Mycological study of fungal species on deteriorating historical monument with reference to sher shah tomb, Sasaram in Bihar state (India)

Cultural heritage assets are exposed to weather and submitted to the influence of environmental parameters. Physicals, chemicals and biological factors interact with constitutive materials. The air contains a large amount of biological and biotic components such as pollen grains, fungal spores, insects, mites, fibers and dust particles but their number and concentration depend upon the geographical location, types of vegetation and meteorological parameters. Stone objects may support novel communities of microorganisms that are active in the bio-deterioration process. Bio-film on the sandstone monuments contains a complex of consortia of Bryophyta and Fungi. The Bryophyta make up the photosynthetic part of the bio-film while hyphae, filaments and spores take part as fungal components. These structures make a dense layer by intertwining over the surface of sandstone monuments. In the present investigation, 5 (five) samples were collected from different sites of Sher Shah Tomb, Sasaram of Bihar State. The 6 (six) fungal species were isolated which dominate sandstone structures of the monuments. During the investigation, it was observed that Aspergillus fumigates was found most dominant followed by Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus terreus, Cladosporium cladosporioides and Rhizopus spp. The identified micro fungi cause discoloration as well as mechanical exfoliation of building stone material that was analyzed through mechanical hyphae penetration and production of dark pigments and organic acids. These organic acids are responsible for the bio-deterioration of various cultural objects. Additionally, stone objects may support the communities of microorganisms that are active in the bio-deterioration process. Therefore, the aim of this study is the microbial survey of the tomb of Sher Shah and summarizes data on the fungal impact on bio-deterioration processes.