Humans distribute a wide range of microorganisms around building interiors, and some of these are potentially pathogenic. Recent research established that humans are the main drivers of the indoor microbiome and up to now significant literature has been produced about this topic. Here we analyzed differences in bacterial composition between men's and women's restrooms and other common areas within the same public building. Bacterial DNA samples were collected from restrooms and halls of a three-floor building from the Federal University of Pampa, RS, Brazil. The bacterial community was characterized by amplification of the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene and sequencing. Throughout all samples, the most abundant phylum was Proteobacteria, followed by Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes. Beta diversity metrics showed that the structure of the bacterial communities were different among the areas and floors tested, however, only 6-9% of the variation in bacterial communities was explained by the area and floors sampled. A few microorganisms showed significantly differential abundance between men's and women's restrooms, but in general, the bacterial communities from both places were very similar. Finally, significant differences among the microbial community profile from different floors were reported, suggesting that the type of use and occupant demographic within the building may directly influence bacterial dispersion and establishment.

The species Syagrus romanzoffiana, a native palm tree of South America, is widely distributed and well adapted to southern Brazil. It is an important economic, cultural, and ecological resource, being the preferred food of diverse animal species, involving complex ecological relationships. However, despite numerous molecular studies on native plants, specific molecular markers, such as expressed sequence tagsimple sequence repeats (EST-SSRs), are lacking, and there are few SSR markers for this species. Molecular data about individuals and their populations offers new perspectives for management, conservation, and economic exploitation. Here we tested 21 microsatellite loci known from three species of the family Arecaceae in three native populations of S. romanzoffiana in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, in southern Brazil. Among the 21 primer pairs tested, 12 produced an amplification product. Five loci were chosen and subjected to diversity tests. The populations presented between three and nine alleles per locus, and acceptable genetic diversity values; the expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.460 to 0.864, while the observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.100 to 1.000. We conclude that various microsatellite markers developed for other species of the family Arecaceae are suitable for molecular analysis of S. romanzoffiana populations.

Abstract:In this study, the organelle genomes of Polytrichum juniperinum Hedw. and Polytrichum strictum Menzies ex Brid. (Polytrichaceae, Bryophyta) from Antarctica were sequenced and compared with the plastomes of the model moss species Physcomitrella patens Brid. The sizes of the cpDNA in P. juniperinum and P. strictum were estimated to be 55,168 and 20,183 bp, respectively; the sizes of the mtDNA were 88,021 and 58,896 bp, respectively. The genomes are very similar to each other, with the possible loss of petN in the cpDNA, which also showed some gene inversions when compared with the cpDNAs of P. patens Brid. In the mtDNA, it is possible that rps10 was lost. In contrast, Antarctic Polytrichaceae species have nad7 and orf187, without the occurrence of rearrangement events. Phylogenomic analyses of the plastid and mitochondria revealed that the majority-rule tree suggests some differences in the plastids ancestry, however, P. juniperinum and P. strictum were grouped in the same clade in chloroplast, but in mitochondria P. strictum was grouped with Atrichum angustatum (Brid.) Bruch & Schimp. This study helped us understand the evolution of plastomes and chondriosomes in the family Polytrichaceae, and suggest a hybridization event with relation to the mitochondrial data.

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