Characterization of microbial communities in pest colonized books by molecular biology tools

Abstract

This work presents the identification of bacteria and fungi colonies in insect infesting books, by cultural-independent methodologies based on molecular biology techniques. Microbial genomic DNA extraction, in vitro amplification of specific target sequences by polymerase chain reactions (PCR), sequencing and sequence analysis were performed. These procedures minimized the samples amount, optimized the diagnostic studies on bacteria and fungi colonization and allowed the identification of many species also in complex microbial consortia. The molecular techniques for sure accomplish and integrate the microbiological standard methods (in vitro culture) and morphological analyses (OM, SEM, CLSM), in order to understand the role of microorganisms in bio-deterioration of cultural assets. This monitoring is also indispensable to shed light on the risk for visitors and/or professionals to contract potential illnesses within indoor environments.