Abstract
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. Proteomics showed that oxalic acid accelerated the degradation of silk proteins, revealing changes at the molecular level in silk. A high concentration of oxalic acid promoted the dissolution of peptides by activating the cleavage activity of various amino acids on the molecular chain of silk protein. Palmitic acid formed sedimentary particulate matter with peptides solubilised from silk proteins, indicating the possibility that traces of ancient-silk proteins remained in the fatty acids. The work presented new techniques and concepts for studying the degradation of historical fabrics and contributed to the proposal of effective measures to prevent microbial attack on silk.
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The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52273096), Special Funds from the Administration of Culture Heritage of Zhejiang Province (2020012; 2023012) and Zhejiang Sci-Tech University Shengzhou Innovation Research Institute (SYY2023C000004).
Funding
National Natural Science Foundation of China (52273096); Special Funds from the Administration of Culture Heritage of Zhejiang Province (2020012, 2023012); Zhejiang Sci-Tech University Shengzhou Innovation Research Institute (SYY2023C000004).
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Ding, C., Pan, L., Li, Y. et al. Evaluation of the deteriorating effects of microbial primary metabolites on silk fibres. ANAL. SCI. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s44211-024-00568-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s44211-024-00568-w