Outline of a Research Proposal

on the Microbiology of Indian

Cave Murals.

Speaker: Urmila Duhan, Ph.D

Presented at the Joint Annual Conference of Indian

Archaeological Society et al., Banaras Hindu University,
Varanasi- Nov. (3-6), 2017.
Motivation for the Research
Proposal

“A country’s cultural heritage is an

important channel for the creation of
scientific knowledge. ”
 INTRODUCTION
1. The economic, aesthetic and psychological
importance of culture and heritage to a society
is immense.

2. Cave murals are prone to microbial

degradation.

2. Effective mural conservation relies on detailed

probing of the microbial population of the
murals and their important biological activities.
 OVERALL AIM

To expand the current understanding of the

effect of microbes on the aesthetic quality of
murals of heritage importance.
 SPECIFIC AIMS

AIM 1 To evaluate the diversity of microbial

species of the murals.

AIM 2 To estimate live microbial population of

the murals.

AIM 3 To establish the role of select dominant

microbial species on select pigments used
to paint the murals.
 Material and Methods
1. Mural sample collection by standard
microbiological protocol for the following
analysis:
A. 16S rDNA Analysis (for AIM 1)

B. Fluorescence Microscopy and vPCR

Analysis (for AIM 2)

3. Spectroscopic Analysis (for AIM 3)

 REASONS FOR THE CHOICE OF
METHODS .

1. As per the author’s knowledge, the listed

state- of- the- art techniques have not been
used for microbiological studies involving
heritage material in India.

2. The necessary equipment and expertise are

easily available in the country (IIT’s, National
laboratories etc.)
SOME STUDIES CITING SOME OF THE
SUGGESTED TECHNIQUES:
SOME STUDIES CITING SOME OF THE
SUGGESTED TECHNIQUES:
SOME STUDIES CITING SOME OF THE
SUGGESTED TECHNIQUES:
Possible Direction for Future Studies

The methodology and the results of the

3rd Aim (i.e., pigment degradation study)
can perhaps also be immensely useful to
the lucarative cosmetic/paint industry.
(cosmetic/paint pigments are prone to
microbial degradation upon their use and
storage.)
 DESIRED OUTCOME OF THIS
PRESENTATION

To get the attention of

students/researcher’s who may wish to
follow up with the proposed research
outline with/without suitable
modifications.
THE END

Thank You!