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.

在积水环境中出土的考古木材（Archaeological wood）通常被认为保存状况良好，但仍可能发生微生物降解作用。截至目前，显微研究已表明，考古木材主要由侵蚀细菌（erosion bacteria）或软腐真菌（soft rot fungi）介导降解。在近乎厌氧的环境中，侵蚀细菌占据优势地位；然而由于这类细菌极难进行体外（in vitro）培养，其分类学鉴定工作往往十分复杂。为克服体外培养带来的研究局限，研究人员采用了一种新技术以监测积水考古木材的生物降解（biodeterioration）过程。研究人员借助新一代DNA/RNA测序技术对样本中的细菌与真菌组分进行鉴定，该技术可产出丰富的数据，且具备快速、易用、易获取的优势。该研究方法被应用于意大利一处新石器时代遗址出土的积水考古木材样本，通过光学显微镜（optical microscopy）对降解情况进行目视评估后，证实所鉴定出的真菌与细菌确实与木材的生物降解相关。考古木材无论在当下还是未来，都是兼具历史与环境价值的档案载体。因此，解析其微生物降解机制，对于制定合理的文物保护策略至关重要。