A first report on the identification of a novel archaea, Methanospirillum lacunae from spoilt paints in Lagos, Nigeria using a metagenomic approach

Paint deterioration is a serious esthetic and economic concern attributed to microbial activity.Identifying these microbes is crucial to mitigating their deleterious effects. This paper assessed the bacterial community and population of fresh and spoilt water-based paints from a reputable paint company in Lagos, Nigeria using culture-dependent and metagenomic approaches. Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrophotometry (GCMS) was used to elucidate components of the samples. The bacterial population ranged from 1.4 x 10(6) to 4.4 x 10(8) and from 2.3 x 10(6) to 6.8 x 10(8) CFU/ml in fresh and spoilt samples respectively. Culture-based technique revealed Bacillus spp. as the dominant bacteria in fresh paint along with Paenibacillus macerans, Corynebacterium striatum, Enterobacter cloacae and Clostridium sphenoides while Pseudomonas spp. were predominant in spoilt paints together with Arthrobacter globiformis, Azotobacter chroccoccum, Burkholderia mallei, Alcaligenes faecalis, Enterobacter amnigenus and Bacillus megaterium. Microbiome sequencing of extracted DNA from spoilt paint revealed a rich bacterial diversity and a surprising archaea population of Methanospirillum lacunae belonging to phylum Euryarchaeota. GC-MS analysis revealed esters as dominant compounds in fresh paints while acids and alcohols suggest that degradation of the components predominate in the spoilt paints. Metagenomic approach thus revealed for the first time, the co-existence of M.lacunae,an archaea with other bacteria in paints. (C) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of African Institute of Mathematical Sciences / Next Einstein Initiative.