Evaluation of DNA Extraction and Amplification Protocols to Investigate Bacterial Communities on Cultural Heritage

Introduction The deterioration process of inorganic materials induced by microorganisms, including glass, marble, concrete, sandstone, tufa, and metals, can cause various alterations such as crust formation on surfaces, change of hue, discoloration, and loss of materials, leading to structural damage (Figure 1). These severe problems are due to the excretion of aggressive metabolic products such as organic or inorganic acids during microbial growth. With this excretion material components can be used as substrates for microbial metabolism [1,2].