The Roman Houses of the Caelian Hill (Rome, Italy): Multitemporal Evaluation of Biodeterioration Patterns

Like other hypogeal environments, the Roman Houses of the Caelian Hill are prone to unwanted biological growth. Wide conservative interventions have been carried out at the beginning of this millenium to reduce biodeterioration and physical-chemical damages. Retracing the last monitoring work, we assessed the site's current state of conservation and biodeterioration intending to check the previous treatments' effectiveness and deepen the common knowledge of the subterranean biota and their possible biodeteriogenic effects. Starting from the past test areas and the previous identifications of the occurring biodeteriogens, we further isolated and identified the main eubacterial, fungal, and phototrophic settlers, focusing on some detrimental traits for wall paintings (i.e., acid production and carbonate precipitation). The achieved results proved the success of the performed interventions in reducing the wall's water content. Otherwise, the new conditions raise, in the long term, new concerns about lampenflora, carbonate precipitations, and salt efflorescence. Here, the Caelian Houses' new status is documented. The possible favouring conditions for the different groups of biodeteriogens, along with the taxonomical novelties, additional risks tied to the anthropization of the resident culturable microbial community, and the possible relation between the black fungus Cyphellophora olivacea and roots, are reported and discussed.

Noncontiguous finished genome sequence and description of Nocardioides massiliensis sp. nov. GD13(T)

Nocardioides massiliensis sp. nov strain GD13^T is the type strain of N. massiliensis sp. nov., a new species within the genus Nocardioides. This strain was isolated from the faeces of a 62-year-old man admitted to intensive care for Guillain-Barré syndrome. Nocardioides massiliensis is a strictly aerobic Gram-positive rod. Herein we describe the features of this bacterium, together with the complete genome sequence and annotation. The 4 006 620 bp long genome contains 4132 protein-coding and 47 RNA genes.

Nocardioides soli sp. nov., a carbendazim-degrading bacterium isolated from soil under the long-term application of carbendazim

The taxonomic status of a carbendazim-degrading strain, mbc-2T, isolated from soil under the long-term application of carbendazim in China was determined by means of a polyphasic study. The cells were Gram-stain-positive, motile and rod-shaped. Strain mbc-2T grew optimally at pH 7.0, 30–35 °C and in the presence of 1 % (w/v) NaCl. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain mbc-2T fell within the genus Nocardioides , forming a coherent cluster with the type strain of Nocardioides hankookensis , with which it exhibited 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity values of 97.9 %. The chemotaxonomic properties of strain mbc-2T were consistent with those of the genus Nocardioides : the cell-wall peptidoglycan type was based on ll-2,6-diaminopimelic acid, the predominant menaquinone was MK-8 (H4) and the major fatty acid was iso-C16 : 0. The major polar lipids were phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, diphosphatidylglycerol, unknown phospholipids and an unknown aminolipid. The DNA G+C content was 72 mol%. Strain mbc-2T exhibited DNA–DNA relatedness values of 12.5±1.5 %, 23.7±2.7 % and 26.3±3.2 % with respect to Nocardioides hankookensis DS-30T, Nocardioides aquiterrae GW-9T and Nocardioides pyridinolyticus OS4T. On the basis of the data obtained, strain mbc-2T represents a novel species of the genus Nocardioides , for which the name Nocardioides soli sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is mbc-2T ( = KACC 17152T = CCTCC AB 2012934T).

Nocardioides zeae sp. nov., isolated from the stem of Zea mays

A Gram-stain-positive aerobic organism, isolated from the healthy stem of a Zea mays plant was studied for its taxonomic position. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis strain JM-1068(T) was most closely related to Nocardioides alkalitolerans (97.2%). The 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to all other species of the genus Nocardioides was ≤ 96.1%. The quinone system of strain JM-1068(T) contained the major menaquinone MK-8(H4). The diagnostic diamino acid of the peptidoglycan was LL-diaminopimelic acid. In the polar lipid profile, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol and two unidentified phospholipids were predominant. The polyamine pattern contained predominantly spermidine and spermine. The fatty acid profile was composed of iso-C16 : 0 and C18 : 1ω9c in addition to C16 : 0, C17 : 0 and C17 : 1ω8c and low amounts of C16 : 0 2-OH and C17 : 0 2-OH. This supported the allocation of the strain to the genus Nocardioides. In addition, the results of physiological and biochemical tests also allowed phenotypic differentiation of strain JM-1068(T) from N. alkalitolerans. It is concluded that JM-1068(T) represents a novel species of the genus Nocardioides, for which we propose the name Nocardioides zeae sp. nov., with JM-1068(T) ( = CIP 110696(T)  = LMG 28079(T)) as the type strain.

Nocardioides marinquilinus sp. nov., isolated from coastal seawater

A Gram-stain-positive, non-motile, strictly aerobic, non-spore-forming and short rod-shaped bacterial strain, CL-GY44T, was isolated from coastal seawater, Korea. Analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain CL-GY44T revealed a clear affiliation with the genus Nocardioides . Based on phylogenetic analysis, strain CL-GY44T showed the closest phylogenetic relationship with Nocardioides ginsengagri BX5-10T and Nocardioides plantarum NCIMB 12834T. Strain CL-GY44T was not able to grow in the presence of NaCl but grew with 0–5.5 % sea salts. The optimum temperature and pH for growth were 30 °C and pH 7.0. The major cellular fatty acids of strain CL-GY44T were C17 : 1ω6c, iso-C16 : 0, C16 : 0 and iso-C15 : 0 and the major menaquinone was MK-8(H4). The cell-wall analysis showed that strain CL-GY44T contained ll-diaminopimelic acid. The genomic DNA G+C content was 71.6 mol%. The combined phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic data showed that strain CL-GY44T could be clearly distinguished from members of the genus Nocardioides . Thus, strain CL-GY44T should be classified as representing a novel species in the genus Nocardioides , for which the name Nocardioides marinquilinus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CL-GY44T ( = KCCM 90109T = JCM 18459T).