Home Bacterial and abiotic decay in waterlogged archaeological Picea abies (L.) Karst studied by confocal Raman imaging and ATR-FTIR spectroscopy
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Bacterial and abiotic decay in waterlogged archaeological Picea abies (L.) Karst studied by confocal Raman imaging and ATR-FTIR spectroscopy

  • Nanna Bjerregaard Pedersen EMAIL logo , Notburga Gierlinger and Lisbeth Garbrecht Thygesen
Published/Copyright: May 28, 2014
Become an author with De Gruyter Brill

Abstract

Waterlogged archaeological Norway spruce [Picea abies (L.) Karst] poles were studied by means of confocal Raman imaging (CRI) and attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) analysis to determine lignin and polysaccharide composition and distribution in the cell wall. The waterlogged archaeological wood (WAW) was submerged under anoxic conditions for approximately 400 years and solely decayed by erosion bacteria (EB). CRI showed that decayed tracheids contain a residual material (RM) with heterogeneous lignin distribution; within the same tracheid RM often contained regions with intensities lower than sound S2 layers up to intensity values as high as the compound middle lamella (CML). CRI revealed strong depletion of carbohydrates in RM which indicated that EB are able to utilise the carbohydrate fraction of the cell wall effectively. Raman bands assigned to lignin did not show any difference between RM and sound S2. This is a hint that EB do not modify the lignin structure. Sound WAW free from EB decay showed evidence of loss of acetyl groups in glucomannan, loss of un-conjugated ester linkages in the lignin-carbohydrate complexes between xylan and lignin, and minor oxidation of the lignin polymer compared to recent reference material. This is evidence for abiotic decay in the course of waterlogging.


Corresponding author: Nanna Bjerregaard Pedersen, University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Science, Rolighedsvej 23, 1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark, e-mail:

Acknowledgments

Nanna Bjerregaard Pedersen would like to thank COST Action FP0802 for supporting the work as a Short Term Scientific Mission. We thank Institute of Polymer Science, Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria for hosting the experiments and Museum of Copenhagen for donation of the test material.

References

Agarwal, U.P. (1998) Assignment of the photoyellowing-related 1675 cm-1 Raman/IR band to p-quinones and its implications to the mechanism of color reversion in mechanical pulps. J. Wood Chem. Technol. 18:381–402.Search in Google Scholar

Agarwal, U.P. (2006) Raman imaging to investigate ultrastructure and composition of plant cell walls: distribution of lignin and cellulose in black spruce wood (Picea mariana). Planta 224:1141–1153.10.1007/s00425-006-0295-zSearch in Google Scholar PubMed

Agarwal, U.P. (2008) Raman spectroscopic characterization of wood and pulp fibers. In: Characterization of Lignocellulosic Materials. Blackwell Publishing Ltd., Oxford, UK. pp. 17–35.10.1002/9781444305425.ch2Search in Google Scholar

Agarwal, U.P., Atalla, R.H. (1986) In-situ Raman microprobe studies of plant cell walls: Macromolecular organization and compositional variability in the secondary wall of Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P. Planta 169:325–332.10.1007/BF00392127Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Agarwal, U.P., McSweeny, J.D. (1997) Photoyellowing of thermomechanical pulps: looking beyond alpha-carbonyl and ethylenic groups as the initiating structures. J. Wood Chem. Technol. 17:1–26.10.1080/02773819708003115Search in Google Scholar

Agarwal, U.P., Ralph, S.A. (1997) FT-Raman spectroscopy of wood: identifying contributions of lignin and carbohydrate polymers in the spectrum of black spruce (Picea mariana). Appl. Spectrosc. 51:1648–1655.10.1366/0003702971939316Search in Google Scholar

Agarwal, U.P., Ralph, S.A. (2008) Determination of ethylenic residues in wood and TMP of spruce by FT-Raman spectroscopy. Holzforschung 62:667–675.10.1515/HF.2008.112Search in Google Scholar

