{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,4]],"date-time":"2026-03-04T16:47:42Z","timestamp":1772642862149,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":68,"publisher":"Shared Science Publishers OG","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"abstract":"Abstract<\/jats:title>\n \n Bacteria are important agents in the biodeterioration of cultural heritage objects, including historical manuscripts. Characterizing bacterial communities and generating robust microbiological data has therefore become crucial for conservation and restoration strategies. In this study, we investigated the bacterial communities associated with biodeterioration in six historical manuscripts using both culture-dependent and culture-independent (Illumina MiSeq) approaches. Culture-dependent methods yielded only 16 viable and culturable isolates, highlighting the limitations of traditional techniques. In contrast, metagenomic analysis revealed a far richer and more diverse bacterial community, capturing both living and non-living microbial traces accumulated over centuries. Bacterial genera with known cellulolytic and\/or proteolytic activities, such as\n Bacillus, Stenotrophomonas, Pseudomonas<\/jats:italic>\n and\n Acinetobacter<\/jats:italic>\n , were identified as part of a core microbiome commonly associated with paper deterioration. High abundances of gut-associated bacteria (\n Prevotella, Faecalibacterium, Bacteroides, Porphyromonas<\/jats:italic>\n ) and human-related taxa (\n Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Cutibacterium<\/jats:italic>\n ) indicated extensive historical human handling. A notable finding was the detection of\n Pseudonocardia broussonetiae<\/jats:italic>\n , an endophytic bacterium associated with paper mulberry (\n Broussonetia papyrifera<\/jats:italic>\n ), suggesting the possible use of this plant as a papermaking material in one manuscript. This represents an important contribution to understanding Islamic paper production. Overall, our results demonstrate that effective conservation strategies require a detailed understanding of each manuscript\u2019s microbial ecology, together with evidence of past environmental conditions, handling history, and production materials.\n <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.15698\/mic2026.03.871","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,4]],"date-time":"2026-03-04T12:25:07Z","timestamp":1772627107000},"page":"117-130","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Metagenomic and microbiological analyses of historical manuscripts for bacterial community profiling and bacteria-related biodeterioration assessment"],"prefix":"10.15698","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Esra","family":"Keles","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ozge","family":"Celik","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"6394","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,1]]},"reference":[{"issue":"12","key":"b00b85","first-page":"1203","article-title":"Environmental factors causing the development of microorganisms on the surfaces of national cultural monuments made of mineral building materials\u2014review","volume-title":"Coatings","volume":"10","author":"Stanaszek-Tomal","year":"2020"},{"key":"b00bdb","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"991","DOI":"10.1038\/s41893-020-00602-5","article-title":"Microbial deterioration and sustainable conservation of stone monuments and buildings","volume":"3","author":"Liu","year":"2020","journal-title":"Nat Sustain"},{"key":"b00c4c","first-page":"351","article-title":"The use of -omics tools for assessing biodeterioration of cultural heritage: a review","volume-title":"Journal of Cultural Heritage","volume":"45","author":"Gutarowska","year":"2020"},{"issue":"1","key":"b00ca2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1128\/mmbr.00200-22","article-title":"Fungal biodeterioration and preservation of cultural heritage, artwork, and historical artifacts: extremophily and adaptation","volume":"88","author":"Gadd","year":"2024","journal-title":"Microbiol Mol Biol"},{"key":"b00d10","first-page":"108","article-title":"Paper","volume-title":"Plant Biology for Cultural Heritage","author":"Pasquariello","year":"2008"},{"issue":"2","key":"b00db3","first-page":"61","article-title":"The Structure of Collagen within Parchment \u2013 A Review","volume-title":"Restaurator","volume":"24","author":"Kennedy","year":"2003"},{"key":"b00e19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1016\/j.polymdegradstab.2022.110228","article-title":"Chemistry directs the conservation of paper cultural relics","volume":"207","author":"Zhang","year":"2023","journal-title":"Polymer Degradation and Stability"},{"issue":"2","key":"b00e9e","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"161","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ibiod.2008.08.007","article-title":"Biodeterioration and restoration of a 16th-century book using a combination of conventional and molecular techniques: a case study","volume":"63","author":"Michaelsen","year":"2009","journal-title":"International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation"},{"key":"b00f1e","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"9637","DOI":"10.1007\/s00253-013-5283-1","article-title":"Microbial deterioration of cultural heritage and works of art \u2013 tilting at windmills?","volume":"97","author":"Sterflinger","year":"2013","journal-title":"Appl Microbiol Biotechnol"},{"key":"b00f81","first-page":"237","article-title":"Study of the contaminating microbiota of old paper supports","volume":"3","author":"Dunca","year":"2014","journal-title":"European Scientific Journal"},{"key":"b00ffb","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.5402\/2013\/985685","article-title":"Optimization of cellulase production from bacteria isolated from soil","volume":"2013","author":"Sethi","year":"2013","journal-title":"ISRN Biotechnol"},{"key":"b01073","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"538","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tim.2010.09.004","article-title":"Scripta manent? 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