Microbiology of the stalactites from Grotta dei Cervi, Porto Badisco, Italy Authors Leonila Laiz Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología, CSIC, Sevilla, Spain Ingrid Groth Hans-Knoell-Institute for Natural Products Research, Jena, Germany Peter Schumann DSMZ-Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen GmbH, Braunschweig, Germany Fulvio Zezza Istituto di Geologia Applicata e Geotecnica, Bari, Italy Andreas Felske Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología, CSIC, Sevilla, Spain Bernardo Hermosin Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología, CSIC, Sevilla, Spain Cesareo Saiz-Jimenez Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología, CSIC, Sevilla, Spain Keywords: Streptomyces, Bacillus, actinomycetes, caves, rock art paintings Abstract The active stalactites from Grotta dei Cervi, Porto Badisco, southeastern Italy, were sampled to investigate the microbial communities present in these speleothems. Sampling was carried out in a transect about 150 m long in the central gallery, where numerous Gram-positive bacteria were isolated. Actinomycetes of the genus Streptomyces were the most abundant, followed by members of the genus Bacillus. Further isolates were assigned to the genera Amycolatopsis, Arthrobacter, Agromyces, Micrococcus, Nocardiopsis and Rhodococcus of the order Actinomycetales. The ability of actinomycetes to colonize subterranean environments is discussed. Downloads PDF Published 2010-03-15 Issue Vol. 3 No. 1 (2000) Section Research Articles License Submission of a manuscript to International Microbiology implies: that the work described has not been published before, including publication in the World Wide Web (except in the form of an Abstract or as part of a published lecture, review, or thesis); that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; that all the coauthors have agreed to its publication. The corresponding author signs for and accepts responsability for releasing this material and will act on behalf of any and all coauthors regarding the editorial review and publication process.If an article is accepted for publication in International Microbiology, the authors (or other copyright holder) must transfer to the journal the right–not exclusive–to reproduce and distribute the article including reprints, translations, photographic reproductions, microform, electronic form (offline, online) or any other reproductions of similar nature. Nevertheless, all article in International Microbiology will be available on the Internet to any reader at no cost. The journal allows users to freely download, copy, print, distribute, search, and link to the full text of any article, provided the authorship and source of the published article is cited. The copyright owner's consent does not include copying for new works, or resale. In these cases, the specific written permission of International Microbiology must first be obtained.Authors are requested to create a link to the published article on the journal's website. The link must be accompanied by the following text: "The original publication is available on LINK at <http://www.im.microbios.org>. Please use the appropiate URL for the article in LINK. Articles disseminated via LINK are indexed, abstracted, and referenced by many abstracting and information services, bibliographic networks, subscription agencies, library networks, and consortia.
