Tsouggou Natalia, Oikonomou Alexandra, Papadimitriou Konstantinos, Skandamis Panagiotis N
Laboratory of Food Quality Control & Hygiene, Department of Food Science & Human Nutrition, Agricultural University of Athens, Iera Odos 75, 11855 Athens, Greece.
Ephorate of Palaeoanthropology and Speleology, Hellenic Republic Ministry of Culture and Sports, Ardittou 34b, 11636 Athens, Greece.
Microorganisms. 2023 Oct 31;11(11):2681. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms11112681.
The presence of microbial communities on cave walls and speleothems is an issue that requires attention. Traditional cleaning methods using water, brushes, and steam can spread the infection and cause damage to the cave structures, while chemical agents can lead to the formation of toxic compounds and damage the cave walls. Essential oils (EOs) have shown promising results in disrupting the cell membrane of bacteria and affecting their membrane permeability. In this study, we identified the microorganisms forming unwanted microbial communities on the walls and speleothems of Petralona Cave using 16S and 18S rDNA amplicon sequencing approaches and evaluated the efficacy of EOs in reducing the ATP levels of these ecosystems. The samples exhibited a variety of both prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms, including , , , , , the SAR supergroup, , , , and . These phyla are often found in various habitats, including caves, and contribute to the ecological intricacy of cave ecosystems. In terms of the order and genus taxonomy, the identified biota showed abundances that varied significantly among the samples. Functional predictions were also conducted to estimate the differences in expressed genes among the samples. Oregano EO was found to reduce ATP levels by 87% and 46% for black and green spots, respectively. Consecutive spraying with cinnamon EO further reduced ATP levels, with reductions of 89% for black and 88% for green spots. The application of a mixture solution caused a significant reduction up to 96% in ATP levels of both areas. Our results indicate that EOs could be a promising solution for the treatment of microbial communities on cave walls and speleothems.
洞穴壁和洞穴沉积物上微生物群落的存在是一个需要关注的问题。使用水、刷子和蒸汽的传统清洁方法会传播感染并对洞穴结构造成破坏，而化学试剂会导致有毒化合物的形成并损坏洞穴壁。精油（EOs）在破坏细菌细胞膜和影响其膜通透性方面已显示出有前景的结果。在本研究中，我们使用16S和18S rDNA扩增子测序方法鉴定了在佩特拉洛纳洞穴壁和洞穴沉积物上形成有害微生物群落的微生物，并评估了精油在降低这些生态系统中ATP水平方面的功效。样本展示了多种原核和真核微生物，包括 ， ， ， ， ，SAR超群， ， ， ，以及 。这些门通常存在于包括洞穴在内的各种栖息地中，并有助于洞穴生态系统的生态复杂性。在目和属分类方面，鉴定出的生物群落在样本中的丰度差异显著。还进行了功能预测以估计样本中表达基因的差异。发现牛至精油可使黑点和绿点的ATP水平分别降低87%和46%。连续喷洒肉桂精油进一步降低了ATP水平，黑点降低了89%，绿点降低了88%。混合溶液的应用使两个区域的ATP水平显著降低高达96%。我们的结果表明，精油可能是治疗洞穴壁和洞穴沉积物上微生物群落的一种有前景的解决方案。
