Biofilms on Cultural Heritage

Dear Colleagues,

We would like to invite you to submit your work to this Special Issue of Coatings on “Biofilms on Cultural Heritage”. It is amply recognized that microbial communities are truly ubiquitous in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, as well as on man-made materials, including cultural heritage assets. A high microbial diversity in the form of bacteria, cyanobacteria, algae, and fungi can find a suitable habitat for their growth on the surface of cultural heritage materials, such as monument stones, tiles, and wood, developing on the surfaces by forming biofilms composed of a mono- or multilayer of cells embedded in glue-like extracellular polymeric substances (EPS).

Cultural heritage assets can be a paradigm of a complex environment in which microorganisms can be confronted as it encompasses heterogeneity and is dynamic in time and space. This heterogeneity of most cultural heritage substrates is related to the numerous interactions among microbial populations and between these populations and the substrate, as well as other factors occurring in the surrounding environment. Thus, scientific approaches and conservation strategies in the field of cultural heritage have evolved over the years to reach a high level of sophistication comprising complex and multidisciplinary approaches into a still growing scientific community.

The central focus of this Special Issue is biofilms on cultural heritage. In particular, the topics of interest include but are not limited to:

• Characterization techniques of biofilm–substrate interfaces;
• Ecology and biogeochemistry of cultural heritage biofilms;
• Biofilm-associated biodeterioration processes;
• Strategies to control and eliminate biofilms in cultural heritage;
• Biofilm resilience.

Dr. Beatriz Prieto
Dr. Ana Zélia Miller
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Coatings is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.