Microorganisms are present everywhere, in soil, water, and air. Are buildings and monuments (old or new) acting as habitat or living worlds of different microorganisms? How do they get their food and how do they survive? As soil and water carries various nutrients that support microbial growth, are building structures also providing nutrients/ food for microbial growth? If yes, how?
The monuments also function like habitat for bacteria, ago a few years the investigators of " Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología de Sevilla " (INRAS) discovered a news strains belonging to genera "Rubrobacter" that are the responsable for destroy the buildings and monuments. How survive...? I think that these microorganisms will be quimiolitoautotrophic or photolitoautotropic, because they can't use carbon sources.
Not only monuments act as reservoirs for microorganisms, in fact, practically all surfaces that we touch have bacteria. Given this, in recent years research among bactericidal activity has been extended.
As for your question, the bacteria can survive feeding on organic debris present on the surfaces. I attached an article that can be useful.
Not only for bacteria, but also for fungi. There You can find few articles in this subject.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236217984_Fungi_of_the_genus_Penicillium_in_school_buildings
http://www.arcchip.cz/w08/w08_palfreyman2.pdf
http://en.cornetis.pl/artykul/5611.html
http://en.cornetis.pl/artykul/5408.html
http://en.cornetis.pl/artykul/5510.html
Article Fungi of the Genus Penicillium in School Buildings
Kunal--You have some good answers. I'll add another one. Various species of algae, fungi (like Aureobasidium) and bacteria colonize surfaces of stone. There's not a lot understood about the interactions but it is believed that the microbes establish a sustainable microcosm. Acids produced by the microbes may slowly degrade the stone (especially limestone).
The answer is a big YES!
Still, you have to distinguish between what is capable of growing in the building environment, and what is accidentally settled on building surfaces. As our buildings are not sterile, there are a lot of accidental microbes that come from outdoors as well as from building users (humans, plants, animals) and settle on surfaces, but are not capable of growing on building substrates.
Think of all the parasites, animal symbionts, mycorrhizal fungi, etc. that do not find their growth requirements within the building environment. Also, think of all DEAD microrganisms that can settle on building surfaces, for example anaerobic microorganisms living in the human gut and getting into contact with room oxygen.
In order to distinguish between microorganisms having their Sources within the building environment and those accidentally found on building surfaces, you cannot rely on DNA analyses, as these techniques cannot distinguish between active and passive organisms, not even between living and dead organisms.
Microbes are microscopical organisms. Look at them through an optical microscope to see wether the species actually grows on building surfaces, and combine these observations With knowledge on the species' Natural history and ecology, and you will get long!
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