Stenomitos is a recently established cyanobacterial genus, some species of which appear to be cryptic. Here we describe two new species in this genus, Stenomitos kolaensis sp. nov. isolated from the Al-Fe humic podzols of a boreal forest near Nikel town, Murmansk region, Russia and S. hiloensis sp. nov. isolated from a basaltic seep wall on Akeola Road, Hilo, Hawaii, USA. Phylogenetic analyses were conducted on the 16S and 16S-23S ITS rRNA gene regions using Bayesian Inference, and Maximum Likelihood. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S-23S ITS rRNA region resulted in both S. kolaensis and S. hiloensis forming separate clades from other Stenomitos lineages. Antarctic strains of Stenomitos frigidus (previously reported as “Leptolyngbya frigida”) show that species to be polyphyletic and in need of revision. The structure of the conserved ITS regions (Box-B, D1-D1ʹ, V2 and V3 helices) provided support for separation of the species, and the p-distances among aligned ITS regions further confirmed that a number of species exist within the genus. S. kolaensis and S. hiloensis can be distinguished from other described Stenomitos species (S. rutilans and S. tremulus) by their geographical distribution, habitat preference, 16S rRNA phylogeny, and differences in the secondary structure of the 16S-23S ITS region.

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The investigation of algal-mycological complexes in the Rybachy Peninsula soils was carried out. The different types of tundra soils (Al-Fe-humus podzols, podburs, dry-peaty, peats low moor, cryogenic, undeveloped soils) were researched. The soil samples were collected along the route from Bolshaya Volokovaya Bay, which is in the Barents Sea, to the west of the Cape Nemetskiy. The organic horizons of the tundra podzols and podburs on the Rybachy Peninsula are less acid in comparison with the continental tundra soils of the region. Number of microfungi in the Peninsula soils varied from 9 to 70 thousand colony-forming units per 1 g of soil (CFU/g). It was the least in the cryogenic soils. The fungal mycelium length was significant in all the soils with the exception of the undeveloped one – more than 1 thousand m in 1 g of soil. The biomass amounted to 1.7 mg/g of soil. The species diversity of the soil micromycetes complexes is represented by 12 species. The species Penicillium decumbens dominated by the abundance and frequency of occurrence in the podburs, dry-peaty soils, podzols and peats low moor soils. P. raistrickii and P. glabrum predominated in the undeveloped soils, while Mortierella stylospora prevailed in the cryogenic soils. 62 eukaryotic algae as well as 18 species of cyanobacteria were found in the soil samples from Peninsula. The cryogenic and undeveloped soils, as well as Al-Fe-humus podzols and podburs were characterized by low species diversity, predominantly of green algae of classes Chlorophyceae and Trebouxiophyceae. Cyanobacteria and diatoms were noted by their considerable diversity in the dry-peaty soils and peats low moor soils.

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