Calcareous stones have been widely used in artworks and buildings by almost all human cultures. Now, more than ever, the increased environmental pollution and global warming are threatening the stone cultural heritage. Weathering due to physical, chemical and biological factors results in monumental calcareous stone deterioration. These agents induce a progressive dissolution of the mineral matrix, increase porosity, and lead to structural weakening. Bacterial Calcium Carbonate Mineralization is a widespread naturally occurring process which in the last decades was proposed as an environmentally friendly tool to protect monumental and ornamental calcareous stones. The advantage of this treatment is that it mimics the natural process responsible for stone formation, producing a mineral product similar to the stone substrate. This mini review highlights the milestones of the biomineralization approaches with focus on in situ stone artworks protection. The strategies explored to date are based on three main approaches: (i) the use of allochthonous and (ii) autochthonous alive cells that, due to the bacterial metabolism, foster biomineralization; (iii) the cell-free approach which uses fractionated cellular components inducing biomineralization. We discuss the challenging aspects of all these techniques, focusing on in situ applications and suggesting perspectives based on recent advances.

几乎所有人类文化都将钙质石材广泛用于艺术品和建筑中。现在，日益严重的环境污染和全球变暖正威胁着石材文化遗产。由于物理，化学和生物因素而引起的风化会导致钙质石的老化。这些试剂引起矿物基质的逐步溶解，增加孔隙率，并导致结构减弱。细菌碳酸钙矿化是一个广泛存在的自然过程，在最近的几十年中，有人提出将其作为保护纪念性和观赏性钙质宝石的环保工具。这种处理的优点是它模仿了导致石材形成的自然过程，产生类似于石材基材的矿物产品。原位石材艺术品的保护。迄今为止探索的策略基于三种主要方法：（i）使用异源和（ii）土生的活细胞，这些细胞由于细菌的新陈代谢而促进生物矿化；（iii）无细胞方法，其使用分级的细胞成分诱导生物矿化。我们将讨论所有这些技术的挑战性方面，重点是原位 应用和基于最新进展的建议观点。