Study on biodegradation mechanism of Fusarium solani NK-NH1 on the hull wood of the Nanhai No. 1 shipwreck.

The Nanhai No. 1 shipwreck is an ancient wooden ship in the Southern Song Dynasty. Currently, serious challenges of microbial diseases exist on the hull wood. This study aimed to obtain microbial samples from the ship hull in December 2021 and analyze the microbial diseases through scanning electron microscopy and high-throughput sequencing to preserve the Nanhai No. 1 shipwreck. The biodegradation mechanism of diseased microorganisms was explored through whole genome sequencing and the detection of enzyme activity and gene expression levels of diseased microorganisms under different conditions. The results showed that there was obvious fungal colonization on the surface of the hull wood and Fusarium solani NK-NH1 was the dominant disease fungus on the surface. NK-NH1 has strong cellulose and lignin degradation ability. Its whole genome size is 52,389,955 bp, and it contains 17,402 genes. It has a variety of key enzyme genes involved in cellulose and lignin degradation. The NK-NH1 dominant degrading enzyme lignin peroxidase has the highest enzyme activity at pH = 4, NaCl concentration of 30%, and FeSO4 concentration of 50 mg/L, while laccase has the highest enzyme activity at pH = 4, NaCl concentration of 10%, and FeSO4 concentration of 100 mg/L. The above research results prove that NK-NH1 is a key fungus to the biodegradation of ship hull wood when it is exposed to air, low pH, high salt, and rich in sulfur iron compounds. This study provides a theoretical basis for the preservation of the Nanhai No. 1 shipwreck.

Fungal Community and Biodeterioration Analysis of Hull Wood and Its Storage Environment of the Nanhai No. 1 Shipwreck.

The Nanhai No. 1 shipwreck is a Chinese merchant ship in the Southern Song Dynasty, and now it is stored in a huge enclosed glass warehouse in Maritime Silk Road Museum in Guangdong Province. At present, the hull of the Nanhai No. 1 shipwreck is still being excavated, and a small part of the hull wood is soaked in a specific solution to desalt. Through long-term exploration, we found that the above two states of hull wood had undergone biodeterioration, so the purpose of this study is to analyze the fungal community of exposed and soaked wood from the Nanhai No. 1 shipwreck. We sampled 10 exposed hull wood and sea mud samples, two wood storage water samples, and air samples in the glass warehouse. We used scanning electron microscope and optical microscope to find that there were obvious fungal structures in exposed wood and wood storing water samples. High-throughput sequencing of fungi revealed that the most abundant genera in exposed and soaked wood were Fusarium sp., and Scedosporium sp., respectively. In addition, Fusarium solani and Scedosporium apiospermum were successfully isolated from the hull wood surface and wood storing water samples, and the degradation tests of lignin and cellulose, the sensitivity tests of biocides and growth curve assay were carried out. We also found that Penicillium sp. and Cladosporium sp. are the most abundant in the glass warehouse air. Our research results show that F. solani and S. apiospermum should be regarded as a major threat to the preservation of the Nanhai No. 1 shipwreck. These results provide a reference for our protection of shipwrecks and other similar artifacts.

Purification, structural characterization and in vitro antioxidant activity of a novel polysaccharide from Boshuzhi.

A novel polysaccharide, designated GCPB-1b, was obtained from the alkaline extract of the submerged fermentation culturing mycelium powder of Boshuzhi, Ganoderma capense. This polysaccharide was purified by ion-exchange and gel-permeation column chromatography and is a glucan (MW 2847Da). GCPB-1b has a specific optical rotation of [α]D(25)=+154° (c 1.0, H2O). Based on monosaccharide analysis, partial acid hydrolysis, periodic acid oxidation-Smith degradation, methylation analysis, Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, the backbone of GCPB-1b was composed of (1→4)-linked-α-d-glucose residues and (1→4,6)-linked-α-d-glucose residues. Furthermore, GCPB-1b had 1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging ability (EC50 3.23µM) according to antioxidant activity tests which was greater than other antioxidants. These data suggest that GCPB-1b holds promise as an anti-aging functional food.

[Study on Provenance of Kraak Porcelains from "Nan'ao I" Shipwreck].

The "Kraak Porcelain" was a kind of Blue and White Porcelain which exported from China to Europe in Ming and Qing period. The study of Kraak Porcelain is a focus issue in international field of porcelain research. In 2007, the discovery of "Nan'ao I" Shipwreck of Ming Dynasty and the porcelains loaded in it, provided precious materials for the research on Kraak Porcelain. In this paper, we explored the provenance of 10 Kraak Porcelain samples from Nan'ao I, using both traditional visual method and WDXRF.

Structural characterization and antioxidant activity of a novel heteropolysaccharide from the submerged fermentation mycelia of Ganoderma capense.

A novel heteropolysaccharide (GCPB-2) with a molecular mass of 1.03×10(5)Da was isolated from the submerged fermentation culturing mycelia powder of Lingzhi, Ganoderma capense, by DEAE-52 cellulose, DEAE Sepharose CL-6B, and Sephadex G-75 column chromatography. Its chemical structure was characterized for the first time. The antioxidant activity was evaluated by two antioxidant assay methods. The result of this study introduced G. capense as a possible valuable source that helped to exhibit some antioxidant properties. The homogeneous polysaccharide was composed of xylose and arabinose in the molar ratio of 1:1, and showed a specific optical rotation of [α]D(25)=+161° (c 1.0, H2O). Monosaccharide analysis, partial acid hydrolysis, periodic acid oxidation, methylation analysis, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy ((1)H, (13)C, HMQC and HMBC) were conducted to elucidate its structure. The backbone of GCPB-2 was composed of (1 → 4)-linked-ß-D-xylopyranose residues which branched at O-3. The two branches consisted of (1 → 3)-linked-ß-L-arabinopyranose terminated with ß-D-xylopyranose residues, and (1 → 4)-linked-ß-L-arabinopyranose terminated with ß-D-arabinopyranose residues. In the in vitro antioxidant assay, GCPB-2 was found to possess 1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging activity with an EC50 value of 0.379 µM. The findings of this study indicated that GCPB-2 possesses the hydroxyl radical-scavenging activity, which provided an experimental evidence to support the G. capense as functional foods in some Asian countries. To understand better the bioactivity of GCPB-2, the antioxidant activity should be further investigated to find out its mechanism in future work.

[A Study on Quantitative Evaluation of Damage in Conservation of Ceramics from Huaguangjiao I Shipwreck with ICP-AES].

ICP-AES was used to determine the elemental composition of solutions in different conservation steps for understanding the impact of cleaning agents on ceramics from Huaguangjiao I shipwreck. The results showed that high content in solution of Al, Fe, Mg ions, which can be indexes to reflect the damage in conservation of ceramics. According to these indexes, we discovered that agents of strong cleaning ability bring more damage to ceramic samples. Meanwhile, the state of preservation of the ceramics was closely related to the damage in conservation. Ceramics in an excellent state of preservation endure less damage than that in bad state. We also found that each cleaning agent cause certain degree of damage on porcelains, even neutral reagent, like deionized water. Moreover, moderate cleaning reagent, when using a long time, bring the same degree of damage as the strong acid. Therefore, in actual protection procedure, for conservation ceramics safe and effective, damage of each cleaning agents and cumulative damage should be considered.

Structural characterization and antioxidant activity of a heteropolysaccharide from Ganoderma capense.

In this work, crude polysaccharide extracts were obtained from mycelia of the edible fungus Ganoderma capense (Lloyd) Teng. After removal of proteins by the Sevage method, fractionation and purification by anion-exchange and gel-permeation chromatography, a polysaccharide (GCPB-3) was isolated. The relative molecular weight of GCPB-3 was 124kDa determined by high performance gel permeation chromatography (HPGPC). The homogeneous polysaccharide was composed of d-xylose and l-arabinose in the ratio of 1:1, and showed a specific optical rotation of [α]D(25)=+145°(c 1.0, H2O). Its structural features were determined by monosaccharide analysis, partial acid hydrolysis, methylation analysis, periodic acid oxidation, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy ((1)H, (13)C, HMQC and HMBC). The results characterized GCPB-3 as a heteropolysaccharide with backbone consisting of ß-l-Arap and ß-d-Xylp, linked with 1→4 sugar bonds. Interestingly, GCPB-3 showed some DPPH•- and hydroxy-radical scavenging activities.

Isolation, purification, and structural characterization of a novel polysaccharide from Ganoderma capense.

