Abstract
Salterns are extreme environments, where the high salt concentration is the main limitation to microbial growth, along with solar radiation, temperature and pH. These selective pressures might lead to the acquisition of unique genetic adaptations that can manifest in the production of interesting natural products. The present study aimed at obtaining the culturable microbial diversity from two Portuguese salterns located in different geographic regions. A total of 190 isolates were retrieved and identified as belonging to 30 genera distributed among 4 phyla-Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes. Specifically, members of the genus Bacillus were the most frequently isolated from both salterns and all actinobacterial isolates belong to the rare members of this group. The molecular screening of NRPS and PKS-I genes allowed the detection of 38 isolates presenting PKS-I, 25 isolates presenting NRPS and 23 isolates presenting both types of biosynthetic genes. Sequencing of randomly selected amplicons revealed similarity with known PKS-I and NRPS genes or non-annotated hypothetical proteins. This study is the first contribution on the culturable bacterial diversity of Portuguese salterns and on their bioactive potential. Ultimately, these findings provide a novel contribution to improve the understanding on the microbial diversity of salterns.

Abstract
Background: The high salt concentration is the major factor limiting microbial growth at salterns, along with solar radiation, temperature, and pH. These environmental factors play key roles in the acquisition of unique genetic adaptations for the survival of microorganisms in salterns, which can result in the production of interesting secondary metabolites. The main goal of the present work was to isolate and compare the culturable microbiota from two geographically distant salterns in Portugal and access their biotechnological potential. Methods: Culturomics approaches using different culture media were applied for microbial isolation. All isolates were identified either by 16S rRNA or ITS genes sequencing, and their biotechonological potential was assessed by PCR. Results: Overall, 154 microbial isolates were recovered that were phylogenetically assigned to 45 taxa from 9 different phyla. From these, 26 isolates may represent putative new taxa. The predominant genera obtained were Penicillium (41 isolates, 26.6%), Streptomyces (13 isolates, 8.4%) and Sinomicrobium (11 isolates, 7.1%). Moreover, the polyketide synthase I gene was present in 64 isolates, the nonribosomal peptide synthethase gene in 16 isolates, and both genes in 23 isolates. Conclusions: This study adds up valuable knowledge on the culturable microbiota of Portuguese salterns and on its potential for production of secondary metabolites. In the long run, this study provides a widely diverse microbial collection for future works. Data public repository: All DNA sequences were deposited in the GenBank database at National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) web platform under accession numbers OK169439-OK169485, OK216020-OK216124, OK287059 and OK326927.

Abstract
A novel micro-organism designated AS10(T) was isolated from dry salt collected from Aveiro saltern in the north of Portugal. Cells were Gram-stain-positive, non-motile, non-endospore-forming, rod-shaped and aerobic. Strain AS10(T) was characterized by long filaments of rod-shaped cells, presenting also coccoid cellular forms at the end of the filaments, unveiling some pleomorphism. Rod-shaped cells varied from 0.3 to 0.6 mu m wide and from 0.6 to 2 mu m long. Growth of AS10(T) occurred at 15-40 degrees C (optimum, 20-30 degrees C), 0-10% (w/v) NaCl (optimum, 2%) and pH 4.5-11.0 (optimum, pH 8.0-11.0). The peptidoglycan type was A1 Upsilon-type with 3-hydroxy-diaminopimelic acid. The major fatty acids were C-16(:0), iso-C-1(4:)0, C-17(:0) and C-1(4:)0. The major respiratory quinone was MK-9(H-4). Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain AS10(T) was similar to actinobacterial members of the class Nitriliruptoria. with Nitriliruptor alkaliphilus ANL-isor being the closest relative the species with a sequence pairwise similarity of 91.21%. Average nucleotide identity, average amino acid identity and in silico DNA-DNA hybridization values between strain AS10(T) and N. alkaliphilus ANL-iso2(T) were 71.34, 53.57 and 18.90%, respectively. The genome DNA G+C content of AS10(T) was 71.8 mol%. Based on genomic, phylogenetic, phenotypic and chemotaxonomic studies, we describe a new species of a novel genus represented by strain AS10(T) (=LMG 31937(T)=CECT 30148(T)) for which we propose the name Salsipaludibacter albus gen. nov., sp. nov. We also propose that this organism represents a new family named Salsipaludibacteraceae fam. nov. of a novel order named Salsipaludibacterales ord. nov.

Abstract
A bacterial strain was isolated from a brackish water sample of Tagus river, Alcochete, Portugal and was designated TO1_6(T). It forms light pink colonies on M13 medium supplemented with N-acetylglucosamine. Cells are pear-shaped to spherical, form rosettes and divide by budding. Strain TO1_6(T) presents a mesophilic and neutrophilic profile, with optimum growth at 20 to 25 degrees C and pH 7.0 to 7.5, and vitamin supplementation is not required to promote its growth. The genome of the novel isolate is 7.77 Mbp in size and has a DNA G+C content of 56.3%. Based on its 16S rRNA gene sequence, this strain is affiliated with the phylum Planctomycetota. Further taxonomic characterization using additional phylogenetic markers, namely rpoB gene sequence (encoding the beta-subunit of the DNA-dependent RNA polymerase), as well as Percentage of conserved proteins, average nucleotide identity and average amino acid identity, suggest the affiliation of strain TO1_6(T) to the genus Stieleria, a recently described taxon in the family Pirellulaceae, order Pirellulales and class Planctomycetia. Based on the genotypic, phylogenetic and physiological characterization, we here describe a new species represented by the type strain TO1_6(T) (=CECT 30432(T), =LMG 32465(T)), for which the name Stieleria tagensis sp. nov. is proposed.

Abstract
Background The Endoscopic Grading of Gastric Intestinal Metaplasia (EGGIM) classification correlates with histological assessment of gastric intestinal metaplasia and enables stratification of gastric cancer risk. We developed and evaluated an artificial intelligence (AI) approach for EGGIM estimation. Methods Two datasets (A and B) with 1280 narrow-band imaging images were used for per-image analysis. Still images with manually selected patches of 224 x 224 pixels, annotated by experts, were used. Dataset A was retrospectively collected from clinical routine; Dataset B (used for per-patient analysis) was prospectively collected and included 65 fully documented patients. To mimic clinical practice, a deep neural network classified image patches into three EGGIM classes (0, 1, 2) and calculated the total per-patient EGGIM score (0-10). Results On per-image analysis, an accuracy of 87% (95%CI 71%-100%) was obtained. Per-patient EGGIM estimation had an average error of 1.15 (out of 10) and showed 88% (95%CI 80%-96%) accurate clinical decisions for surveillance (EGGIM >= 5), with 85% (95%CI 75%-94%) specificity, no false negatives, and positive and negative predictive values of 62% (95%CI 32%-92%) and 100% (95%CI 100%-100%), respectively. Conclusions EGGIM was estimated with high accuracy using AI tools in endoscopic image analyses. Automated assessment of EGGIM may provide a greener strategy for gastric cancer risk stratification, prospective studies, and interventional trials.