Slovak Academy of Sciences

How many times did you enjoy the taste of our fine local food or were astonished by the beauty of our cultural heritage?

To guarantee these sensations, we analyze the microbial communities in various traditional food poducts to assess their quality and safety and protect the grace of statues, frescos and ancient manuscripts from the risk of biodeterioration.

Laboratory of Environmental and Food Microbiology of the Institute of Molecular Biology at Slovak Academy of Sciences consists of four research scientists:

• Dr. Domenico Pangallo
• Dr. Mária Bučková
• Dr. Andrea Puškárová
• Dr. Lucia Kraková

and two PhD students:

• Tomáš Grivalský
• Lenka Jeszeová.

Our group has two main microbiological research topics: environment and food, which are investigated using culture-dependent and culture-independent approaches.

You can find our most recent publications on our website or on ResearchGate.

Main environmental topics:

• Biodeterioration of cultural heritage (eg. wall paintings, wooden objects, paper, parchment, photographs, textiles, mummies or hypogean environments).
• Biodegradation and bioremediation of hazardous compounds, such as hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), synthetic polymers or heavy metals
• Investigation of microflora in hot springs
• Study of methanogenes through culture-independent approaches
• Analysis of soil and airborne microflora
• Epiphytic and endophytic microbial communities

Main food topics

• Investigation of autochthon microflora in cheeses, wine and other fermented foods or beverages
• Detection of non-declared components in food by PCR-based methods
• Detection of food-borne pathogens

Publications

• Krakova, L., De Leo, F., Bruno, L., Pangallo, D., Urzí, C. Complex bacterial diversity in the white biofilms of the Catacombs of St. Callixtus in Rome evidenced by different investigation strategies. (2015) Environ. Microbiol 17: 1738-1752.
• Pangallo, D., Buckova, M., Krakova, L., Puskarova, A., Sakova, N., Grivalský, T., Chovanova, K., Zemankova, M. Biodeterioration of epoxy resin: a microbial survey through culture‐independent and culture‐dependent approaches. (2015) Environ. Microbiol 17: 462-479.
• Simonovicova, A., Krakova, L., Pangallo, D., Majorosova, M., Pieckova, E., Bodorikova, S., Dornhoferova, M. Fungi on mummified human remains and in the indoor air in the Kuffner family crypt in Sládkovičovo (Slovakia). (2015) Int. Biodeterior. Biodegrad. 99: 157-164.
• Buckova, M., Puskarova, A., Sclocchi, M.C., Bicchieri, M., Colaizzi, P., Pinzari, F., Pangallo, D. Co-occurrence of bacteria and fungi and spatial partitioning during photographic materials biodeterioration. (2014) Polym. Degrad. Stabil. 108: 1-11.
• Pinar, G., Krakova, L., Pangallo, D., Piombino-Mascali, D., Maixner, F., Zink, A., Sterflinger, K. Halophilic bacteria are colonizing the exhibition areas of the Capuchin Catacombs in Palermo, Italy. (2014) Extremophiles 18: 677-691.
• Pangallo, D., Krakova, L., Chovanova, K., Buckova, M., Puskarova, A., Simonovicova, A. Disclosing a crypt: microbial diversity and degradation activity of the microflora isolated from funeral clothes of Cardinal Peter Pázmány. (2013) Microbiol. Res. 168: 289-299.
• Krakova, L., Chovanova, K., Puskarova, A., Buckova, M., Pangallo, D. A novel PCR-based approach for the detection and classification of potential cellulolytic fungal strains isolated from museum items and surrounding indoor environment. (2012) Lett. Appl. Microbiol. 54: 433-440.
• Krakova, L., Chovanova, K., Selim, S.A., Simonovicova, A., Puskarova, A., Makova, A., Pangallo, D. A multiphasic approach for investigation of the microbial diversity and its biodegradative abilities in historical paper and parchment documents. (2012) Int. Biodeterior. Biodegrad. 70: 117-125.
• Pangallo, D., Krakova, L., Chovanova, K., Simonovicova, A., De Leo, F., Urzí, C. Analysis and comparison of the microflora isolated from fresco surface and from surrounding air environment through molecular and biodegradative assays. (2012) World J. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 28: 2015-2027.
• Pangallo, D., Chovanova, K., Makova, A. Identification of animal skin of historical parchments by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based methods. (2010) J. Archaeol. Sci. 37(6): 1202-1206.
• Pangallo, D., Chovanova, K., Simonovicova, A., Ferianc, P. Investigation of microbial community isolated from indoor artworks and air environment: identification, biodegradative abilities, and DNA typing. (2009) Can. J. Microbiol. 55(3): 277-287.
• Pangallo, D., Chovanova, K., Drahovska, H., De Leo, F., Urzí, C. Application of fluorescence internal transcribed spacer-PCR (f-ITS) for the cluster analysis of bacteria isolated from air and deteriorated fresco surfaces. (2009) Int. Biodeterior. Biodegrad. 63(7): 868-872.
• Pangallo, D., Šimonovičová, A., Chovanová, K., Ferianc, P. Wooden art objects and the museum environment: identification and biodegradative characteristics of isolated microflora. (2007) Lett. Appl. Microbiol. 45(1): 87-94.

Click here to go to the group's website.