUM ENVIRONMENS 959

    ground system using this method. According to therecommendation o the World Health Organization(WHO) rom 1990, the ungal density in an indoorenvironment should be lower than 500 CFU m-3.Te obtained value (210.09 8.06 CFU m-3), whichis only approximate, is below WHO recommenda-tions. However, due to ungal ability to cause the bio-deterioration o art objects deposited in depots andhave a negative impact on human health, this value

    should not be neglected.Aspergillus nigerwas oundto be the dominant air-borne ungus in the air o theCCB quarantine room. Tis species produces small,globose or subglobose conidia up to 5 m in diam-eter which are easily dispersed through the air andsettle on different suraces (Florian, 2002). A. nigeris a common contaminant on various substrates anddue to production o the toxic secondary metabolitesnaphtho--pyrones and malormins (Samson et al.,

    Fig. 4. Fungi isolated rom wooden sculptures and art photographs in temporary quarantine room o the Cultural Center o Belgrade:A.Aspergillus flavus, conidiogenous apparatus B.Aspergillus ochraceus, conidiogenous apparatus C.Absidia corymbifera, sporangio-phores with sporangia D. Penicilliumsp., conidiogenous apparatus E. Chaetomium globosum, perithecia F. Neurospora crassa, conidiachains o o anamorphic state Chrysonilia crassa.

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    2004) as well as the allergens Asp n 14 and Asp n 18(Knutsen et al., 2011), the presence o this ungus inindoor environments is very important.

    Te significantly larger number o ungal taxadocumented on wooden and photographic layer sur-aces than in the air suggested that the initial colo-nization o ungi occurred while the exhibition wasstored in urkey. Flooding damaged the art objectsand increased the water activity (aw) which madethese suraces more suitable or ungal colonization.Abundant superficial ungal colonies were ound onthe suraces o wooden sculptures during in situ ob-servation. Wooden material in museum heritage ob-jects rarely supports active ungal growth unless thesurace has been wet or a period o time (Florian,2002). Opportunistic species that utilize availablesugars, hemicellulose, proteins and amino acids are

    the primary colonizers o wooden objects in art col-lections. Most o the wood-degrading ungi that di-gest cellulose and lignin require a long period o wetconditions in order to colonize successully woodensubstrata (Florian, 2002). Some wood-degradingungi were ound on the wooden sculptures insidethe quarantine room o the CCB. Chaetomium glo-bosumis a sof-rot ungi capable o degrading cellu-lose in the S2 layer o the secondary cell wall o plants(Popescu et al., 2011). Hyphomycetes Trichodermaviride and Alternaria sp. produce a variety o en-zymes capable o hydrolyzing cellulose to glucose(Shafique et al., 2009; Sohail et al., 2011).

    Biodeterioration is a common problem in pho-tograph collections, but only a ew studies havebeen carried out on this topic. Photographs have astratigraphic structure composed o three generic

    Table 1.Fungi isolated rom deteriorated art photograph surace and wooden sculptures in quarantine room o CCB.

    Fungisubstratum

    photographs wooden sculpturesAbsidia corymbifera(Cohn) Sacc. & rotter +

    Alternaria Nees sp. +

    Aspergillus flavusLink +

    Aspergillus nigeriegh +

    Aspergillus ochraceusG. Wilh. +

    Aspergillus repens (L.) Link +

    Chaetomium globosumKunze +

    Fusarium Link sp. +

    Humicola raaen sp. +

    Neurospora crassaShear & B.O. Dodge +

    Paecilomyces variotii Bainier +

    Penicillium verrucosumDierckx +

    Rhizopus stolonifer(Ehrenb.) Vuill. +

    Syncephalastrum racemosumCohn +

    Trichoderma viridePers. + +

    Ulocladium Preusssp. +

    otal 5 12

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    MOLDS IN MUSEUM ENVIRONMENS 961

    components: paper support, image orming materi-als, and gelatin as a binder. Te most biosusceptible

    photographic materials are the gelatin and the paper,because they are organic and hygroscopic (Lourenoand Sampaio, 2009). Some external materials, suchas dust, grease rom fingerprints and glues, are im-portant actors in encouraging microbial develop-ment on photographs (Eaton, 1985). Many filamen-tous ungi exhibit cellulolytic and proteolytic activ-ity and they are capable o degrading the paper sup-port and gelatin binder o photographs. In the casepresented here, it can be concluded that inestationo photographs occurred afer the flood in urkey.Te microungi identified on the photographic sur-

    aces were the causative agents o biodeterioration.According to Borego et al. (2010), the main causeo the biodeterioration o the photograph collec-tions in the Photographic Library o the NationalArchive o the Republic o Cuba and in the Histori-cal Archive o the Museum La Plata were the yeastsand filamentous ungi oAspergillusand Penicilliumgenera.

    It can be concluded that the irreversible changesin the analyzed artworks was caused by ungal ines-

    tation. Due to the total devastation o the examinedartworks, the collections were destroyed becauseo their complete loss o artistic value. In addition,contaminated artwork collections could be potentialsource or the spread o inestation to surroundingartworks and environment.

    Acknowledgments - Tis work is a part o research realizedwithin the project No.173032 financially supported by theMinistry o Education and Science o the Republic o Serbia.Te authors are very grateul to Biljana ipeti, MSc, or herprecious collaboration, constructive advice and suggestions.

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