microbial community of waterlogged

Archaeological wood found in waterlogged environments is often described as well preserved. Nonetheless, microbial degradationmay take place. To date, microscopic investigations have revealed that archaeological wood is mainly degraded by erosion bacteriaor by soft rot fungi. In nearly anaerobic environments erosion bacteria prevail. However, their taxonomic identification iscomplicated as they are very difficult to culture in vitro. To overcome the limits imposed by in vitro growth, a new technique wasused to monitor the biodeterioration of waterlogged archeological wood. Bacterial and fungal components were identified by anovel generation of DNA/RNA sequencing technology that provides rich data and is fast, accessible, and easy to use. The proposedmethodology was applied on waterlogged archaeological wood from a Neolithic site in Italy, allowing us to identify fungi andbacteria connected to the biodeterioration of wood, as confirmed through a visual assessment of the degradation via opticalmicroscopy. Archaeological wood is a historical and environmental archive today and in the future. Knowledge on its microbialdegradation is therefore fundamental for the development of proper conservation strategies.