New insights on the Xylaria species (Ascomycota, Xylariales) with bright-coloured exudates: Xylaria aurantiorubroguttata sp. nov. and revision of X. haemorrhoidalis and X. anisopleura type collections.

A new species of Xylaria is described based on morphological characters of both sexual and asexual morphs, and molecular data based on nuclear rDNA internal transcribed spacer, α-actin, β-tubulin and RNA polymerase subunit II sequences. Xylaria aurantiorubroguttata is characterized by the presence of both upright, cylindrical, long-stipitate and globose to subglobose, short-stipitate stromata, immature stromatal stages producing at first orange and then red drops, and ascospores with a slightly oblique, straight half spore-length germ slit. We provide also new morphological descriptions for X.

Metabolites from a collected in Madagascar.

was isolated from a dead trunk of (Arecaceae) in a lowland moist forest in Antsohihy, Madagascar, and the species was confirmed by molecular analysis and morphological observations. The main bioactive metabolites of the mycelium extracts were identified by mass spectrometry techniques. Five structural diverse metabolites, tryptophol, pyroglutamic acid, prolyldiketopiperazine B, sporol and RKS-1778, were characterised by LC-MS qTOF analysis of the hydro-alcoholic extract.

Lithobiontic recolonization following cleaning and preservative treatments on the rock engravings of Valle Camonica, Italy: A 54-months monitoring.

Both the indirect control of microclimate conditions and the direct application of preservative products to contrast stone bioreceptivity may contribute to limit lithobiontic recolonization of cultural heritage surfaces after cleaning interventions. However, the priority deserved by these different preventive approaches has still been poorly evaluated, particularly in outdoor environments. This work dealt with the engraved sandstone surfaces of the National Park of Rock Engravings of Naquane (Italy, UNESCO WHS), widely colonized by lichens, mosses and a dark cyanobacterial biofilm, and thus requiring frequent cleaning interventions to preserve their legibility for visitors and scholars.

Damaging and protective interactions of lichens and biofilms on ceramic dolia and sculptures of the International Museum of Ceramics, Faenza, Italy.

Although ceramic objects are an important part of the worldwide cultural heritage, few investigations on the effects of lithobiontic growth on their outdoor conservation are available in the literature. Many aspects of the interaction between lithobionts and stones are still unknown or strongly debated, as in the case of equilibria between biodeterioration and bioprotection. This paper describes research on the colonization by lithobionts on outdoor ceramic Roman dolia and contemporary sculptures of the International Museum of Ceramics, Faenza (Italy).

Metabarcoding Reveals Impact of Different Land Uses on Fungal Diversity in the South-Eastern Region of Antioquia, Colombia.

Changes in soil fungal communities caused by land use have not been sufficiently studied in South American Andosols, which are considered key food production areas. Since fungal communities play an important role in soil functionality, this study analysed 26 soil samples of Andosols collected from locations devoted to conservation, agriculture and mining activities in Antioquia, Colombia, to establish differences between fungal communities as indicators of soil biodiversity loss using Illumina MiSeq metabarcoding on nuclear ribosomal ITS2 region. A non-metric multidimensional scaling allowed to explore driver factors of changes in fungal communities, while the significance of these variations was assessed by PERMANOVA.