Microbiome Analysis of New, Insidious Cave Wall Alterations in the Apse of Lascaux Cave.

ABSTRACT: Lascaux Cave is a UNESCO site that was closed to the public following wall surface alterations. Most black stains that had formed on wall surface are stable or receding, but a new type of alteration visually quite different (termed dark zones) developed in Lascaux's Apse room in the last 15 years. Here, we tested the hypothesis that dark zones displayed a different microbial community than black stains previously documented in the same room, using metabarcoding (MiSeq sequencing). Indeed, dark zones, black stains and neighboring unstained parts displayed distinct microbial communities. However, similarly to what was observed in black stains, pigmented fungi such as Ochroconis (now Scolecobasidium) were more abundant and the bacteria Pseudomonas less abundant in dark zo

SUBMITTER: Alonso L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9785961 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature