[Formation of organic acids by fungi isolated from the surface of stone monuments].

Capacity of the fungi isolated from the surface of stone monuments for acid formation was studied in cultures under various carbon sources and cultivation conditions. The composition of organic nutrients was adjusted according to the results of investigation of the surface layers from the monuments in urban environment. The primary soil formed at the surface of the stone monuments under urban conditions was shown to contain a variety of carbon and nitrogen sources and is a rich substrate for fungal growth. Oxalic acid was produced by fungi grown on media with various concentrations of sugars, sugar alcohols, and organic acids. Malic, citric, fumaric, and succinic acids were identified only at elevated carbohydrate concentrations, mostly in liquid cultures. Oxalic acid was the dominant among the acids produced by Aspergillus niger at all experimental setups. Unlike A. niger, the relative content of oxalic acid produced by Penicillium citrinum decreased at high carbohydrate concentrations.

[Microbial communities on the monuments of Moscow and St. Petersburg: biodiversity and trophic relations]. / Mikrobnye soobshchestva na mramornykh pamiatnikakh Sankt-Peterburga i Moskvy: vidovoi sostav (raznoobrazie) i troficheskie vzaimootnosheniia.

Stone monuments situated in the Alexander Nevsky Abbey, the Summer Garden, and the Smolenskoe Cemetery, St. Petersburg, and marble and limestone sculptures and tombstones situated in the Novodevichy Convent and the Donskoy Monastery, Moscow, were investigated for their microbial contamination. The architectural objects studied date to the 12th century. The monuments in the Alexander Nevsky Abbey were found to be severely contaminated with micromycetes belonging to 24 genera (primarily of the class Deuteromycetes). The analysis of the samples taken from the monuments of the Donskoy Monastery by the serial dilution technique showed that they were contaminated with bacteria at a density of (1-1.7) x 10(5) cells/g. This value, however, turned out to be 1 to 2 orders greater when the bacterial population was evaluated by the luciferin-luciferase method. We succeeded in identifying 12 bacterial genera; however, this number may be increased in the course of further studies. Some preventive measures to control the biodeterioration of stone heritage are discussed.