Balakshin, M.Y., Capanema E.A., Chang, H.-M. (2007) MWL fraction with a high concentration of lignin-carbohydrate linkages: isolation and 2D NMR spectroscopic analysis. Holzforschung 61:1–7.10.1515/HF.2007.001Search in Google Scholar

Balakshin, M., Capanema, E., Gracz, H., Chang, H.-M., Jameel, H. (2011) Quantification of lignin-carbohydrate linkages with high-resolution NMR spectroscopy. Planta 233:1097–1110.10.1007/s00425-011-1359-2Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Barnes, R.J., Dhanoa, M.S., Lister, S.J. (1989) Standard normal variate transformation and de-trending of near-infrared diffuse reflectance spectra. Appl. Spectrosc. 43:772–777.10.1366/0003702894202201Search in Google Scholar

Björdal, C.G., Nilsson, T., Daniel, G. (1999) Microbial decay of waterlogged archaeological wood found in Sweden applicable to archaeology and conservation. Int. Biodeter. Biodegr. 43:63–73.Search in Google Scholar

Björdal, C.G., Daniel, G., Nilsson, T. (2000) Depth of burial, an important factor in controlling bacterial decay of waterlogged archaeological poles. Int. Biodeter. Biodegr. 45:15–26.Search in Google Scholar

Blanchette, R.A., Nilsson, T., Daniel, G. Abad, A. (1990) Biological degradation of wood. In: Archaeological Wood. Properties, Chemistry, and Preservation. Eds. Rowell, R.M., Barbour, R.J. American Chemical Society, Washington, DC. pp. 141–174.Search in Google Scholar

Borgin, K., Parameswaran, N., Liese, W. (1975) The effect of aging on the ultrastructure of wood. Wood Sci. Technol. 9:87–98.Search in Google Scholar

Brunow, G., Lundquist, K. (2010) Functional groups and bonding patterns in lignin (including the lignin-carbohydrate complexes). In: Lignin and Lignans. Advances in Chemistry. Eds. Heitner, C., Dimmel, D.R., Schmidt, J.A. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL. pp. 267–299.10.1201/EBK1574444865-c7Search in Google Scholar

Cufar, K., Gricar, J., Zupancic, M., Koch, G., Schmitt, U. (2008) Anatomy, cell wall structure and topochemistry of waterlogged archaeological wood aged 5,200 and 4,500 years. IAWA J. 29:55–68.10.1163/22941932-90000170Search in Google Scholar

Fackler, K., Thygesen, L.G. (2013) Microspectroscopy as applied to the study of wood molecular structure. Wood Sci. Technol. 47:203–222.Search in Google Scholar

Fackler, K., Stevanic, J.S., Ters, T., Hinterstoisser, B., Schwanninger, M., Salmen, L. (2010) Localisation and characterisation of incipient brown-rot decay within spruce wood cell walls using FT-IR imaging microscopy. Enzyme Microb. Technol. 47:257–267.Search in Google Scholar

Faix, O. (1991) Classification of lignins from different botanical origins by FT-IR spectroscopy. Holzforschung 45:21–27.10.1515/hfsg.1991.45.s1.21Search in Google Scholar

Fengel, D. (1969) Ultrastructure of cellulose from wood. 1. Wood as basic material for isolation of cellulose. Wood Sci. Technol. 3:203–217.Search in Google Scholar

Fergus, B.J., Procter, A.R., Scott, J.A.N., Goring, D.A.I. (1969) The distribution of lignin in sprucewood as determined by ultraviolet microscopy. Wood Sci. Technol. 3:117–138.Search in Google Scholar

Gelbrich, J., Mai, C., Militz, H. (2008) Chemical changes in wood degraded by bacteria. Int. Biodeter. Biodegr. 61:24–32.Search in Google Scholar

