Bio-Archive of Cultural Heritage Microbiomes for Sustainable Conservation in the Multi-Omics Era

Abstract

Cultural heritage sites are commonly exposed to outdoor environments, resulting in severe damage to heritage objects from biotic and abiotic processes. Control of outdoor environments is impossible for heritage conservation, and we cannot prevent the abiotic processes. However, a variety of mitigation management can be developed for biotic damage, such as microbial colonization and biodeterioration. Over the past few decades, both conventional cultivation-dependent and modern cultivation-independent techniques have been employed to elucidate the microbiomes associated with the biodeterioration of cultural heritage. However, many studies are limited to segmentary analyses or simply stop at examining the community composition of the microbiomes, lacking solid evidence of microbial metabolism and biochemical reactions between microorganisms and heritage materials to support the core microbiomes associated with the biodeterioration. Here, we recommend thoroughly exploring the benefits of more advanced multi-omics techniques for analyzing cultural heritage microbiomes. We propose establishing a professional open-access database to standardize analytical procedures, integrating both culture-dependent and culture-independent approaches, and bio-archive valuable information on the core microbiomes, including their biodeterioration mechanisms, timelines, causes, and environmental conditions. This bio-archive of cultural heritage microbiomes will empower conservators and researchers worldwide to develop evidence-based, sustainable approaches for cultural heritage conservation under environmental change.

Keywords: biodeterioration; bio‐archive; cultural heritage conservation; microbiome; multi‐omics.

FIGURE 1

Examples of biodeterioration of outdoor cultural heritage materials of various types. (a) The four‐faced figures of the Bayon Temple at Angkor Thom, Cambodia. (b) Caves of the Longmen Grottoes, Luoyang, China. (c) Gate tower of Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum, Nanjing, China. (d) Guns at the White Tower, London, UK. (e) Iron Tower of Kaifeng, Kaifeng, China. (f) Iron Lion of Cangzhou, Cangzhou, China. (g) Da Gui Tomb of Luoyang, Luoyang, China. (h) Wooden roof of the Kiyomizu Temple, Japan. (i) Wooden Tower of Yingxian, Shuozhou, China. Images courtesy of F.W. and X.L.

FIGURE 2

Schematic of cultural heritage microbiology investigation based on culture‐dependent and culture‐independent technologies. Microbial biodeterioration of stone heritage at the Longmen Grottoes archaeological site was used as an example.

FIGURE 3

An overview of different community transcriptomics methods that could be used for cultural heritage microbiomes. (a) Meta‐transcriptomics: a method for capturing the transcriptomes of all the members of a microbiome at once. (b) Spatial transcriptomics: a method that combines high‐resolution imaging with transcriptomics analysis to measure spatial gene expression patterns within a bio‐sample. (c) Sorted transcriptomics: a method that first sorts the microbiomes into simpler sub‐populations to reduce the complexity of environmental microbiomes and then conducts transcriptional analysis.

FIGURE 4

Laboratory‐based experiments for final confirmation of the core microbiomes before bio‐archiving. Microbial biodeterioration of stone heritage was used as an example.

FIGURE 5

Schematic summarizing the proposed workflow and stakeholder roles of bio‐archive inclusion.