Profiling the microbial community of a Triassic halite deposit in Northern Ireland: an environment with significant potential for biodiscovery

ABSTRACT Kilroot salt mine, a Triassic halite deposit located in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, is the only permanent hypersaline environment on the island of Ireland. In this study, the microbiome of this unstudied environment was profiled for the first time using conventional and enhanced culturing techniques, and culture independent metagenomic approaches. Using both conventional isolation plates and iChip devices, 89 halophilic archaeal isolates from six known genera, and 55 halophilic or halotolerant bacterial isolates from 18 genera were obtained, based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The archaeal isolates were similar to those previously isolated from other ancient halite deposits, and as expected, numerous genera were identified in the metagenome which were not represented among the culturable isolates. Preliminary screening of a selection of isolates from this environment identified antimicrobial activities against a panel of clinically important bacterial pathogens from 15 of the bacterial isolates and one of the archaea. This, alongside previous studies reporting the discovery of novel biocatalysts from the Kilroot mine microbiome, suggests that this environment may be a new, untapped source of of chemical diversity with high biodiscovery potential.

Children and Families in the Workhouse Populations of the Antrim, Ballymena, and Ballymoney Poor Law Unions in the Mid Nineteenth Century

This article is a workhouse population study of the Antrim, Ballymena, and Ballymoney Poor Law Unions in County Antrim, Ireland, in 1850–1851 and 1860–1861. Under the Irish Poor Law, the workhouse was the central institution for the welfare of the destitute poor during the nineteenth century. Beyond national trends and a broad regional framework, however, little is known of how workhouse populations varied at the local level or the place of poor relief within the economies of makeshifts of individuals and families. The article draws upon statistical returns to show that changes in the workhouse populations in this area of Ulster diverged from the national pattern as a consequence of local economic and social conditions. The familial circumstances of children in these workhouses are explored through analysis of the admission and discharge registers. Far from presenting a monolithic group, children were admitted to the workhouses in a wide variety of family forms which used the workhouses of this locality in multiple ways.