Summary Remains of a medieval foundry were excavated by archaeologists in 2013 in Verdun (France). Ancient workshops specialized in brass and copper alloys were found with an activity between 13th to 16th c. Levels of Cu, Zn and Pb reached 20000, 7000 and 6000 mg kg −1 (dw), respectively, in several soil horizons. The objective of the present work was to examine the microbial community in this contaminated site. A total of 8–2...

Summary The biofilm phenotype of Pseudomonas aeruginosa enables this opportunistic pathogen to develop resistance to the immune system and antimicrobial agents. Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms are generated under varying levels of shear stress, depending on the infection site. In the lung mucus of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, P. aeruginosa forms matrix‐enclosed microcolonies which cause chronic infections representing the ma...

Summary Myricaceae can be nodulated by a variety of Frankia strains isolated from other actinorhizal families. Consequently, the genus Myrica has been considered to have low specificity with respect to microsymbiont taxa. In contrast to controlled studies of Myrica infectious capacity, field studies in North America have indicated that M. gale symbionts belong to the genetic group of Alnus ‐infective strains. Myrica gale is th...

Summary Pseudomonas putida BN210, carrying the self‐ transferable clc ‐element encoding degradation of 3‐chlorobenzoate on the chromosome, was used as inoculum in different membrane biofilm reactors treating 3‐chlorobenzoate‐contaminated model wastewater. Analysis of the bacterial population in the effluent and in the biofilm showed the loss of BN210 beyond detection from the reactors and the appearance of several novel 3‐chlo...