Chemotaxis and Cochineal: Microbial Insights into the Permanent Collection

Description

Although paintings teem with bacterial life, their microbiomes represent a vast and largely untapped sector of microbiology. Dr. Brendaliz Santiago-Narvaez and former Fred Hicks Curatorial Fellow Isaac Gorres will delve into their Student-Faculty Collaborative Scholarship project from the summer of 2020. Their research explored the microbial flora of a Flemish old master painting in the CFAM permanent collection, ultimately isolating a potentially undescribed Rhodopseudomonas sp. bacterium. Additionally, they will discuss exciting developments in the field of microbial art conservation and present a novel method of pigment identification based on microbial behavior.