Novel species of microfungi described in the present study include the following from Australia: Catenulostroma corymbiae from Corymbia, Devriesia stirlingiae from Stirlingia, Penidiella carpentariae from Carpentaria, Phaeococcomyces eucalypti from Eucalyptus, Phialophora livistonae from Livistona, Phyllosticta aristolochiicola from Aristolochia, Clitopilus austroprunulus on sclerophyll forest litter of Eucalyptus regnans and Toxicocladosporium posoqueriae from Posoqueria. Several species are also described from South Africa, namely: Ceramothyrium podocarpi from Podocarpus, Cercospora chrysanthemoides from Chrysanthemoides, Devriesia shakazului from Aloe, Penidiella drakensbergensis from Protea, Strelitziana cliviae from Clivia and Zasmidium syzygii from Syzygium. Other species include Bipolaris microstegii from Microstegium and Synchaetomella acerina from Acer (USA), Brunneiapiospora austropalmicola from Rhopalostylis (New Zealand), Calonectria pentaseptata from Eucalyptus and Macadamia (Vietnam), Ceramothyrium melastoma from Melastoma (Indonesia), Collembolispora aristata from stream foam (Czech Republic), Devriesia imbrexigena from glazed decorative tiles (Portugal), Microcyclospora rhoicola from Rhus (Canada), Seiridium phylicae from Phylica (Tristan de Cunha, Inaccessible Island), Passalora lobeliaefistulosis from Lobelia (Brazil) and Zymoseptoria verkleyi from Poa (The Netherlands). Valsalnicola represents a new ascomycete genus from Alnus (Austria) and Parapenidiella a new hyphomycete genus from Eucalyptus (Australia). Morphological and culture characteristics along with ITS DNA barcodes are also provided.

9 páginas.-- 5 figuras.-- 1 tabla.-- 73referencias.--Rocks, either in natural geological outcrops or in stone monuments, are common habitats for a wide variety of microorganisms which colonize both rock surfaces and cracks. Physical properties such as porosity and surface roughness make limestone susceptible to biological colonization, which may induces aesthetic and/or physical and chemical damages. Organisms causing biodeterioration on monuments have usually been controlled by chemical products (biocides). In order to overcome the impact of these substances on the environment, human health and stone substrates, alternative tools such as natural products from plants or microorganisms can be used as an innovative approach for stone conservation.\ud In this work, the efficiency of natural biocides (cells free culture filtrates of Trichoderna harzianum and Burkholderia gladioli, as well as glycoalkaloids from spontaneous Solanaceae) was tested under laboratory conditions against a multi-species phototrophic culture developing on Hontoria limestone. Their efficiency was assessed by digital image analysis, in vitro chlorophyll a quantification and confocal laser scanning microscopy. These techniques showed a good correlation, revealing that cells free filtrate of Trichoderma harzianum had an antagonistic action against the multi-species phototrophic culture tested in this work.S. Sasso acknowledges the opportunity to carry out a predoctoral stay at IRNAS-CSIC. A.Z. Miller acknowledges the support from the Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship of the European Commission's 7th Framework Programme (grant: PIEF-GA-2012-328689).Peer reviewe

The Galapagos Islands (Ecuador) have a unique ecosystem on Earth due to their outstanding biodiversity and geological features. This also extends to their subterranean heritage, such as volcanic caves, with plenty of secondary mineral deposits, including coralloid-type speleothems and moonmilk deposits. In this study, the bacterial communities associated with speleothems from two lava tubes of Santa Cruz Island were investigated. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) was carried out for the morphological characterization and detection of microbial features associated with moonmilk and coralloid speleothems from Bellavista and Royal Palm Caves. Microbial cells, especially filamentous bacteria in close association with extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), were abundant in both types of speleothems. Furthermore, reticulated filaments and Actinobacteria-like cells were observed by FESEM. The analysis of 16S rDNA revealed the presence of different bacterial phylotypes, many of them associated with the carbon, nitrogen, iron and sulfur cycles, and some others with pollutants. This study gives insights into subsurface microbial diversity of the Galapagos Islands and further shows the interest of the conservation of these subterranean geoheritage sites used as show caves.