rock metagenome Raw sequence reads

Comprehensive studies of the biodiversity of microbial epilithic community on monuments may provide critical insights for clarifying factors involved in the colonization processes.We carried out a high-throughput investigation of the communities colonizing the medieval church of San Leonardo di Siponto (Italy) by Illumina-based deep sequencing. The results highlighted a structured community, showing low diversity, made up of extremophile organisms adapted to desiccation and UV radiation. Notably, the microbiome appeared to be composed not only of microorganisms possibly involved in biodeterioration, but also of carbonatogenic bacteria, that could be useful in bioconservation.Our investigation demonstrated that molecular tools, and in particular the easy-to-run Next Generation Sequencing, are important to establish a microbiological diagnosis in order to plan restoration and protection strategies.