Plums (Prunus domestica L.) are a good source of yeasts producing organic acids of industrial interest from glycerol.

The production of organic acids from several yeasts isolated from mature plums on media containing glycerol as carbon source was analysed by HPLC-UV. The yeasts isolated were identified by sequencing the 5.8S internal transcribed spacer as Pichia fermentans, Wickerhamomyces anomalus and Candida oleophila.

Mycoviruses are common among different species of endophytic fungi of grasses.

A survey of mycoviruses was made in a collection of 103 isolates belonging to 53 different species of endophytic fungi of grasses. Double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) elements were detected in isolates of 12 of the species analyzed. The banding characteristics and sizes of some of the dsRNA elements suggest that they might belong to previously described mycovirus families.

Martelella mediterranea gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel alpha-proteobacterium isolated from a subterranean saline lake.

A bacterial strain was isolated from the water of Lake Martel in Mallorca (Spain). The isolate, designated MACL11(T), was halotolerant and strictly aerobic. The cells were non-motile, non-spore-forming, Gram-negative short rods.