The mushrooms of the genus Ganoderma are popular for their important biological activities, such as antioxidation, anti-inflammatory, antitumour, antiulcer, antiviral, etc. Ganoderma capense is one of the important members of this fungus family, which possesses potential pharmacological properties. There is a dearth of information on the biochemical constituents of G. capense. The present study aimed to isolate, purify, and characterize the structure of the polysaccharide obtained from the mycelia of G. capense. A novel water-soluble polysaccharide (GCP50-1) was obtained from the dried powder of submerged fermentation mycelia of G. capense by extraction with hot water and further successive purification through diethylaminoethyl (DEAE) Sepharose CL-6B and Sephadex G-75 column chromatography. The average molecular weight of the polymer was 1.5 × 10(4)Da determined by a high performance gel permeation chromatography (HPGPC), and its specific optical rotation was be [α]25(D)=+170°. The structural feature of GCP50-1 was investigated by monosaccharide analysis, partial acid hydrolysis, methylation analysis, periodic acid oxidation, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The results obtained from the analyses indicated that GCP50-1 was an α-D-glucan with the main backbone chain of (1→4)-α-D-glucopyranosyl residue interspersed with (1→4, 6)-α-D-glucopyranosyl residue and the side chain attached to the O-6 position with (1→)-α-D-glucopyranosyl residue. This was the first report on the detailed structure elucidation of this novel polysaccharide from G. capense mycelia powder.

[The way to identify the man-made-lime in Neolithic in China].

Archaeological studies indicated that the "Baihuimian" building material has been excavated widely in the Neolithic Age, which was not only hard, but also of beauty and cleanly. Archaeologist concluded that the "Baihuimian" may be the earliest man-made-lime in China. So, the infrared spectroscopy was used to analyze the "Baihuimian" and "Baitiaoshi" from Taosi site. The results indicated that the ratio of upsilon2 to upsilon4 is markedly different between "Baihuimian" and "Baitiaoshi" by infrared spectroscopy which shows that there is a big difference in the disorder parameter of calcium carbonate crystal, suggesting calcined "Baihuimian" is identified depending on infrared spectroscopy. Thereby, it offers a simpler and more efficient method to study the origin of lime. Meanwhile, the temper of "Baihuimian" was also analyzed by microscope and infrared spectroscopy methods, respectively, which proves that the mixed materials (admixture) in "Baihuimian" is cellulose.

[Preliminary study on the function of potteries of Liangzhu Culture].

Liangzhu Culture is an important late neolithic culture of China, but there are different opinions on the function of some potteries of Liangzhu Culture, for example vat and Ding. In the present paper, for discussing the function of these potteries, the content of Cl, Ca and P of some shard samples of vat and Ding from Liangzhu site were analyzed by using EDXRF line scanning technology. The results show that the content of element Cl in the outside and inside parts of the bottom of vat sample is not different from that of other contemporaneous archaic potteries, and that the distribution of element Cl in the outside part of the bottom of vat sample is the same as that in the inside part of the bottom, so it is concluded that the function of vat from Liangzhu Culture is not related to the production or storage of salt, but with regard to the true function of this pottery more works remain to be done. The analytical results also show that the content of two elements, Ca and P, in the bottom of the other pottery, Ding, is obviously higher than that in vat and other contemporaneous archaic potteries, and that the content of two elements, Ca and P, in the outside part of the bottom of Ding sample is higher than that in the inside part of the bottom. So it is concluded that Ding from Liangzhu Culture is a kind of cooking ware and its main function is meal cooking.

[Spectral analysis of ceramic-painting pigments from Taosi site].

Based on the analysis of Raman, IR spectroscopy and XRD methods, the structure of the different pigments and bond in red pigment in the ceramic from Taosi site in Xiangfeng county, Shanxi province was analyzed. It is very prominent that both red and white pigments have been well preserved. The red pigment was identified as HgS, while white pigment is CaCO3, and the bond in red pigment is CaCO3, which was made from white lime, and the reasons for its formation is because of carbon dioxide in air, which was absorbed by white lime over long history. Moreover, it was indicated that the Raman and IR spectra are more effective for identifying the ancient pigments in very few quantities than XRD. Furthermore, the fact that quartz was unfound in vermilion, suggested that the technique for synthetic vermilion might have been known in 4 000 years ago in Taosi site.