Giachi, G., Pizzo, B. (2009) A chemical characterisation of the decay of waterlogged archaeological wood. In: Proceedings of the 10th ICOM Group on Wet Organic Archaeological Materials Conference, Amsterdam 2007. Eds. Strætkvern, K., Huisman, D.J. Rijksdienst voor Archaeologie, Cultuurlandschap en Monumenten, Amersfoort. pp. 21–33.Search in Google Scholar

Gierlinger, N., Schwanninger, M. (2007) The potential of Raman microscopy and Raman imaging in plant research. Spectroscopy 21:69–89.10.1155/2007/498206Search in Google Scholar

Gierlinger, N., Luss, S., König, C., Konnerth, J., Eder, M., Fratzl, P. (2010) Cellulose microfibril orientation of Picea abies and its variability at the micron-level determined by Raman imaging. J. Exp. Bot. 61:587–595.Search in Google Scholar

Gierlinger, N., Keplinger, T., Harrington, M. (2012) Imaging of plant cell walls by confocal Raman microscopy. Nat. Prot. 7: 1694–1708.10.1038/nprot.2012.092Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Hänninen, T., Kontturi, E., Vuorinen, T. (2011) Distribution of lignin and its coniferyl alcohol and coniferyl aldehyde groups in Picea abies and Pinus sylvestris as observed by Raman imaging. Phytochemistry 72:1889–1895.10.1016/j.phytochem.2011.05.005Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Harris, P.J., Stone, B.A. (2008) Chemistry and molecular organization of plant cell walls. In: Biomass Recalcitrance. Deconstructing the Plant Cell Wall for Bioenergy. Ed. Himmel, M.E. Blackwell Publishing, Oxford. pp. 61–93.10.1002/9781444305418.ch4Search in Google Scholar

Holt, D.M., Jones, E.B. (1983) Bacterial degradation of lignified wood cell walls in anaerobic aquatic habitats. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 46:722–727.Search in Google Scholar

Kim, Y.S. (1990) Chemical characteristics of waterlogged archaeological wood. Holzforschung 44:169–172.Search in Google Scholar

Kim, Y.S., Singh, A.P. (2000) Micromorphological characteristics of wood biodegradation in wet environments: a review. IAWA J. 21:135–155.10.1163/22941932-90000241Search in Google Scholar

Kim, Y.S., Singh, A.P., Nilsson, T. (1996) Bacteria as important degraders in waterlogged archaeological woods. Holzforschung 50:389–392.10.1515/hfsg.1996.50.5.389Search in Google Scholar

Klaassen, R.K.W.M. (2008) Bacterial decay in wooden foundation piles – patterns and causes: a study of historical pile foundations in the Netherlands. Int. Biodeter. Biodegr. 61:45–60.10.1016/j.ibiod.2007.07.006Search in Google Scholar

Koch, G., Kleist, G. (2001) Application of scanning UV microspectrophotometry to localise lignins and phenolic extractives in plant cell walls. Holzforschung 55:563–567.10.1515/HF.2001.091Search in Google Scholar

MacLeod, I.D., Richards, V.L. (1997) Wood degradation on historic shipwreck sites: the use of FT-IR spectroscopy to study the loss of hemicellulose. In: Proceedings of the 6th ICOM Group on Wet Organic Archaeological Materials Conference, York 1996. Eds. Hoffmann, P., Grant, T., Spriggs, J.A., Daley, T. The International Council of Museums (ICOM), Bremerhaven. pp. 203–225.Search in Google Scholar

Marchessault, R.H. (1962) Application of infra-red spectroscopy to cellulose and wood polysaccharides. In: Pure and Applied Chemistry. Wood Chemistry Symposium, Montreal, Canada, 9–11 August 1961, pp. 107–129.10.1351/pac196205010107Search in Google Scholar

Nilsson, T., Klaassen, R.K.W.M. (2008) Abiotic or bacterial degradation? IAWA J. 29:336–338.Search in Google Scholar

