Polyphasic characterization of ITD-01, a cyanobacterium isolated from the Ischia Thermal District (Naples, Italy)

This paper deals with the characterization of a filamentous cyanobacterial strain, isolated from the microbial mats developing on the thermal muds of Ischia Thermal District (Naples, Italy). The survey was carried out by a polyphasic approach that includes morphological, ultrastructural, biochemical, and genetic analyses. For the molecular analyses the 16S rDNA gene and the rbcL gene were considered. All results showed that this filamentous cyanobacterium belongs to the order Oscillatoriales, family Pseudanabaenaceae. Moreover, the phylogenetic reconstruction suggests that strain ITD-01 might represent the first described entity belonging to a new cyanobacterial genus, whose name might be Protolyngbya.