Difference and environmental drivers of bacterial communities on wall paintings of the Maijishan and Mogao Grottoes, China.

ABSTRACT: The Maijishan and Mogao Grottoes, both UNESCO World Heritage Sites along the Silk Road, are increasingly threatened by microbial biodeterioration. To characterize bacterial communities of different microbial damages on wall paintings and identify environmental drivers, we combined high-throughput DNA/RNA sequencing with microenvironmental monitoring and conducted a cross-site comparison. At Maijishan, bacterial communities associated with black and white mycelia showed no significant compositional differences within the same cave but varied markedly between caves, indicating site-specific community assembly. Actinobacteria (>50%), particularly Pseudonocardia and Actinomycetospora, predominated, while RNA-based analysis revealed active populations of Escherichia and

SUBMITTER: Ma W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12504278 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature