mokos.phd

Tereza Mokoš (Branyšová)

Microbiologist. I study the fungi and bacteria that slowly eat archives, libraries and film, and I look for green ways to stop them.

Marie Skłodowska-Curie postdoctoral fellow at Lodz University of Technology, Poland

Fungi and bacteria on a 90 mm plate. Place an essential-oil disc anywhere on it.

GreenTechCH

GreenTech Solutions for Sustainable Cultural Heritage, 2026–2028

Paper, wood, brick and film are food for microbes. GreenTechCH sets out to develop the first green biocide for cultural heritage.

Conservators still fight biodeterioration with chemical biocides that are toxic and increasingly restricted in the EU. Plant essential oils and beneficial microorganisms can do the same job, but they lack full testing and a practical way to deliver them.

In this Marie Skłodowska-Curie project I combine both with delivery systems such as alginate–chitosan films and microcapsules. We test them in the lab on brick, wood and paper, then on site through the seasons at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum in Oświęcim, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and measure how each treatment changes the colour, structure and strength of the material.

The clear ring you can make on the plate above is a zone of inhibition: the classic first test of whether a substance stops microbial growth.

Funding
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowship, Horizon Europe, grant agreement 101272978
Host
Department of Environmental Biotechnology, Lodz University of Technology, with Prof. Beata Gutarowska
Secondment
Rzeszów University of Technology, with Prof. Tomasz Ruman
Duration
April 2026 to March 2028
Visit the project websiteProject record on CORDIS

Publications

Most of my papers are published under the name Tereza Branysova.

2026

  1. Under review

    Bacterial diversity patterns and their environmental predictors in European mountain forest habitats

    Branysova T., Barbi F., Martinović T., Odriozola I., Moravcova A., Brabcova V., Meszarosova L., Thoen E., Baldrian P., Kohout P.

    Submitted to ISME Communications

  2. Under review

    Biomineralization as an alternative to conventional treatments for biodeteriorated mineral-based cultural heritage: a review

    Klikova K., Stiborova H., Branysova T.

    Submitted to Critical Reviews in Biotechnology

  3. Under review

    DNA- and RNA-based bacterial community profiles on cave surfaces in the context of MICP and speleothem mineralogy

    Klikova K., Mokos T., Ottova H., Nezerka V., Holecek P., Konakova D., Stiborova H.

    Submitted to Environmental Sciences Europe

2025

  1. Fresh spirulina biomass for human nutrition – safety, microbiology, storage, sensorics

    Vasquez Guevara C. M., Lucakova S., Branysova T., Ilko V., Tobolka A., Rajchl A., Branyikova I.

    Journal of Applied Phycology, 37(5), 3595–3607doi.org/10.1007/s10811-025-03631-9

  2. Multifaceted assessment of fungal diversity and biodegradation activity in historical library

    Branysova T., Petru N., Baronova M., Sykorova H., Stiborova H.

    Building and Environment, 278, 113025doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2025.113025

  3. Enhancing the culturability of bacteria present on archived audio-visual materials

    Branysova T., Zdrazilova N., Klikova K., Stiborova H.

    Journal of Cultural Heritage, 72, 131–140doi.org/10.1016/j.culher.2025.01.008

  4. Biochemical and chemical markers associated with biodeterioration agents isolated from archive audio-visual materials

    Branysova T., Komar M., Szulc J., Sypka M., Nizioł J., Płaza-Altamer A., Stryszewska T., Olejnik K., Ruman T., Gutarowska B.

    International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation, 197, 105959doi.org/10.1016/j.ibiod.2024.105959

2024

  1. Fungal diversity on archival audio-visual materials

    Branysova T., Zdrazilova N., Durovic M., Demnerova K., Stiborova H.

    Journal of Cultural Heritage, 69, 27–36doi.org/10.1016/j.culher.2024.07.009

  2. Uncovering the microbial diversity of Czech Republic archives: a study of metabolically active airborne microbes

    Branysova T., Petru N., Lopez Marin M. A., Solcova M., Demnerova K., Stiborova H.

    Heliyon, 10(7), e27930doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e27930

2023

  1. Bacterial diversity on historical audio-visual materials and in the atmosphere of Czech depositories

    Branysova T., Limpouch O., Durovic M., Demnerova K., Stiborova H.

    Microbiology Spectrum, 11(4), e01176-23doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.01176-23

2022

  1. Microbial biodeterioration of cultural heritage and identification of the active agents over the last two decades

    Branysova T., Demnerova K., Durovic M., Stiborova H.

    Journal of Cultural Heritage, 55, 245–260doi.org/10.1016/j.culher.2022.03.013

2021

  1. Factors influencing the fungal diversity on audio-visual materials

    Branysova T., Kracmarova M., Durovic M., Demnerova K., Stiborova H.

    Microorganisms, 9(12), 2497doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9122497

  2. Biodeterioration of audio-visual materials

    Branysova T., Tepla B., Durovic M., Demnerova K., Stiborova H.

    Chemické listy, 115(5)In Czech: Biodeteriorace audiovizuálních materiálů

2020

  1. Microorganisms contaminating audio-visual and photographic cultural heritage: isolation and identification

    Branysova T., Durovic M., Demnerova K., Stiborova H.

    Bioprospect, 30(2)In Czech: Mikroorganismy kontaminující audiovizuální a fotografické památky kulturního dědictví: izolace a identifikace

Certified methodologies

2022. Certified methodologies, published in Czech.

  • Disinfection of photographic materials with a collodion light-sensitive layer
  • Disinfection of photographic materials with an albumen light-sensitive layer
  • Disinfection of photographic and film materials with a gelatin light-sensitive layer

Talks and posters

  1. 2025

    Climate effects on microbial communities across mountain forest ecosystems

    Poster, Ecology of Soil Microorganisms, Helsinki

  2. 2023

    Importance of microbial screening for the conservation of cultural heritage

    Poster, FEMS Conference, Hamburg

  3. 2022

    Sequencing as an effective tool for monitoring microbial contamination of cultural heritage objects

    Talk, Muzea, památky a konzervace, in Czech

  4. 2022

    Microbial air analysis in the archives of the Czech Republic

    Poster, FEMS Conference, Belgrade

  5. 2021

    Illumina MiSeq sequencing for bacteria identification on audio-visual materials

    Talk, 15th International Conference on DNA Sequencing and Methods

  6. 2021

    How to preserve audio-visual materials for future generations?

    Talk, XXX. Tomáškovy dny mladých mikrobiologů, in Czech

  7. 2021

    Observation of fungi on audio-visual materials using metagenomic analysis

    Poster, World Microbe Forum

  8. 2020

    Optimization of 16S rRNA and ITS amplicon preparation for metagenomic analysis of microbial populations

    Poster, Konference RANK, Pardubice, in Czech

  9. 2020

    Microbial screening of selected archives in the Czech Republic

    Poster, FEMS Online Conference on Microbiology

Grants

  • 2026–2028

    GreenTech Solutions for Sustainable Cultural Heritage (GreenTechCH)

    Fellow. Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, Horizon Europe, grant agreement 101272978

  • Effect of global changes on fungal biogeography and ecosystem functioning

    Team member. Czech Science Foundation (GAČR), 21-20802M

  • Biodiversity of black and white photographic and cinematographic materials in the Czech archives and the methods of their disinfection

    Team member. Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic (NAKI II), DG18P02OVV062

  • Biorefining and circular economy for sustainability

    Team member. Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TAČR), TN02000044

  • 2023

    Biodeterioration of written artefacts as cultural heritage of the Czech Republic

    Principal investigator. UCT Prague internal grant, A2_FPBT_2023_035

  • 2022

    Biodegradation potential of microorganisms colonizing audio-visual materials

    Principal investigator. UCT Prague internal grant, A2_FPBT_2022_027

  • 2021

    Microbial contamination of the air of archives in the Czech Republic

    Principal investigator. UCT Prague internal grant, A2_FPBT_2021_010

  • 2020

    Metagenomic analysis of microbial populations on audio-visual materials

    Principal investigator. UCT Prague internal grant, A2_FPBT_2020_030

About

I find out which microbes live on our cultural heritage, what they do to it, and how to stop them safely.

For my PhD at the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, I studied the fungi and bacteria on film, photographs and other audio-visual records in Czech archives, in the air of their depositories and in a historical library. At the Institute of Microbiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences I then worked on bacterial communities in European mountain forests. Since April 2026 I have been in Łódź as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellow.

I have taught laboratory microbiology and supervised one bachelor and two master students. Since 2022 I have been an active member of the non-profit Biotrin, where I write news and the “Do You Know…?” column. In 2022 I received a FEMS Conference Attendance Grant.

Path

  1. 2026–

    Marie Skłodowska-Curie postdoctoral fellow

    Department of Environmental Biotechnology, Lodz University of Technology

  2. 2024–2026

    Postdoctoral researcher

    Institute of Microbiology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague

  3. 2023

    Research fellowship

    Lodz University of Technology. Microbial biodeterioration of cultural heritage objects

  4. 2022

    Research fellowship

    Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome. MinION sequencing for microbial analysis of cultural heritage

  5. 2019–2024

    PhD in Microbiology and research fellow

    University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague. Microbial contamination and preservation of selected cultural heritage in the Czech Republic

  6. 2017–2019

    MSc in Microbiology

    University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague. Mechanisms facilitating the survival of pathogenic Campylobacter spp. in the environment

  7. 2014–2017

    BSc in Biochemistry and Biotechnology

    University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague. The effect of cultivation conditions on Campylobacter jejuni biofilm formation

Methods

  • Microbial cultivation
  • DNA and RNA isolation
  • MALDI-TOF MS
  • PCR and qPCR
  • Gel electrophoresis
  • Illumina MiSeq amplicon preparation
  • MinION sequencing
  • Sanger sequencing
  • NGS data analysis
  • Multivariate statistics in R

Contact

Write to me about a collaboration, a sample or a talk.

branysot@gmail.com

LinkedInGreenTechCH project
© 2026 Tereza MokošDepartment of Environmental Biotechnology, Lodz University of Technology