Nuopponen, M., Vuorinen, T., Jamsa, S., Viitaniemi, P. (2004) Thermal modifications in softwood studied by FT-IR and UV resonance Raman spectroscopies. J. Wood Chem. Technol. 24:13–26.Search in Google Scholar

Pan, D.R., Tai, D.S., Chen, C.L., Robert, D. (1990) Comparative-studies on chemical-composition of wood components in recent and ancient woods of Bischofia-polycarpa. Holzforschung 44:7–16.10.1515/hfsg.1990.44.1.7Search in Google Scholar

Pandey, K.K., Vuorinen, T. (2008) Comparative study of photodegradation of wood by a UV laser and a xenon light source. Polym. Degrad. Stabil. 93:2138–2146.10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2008.08.013Search in Google Scholar

Pavia, D.L., Lampman, G.M., Kriz, G.S., Vyvyan, J.R. Introduction to Spectroscopy. Brooks/Cole, Belmont, CA, USA, 2009.Search in Google Scholar

Pavlikova, H., Sykorova, I., Cerny, J., Sebestova, E., Machovic, V. (1993) Spectroscopic study of degraded woods from the Elbe river valley. Energy Fuels 7:351–356.10.1021/ef00039a003Search in Google Scholar

Pedersen, N.B., Björdal, C.G., Jensen, P., Felby, C. (2013) Bacterial degradation of archaeological wood in anoxic waterlogged environments. In: Stability of Complex Carbohydrate Structures. Biofuel, Foods, Vaccines and Shipwrecks. Ed. Harding, S.E. The Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge. pp. 160–187.Search in Google Scholar

Pedersen, N.B., Schmitt, U., Koch, G., Felby, C., Thygensen, L.G. (2014) Lignin distribution in waterlogged archaeological Picea abies (L.) Karst degraded by erosion bacteria. Holzforschung 68:791–798.10.1515/hf-2013-0228Search in Google Scholar

Petrou, M., Edwards, H.G.M., Janaway, R.C., Thompson, G.B., Wilson, A.S. (2009) Degradation of Neolithic waterlogged pine and oak timbers from northern Greece. In: Proceedings of the 10th ICOM Group on Wet Organic Archaeological Materials Conference, Amsterdam 2007. Eds. Strætkvern, K., Huisman, D.J. Rijksdienst voor Archaeologie, Cultuurlandschap en Monumenten, Amersfoort. pp. 57–67.Search in Google Scholar

Rehbein, M., Koch, G., Schmitt, U., Huckfeldt, T. (2013) Topochemical and transmission electron microscopic studies of bacterial decay in pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) harbour foundation piles. Micron 44:150–158.10.1016/j.micron.2012.05.012Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Richter, S., Müssig, J., Gierlinger, N. (2011) Functional plant cell wall design revealed by the Raman imaging approach. Planta 233:763–772.10.1007/s00425-010-1338-zSearch in Google Scholar PubMed

Saariaho, A.M., Argyropoulos, D.S., Jaaskelainen, A.S., Vuorinen, T. (2005) Development of the partial least squares models for the interpretation of the UV resonance Raman spectra of lignin model compounds. Vibrat. Spectrosc. 37:111–121.10.1016/j.vibspec.2004.08.001Search in Google Scholar

Sandak, A., Sandak, J., Zborowska, M., Pradzynski, W. (2010) Near infrared spectroscopy as a tool for archaeological wood characterization. J. Archaeol. Sci. 37:2093–2101.Search in Google Scholar

Schwanninger, M., Rodrigues, J.C., Pereira, H., Hinterstoisser, B. (2004) Effects of short-time vibratory ball milling on the shape of FT-IR spectra of wood and cellulose. Vibrat. Spectrosc. 36:23–40.Search in Google Scholar

Singh, A.P., Butcher, A.J. (1991) Bacterial degradation of wood cell walls: a review of degradation patterns. J. Inst. Wood Sci. 12:143–157.Search in Google Scholar

