ORCID Profile
0000-0002-2444-1295
Current Organisations
University of Oxford
,
University of Cambridge
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Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2012
DOI: 10.1016/J.MIMET.2012.09.022
Abstract: Building stone provides a habitat for an array of microorganisms, many of which have been demonstrated to have a deleterious effect on the appearance and/or structural integrity of stone masonry. It is essential to understand the composition and structure of stone-dwelling (lithobiontic) microbial communities if successful stone conservation strategies are to be applied, particularly in the face of global environmental change. Ideally, the techniques used to s le such assemblages should be non-destructive due to the sensitive conservation status of many stone buildings. This paper quantitatively assesses the performance of sterile adhesive tape as a non-destructive s ling technique and compares the results of tape s ling with an alternative, destructive, s ling method. We used DNA fingerprinting (TRFLP) to characterise the algal, fungal and bacterial communities living on a stone slab. Our results demonstrate that tape s ling may be used to collect viable quantities of microbial DNA from environmental s les. This technique is ideally suited to the s ling of microbial biofilms, particularly when these communities are dominated by green algae. It provides a good approximation of total community ersity (i.e. the aggregate ersity of epilithic and endolithic communities). Tape s ling is straightforward, rapid and cost effective. When combined with molecular analytical techniques, this s ling method has the potential to make a major contribution to efforts to understand the structure of lithobiontic microbial communities and our ability to predict the response of such communities to future environmental change.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2013
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2007
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2001
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 26-06-2002
DOI: 10.1016/S0048-9697(01)01124-X
Abstract: The British National Materials Exposure Programme (N.M.E.P.) ran from 1987 to 1995 and involved exposure of a range of materials s les (including tablets of Monks Park and Portland Limestones) at over 20 sites around Britain for 1-, 2-, 4- and 8-year periods, under known climate and pollution conditions. Deterioration of the limestone tablets has previously been recorded in terms of weight change, contents of soluble salts, and visual soiling. In the present study s les from exposed and sheltered positions at Wells, Bolsover and Lough Navar have been studied using a spectrophotometer, optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to investigate the distribution and nature of particulate material and its role in soiling and decay. Clearly, recognisable pollutant particles such as perforated cenospheres, are only rarely present. Organisms and organic remains, including filamentous microorganisms and pollen grains, are widely distributed. At each site, soiling has different characteristics in terms of composition and change over time related in part to differences in climate and pollution histories. There is no general link between degree of soiling and amount of decay (in terms of surface recession) as the nature of decay is a key influence on the relation between soiling and decay.
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
No related grants have been discovered for Heather Viles.