As a powerful predictor of 5-year DSS among patients with NPC, the newly developed NPC-SVM classifier based on tumor-associated biomarkers will facilitate patient counseling and individualize management of patients with NPC.

Four bacterial strains, SL014B-41A4T, SL014B-20A1T, SL014B-76A1 and SL014B-79A, isolated from a crude oil-contaminated saline soil of Shengli Oilfield, China, were investigated using a polyphasic approach. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain SL014B-41A4T belonged to the genus Salinarimonas in the order Rhizobiales, with the highest sequence similarity with Salinarimonas rosea YIM YD3T (98.3 %). The DNA–DNA relatedness of strain SL014B-41A4T to S. rosea YIM YD3T was 27.03±3.0 %. Strain SL014B-41A4T was Gram-negative staining, facultatively anaerobic and produced deep red pigment in artificial seawater medium. Cells of strain SL014B-41A4T were rod-shaped (0.6–4.0×1.25–25 µm), motile with a single polar flagellum and often formed branches. The strain contained Q-10 as the predominant respiratory ubiquinone and C18 : 1ω7c (57.5 %), C16 : 0 (16.4 %) and 10-methyl C19 : 0 (9.1 %) as the major fatty acids. Strains SL014B-20A1T, SL014B-76A1 and SL014B-79A were actinobacteria and belonged to the genus Tessaracoccus in the family Propionibacteriaceae of the order Actinomycetales with the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities with Tessaracoccus flavescens SST-39T (96.4 %), Tessaracoccus lubricantis KISS-17SeT (96.2 %) and Tessaracoccus bendigoensis Ben 106T (94.7 %). Strains SL014B-20A1T, SL014B-76A1 and SL014B-79A were Gram-positive staining, facultatively anaerobic, non-endospore-forming, non-motile, acid-fast and oval to rod-shaped (0.48×0.5–1.0 µm). These three novel strains had ll-diaminopimelic acid (DAP) as the diagnostic diamino acid in the cell-wall peptidoglycan, MK-9(H4) as the only menaquinone and anteiso-C15 : 0 (67.11–76.14 %) as the major cellular fatty acid. The G+C contents of the genomic DNA of strain SL014B-41A4T and strains SL014B-20A1T, SL014B-76A1 and SL014B-79A were 67.68 mol% and 65.65–67.17 mol%, respectively. Based on phenotypic and genotypic characteristics, strain SL014B-41A4T represents a novel species of the genus Salinarimonas, for which the name Salinarimonas ramus is proposed, with strain SL014B-41A4T ( = DSM 22962T = CGMCC 1.9161T) as the type strain. Strains SL014B-20A1T, SL014B-76A1 and SL014B-79A represent a novel species of the genus Tessaracoccus, for which the name Tessaracoccus oleiagri is proposed, with strain SL014B-20A1T ( = DSM 22955T = CGMCC 1.9159T) as the type strain.

It was widely believed that oil is a harsh habitat for microbes because of its high toxicity and hydrophobicity. However, accumulating evidence has revealed the presence of live microbes in crude oil. Therefore, it’s of value to conduct an in-depth investigation on microbial communities in crude oil. To this end, microorganisms in oil and water phases were collected from four oil-well production mixtures in Qinghai Oilfield, China, and analyzed for their taxonomic and functional compositions via pyrosequencing and GeoChip, respectively. Hierarchical clustering of 16S rRNA gene sequences and functional genes clearly separated crude oil and water phases, suggestive of distinct taxonomic and functional gene compositions between crude oil and water phases. Unexpectedly, Pseudomonas dominated oil phase where diverse functional gene groups were identified, which significantly differed from those in the corresponding water phases. Meanwhile, most functional genes were significantly more abundant in oil phase, which was consistent with their important roles in facilitating survival of their host organisms in crude oil. These findings provide strong evidence that crude oil could be a “seed bank” of functional microorganisms with rich functional potentials. This offers novel insights for industrial applications of microbial-enhanced oil recovery and bioremediation of petroleum-polluted environments.