Singh, A.P., Nilsson, T., Daniel, G.F. (1990) Bacterial attack of Pinus sylvestris wood under near anaerobic conditions. J. Inst. Wood Sci. 11:237–249.Search in Google Scholar

Singh, A., Daniel, G., Nilsson, T. (2002) Ultrastructure of the S-2 layer in relation to lignin distribution in Pinus radiata tracheids. J. Wood Sci. 48:95–98.10.1007/BF00767284Search in Google Scholar

Thygesen, L.G., Gierlinger, N. (2013) The molecular structure within dislocations in Cannabis sativa fibres studied by polarised Raman microspectroscopy. J. Struct. Biol. 182:219–225.Search in Google Scholar

Tirumalai, V.C., Agarwal, U.P., Obst, J.R. (1996) Heterogeneity of lignin concentration in cell corner middle lamella of white birch and black spruce. Wood Sci. Technol. 30:99–104.Search in Google Scholar

van der Lelie, D., Taghavi, S., McCorkle, S.M., Li, L.L., Malfatti, S.A., Monteleone, D., Donohoe, B.S., Ding, S.Y., Adney, W.S., Himmel, M.E., Tringe, S.G. (2012) The metagenome of an anaerobic microbial community decomposing poplar wood chips. PLoS One 7:1–16.10.1371/journal.pone.0036740Search in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central

Vester, J., Felby, C., Nielsen, O.F., Barsberg, S. (2004) Fourier transform Raman difference spectroscopy for detection of lignin oxidation products in thermomechanical pulp. Appl. Spectrosc. 58:404–409.10.1366/000370204773580239Search in Google Scholar

Wiley, J.H., Atalla, R.H. (1987) Band assignments in the Raman spectra of celluloses. Carbohydr. Res. 160:113–129.Search in Google Scholar

Wilson, M.A., Godfrey, I.M., Hanna, J.V., Quezada, R.A., Finnie, K.S. (1993) The degradation of wood in old Indian Ocean shipwrecks. Org. Geochem. 20:599–610.10.1016/0146-6380(93)90026-8Search in Google Scholar

Received: 2014-1-28
Accepted: 2014-4-10
Published Online: 2014-5-28
Published in Print: 2015-1-1

©2015 by De Gruyter

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Original Articles
  3. Influence of spruce xylan characteristics on tensile strength of spruce kraft pulp
  4. Evidence for a very slow disaggregation of lignosulfonates
  5. Slow relaxation mode of sodium lignosulfonate in saline solutions
  6. Influence of carboxylic group content on the solution behavior of carboxymethylated lignin (CML) in water
  7. Chemithermomechanical and kraft pulping of Pinus radiata wood chips after the hydrothermal extraction of hemicelluloses
  8. In-plane shear strength of paper measured by asymmetric four-point bending test
  9. Strain distribution and load transfer in the polymer-wood particle bond in wood plastic composites
  10. Structural changes in spruce wood during different steps of steam explosion pretreatment
  11. A critical review of the multilayer sorption models and comparison with the sorption site occupancy (SSO) model for wood moisture sorption isotherm analysis
  12. Hygric properties of Norway spruce and sycamore after incubation with two white rot fungi
  13. On-line monitoring of hygroscopicity and dimensional changes of wood during thermal modification by means of neutron imaging methods
  14. Influence of blue stain on density and dimensional stability of Pinus radiata timber from northern Galicia (Spain)
  15. Bacterial and abiotic decay in waterlogged archaeological Picea abies (L.) Karst studied by confocal Raman imaging and ATR-FTIR spectroscopy
  16. Effects of vitamin E combined with antioxidants on wood flour/polypropylene composites during accelerated weathering
  17. Short Note
  18. Tensile behaviour and fracture mechanism of moso bamboo (Phyllostachys pubescens)
  19. Lignin masks the presence of fibrillar network structure in the cell corner middle lamella (CCML)
Downloaded on 24.7.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/hf-2014-0024/html
Scroll to top button