Evaluation of the deteriorating effects of microbial primary metabolites on silk fibres.

The silk biodegradation process remains unclear and requires elucidation with advanced analytical tools. To address this challenge, the role of microbial primary metabolites in the deterioration of ancient silk was investigated using metabolomics and proteomics techniques in this work. The oxalic and palmitic acids were separately identified as the most abundant organic and fatty acid metabolites for silk-fabric deterioration via metabolomics.

Microbial degradation mechanism of historical silk revealed by proteomics and metabolomics.

Archaeological silk undergoes destructive and irreversible changes during the natural process of decay. However, in-depth studies on the influence of this biological factor are still lacking. Here, a combination of proteomics and metabolomics is proposed for the first time to explore the interaction between bacteria and historical silk during biodegradation, which provides information on changes at the molecular level of proteins and bacterial metabolites.