Comparison of Two Commercially Available Media for Detection of Bacteremia

An analysis of 3,795 positive blood cultures obtained from 1,718 patients in a 2.5-year evaluation of Tryptic Soy Broth (TSB) and Thiol Broth is reported. Isolation rates of Actinobacillus and Pseudomonas were significantly greater in TSB, whereas isolation rates of Streptococcus and Corynebacterium (aerobic and anaerobic) were significantly greater in Thiol. Otherwise, the two media were similar. Disregarding contaminants, anaerobic bacteria represented 11% of positive cultures and 20% of patients with bacteremia. Eleven per cent of the patients had polymicrobial bacteremia.     

Comparison of Two Plating Media for Detection of Salmonella from Swine Tissues

Xylose-lysine-Brilliant Green-agar and Brillian Green-sulfadiazine-agar were used to isolate salmonellae from swine tissues. There was no significant difference between the efficiency of the two media.     

三种金黄色葡萄球菌显色培养基检测效果的比较

本文研究2种国外主流的金葡菌显色培养基和广东环凯微生物科技有限公司生产的PEN-TCF检测金葡菌的效果。通过研究3种产品对多种金葡菌菌株的回收率、最低检出限以及检测人工污染食品的回收率、特异性和抗干扰能力比较其检测效果。结果表明3种培养基的最低检出限相近, 显色培养基A和PEN-TCF的回收率较高, 但抗干扰能力较低; 显色培养基B回收率稍低, 而抗干扰能力较强; PEN-TCF和培养基B的特异性更优于培养基A。     

Development and Use of Flow Cytometry for Detection of Airborne Fungi

Traditional methods for the enumeration of airborne fungi are slow, tedious, and rather imprecise. In this study, the possibility of using flow cytometry (FCM) for the assessment of exposure to the fungus aerosol was evaluated. Epifluorescence microscopy direct counting was adopted as the standard for comparison. Setting up of the method was achieved with pure suspensions of Aspergillus fumigatus and Penicillium brevicompactum conidia at different concentrations, and then analyses were extended to field samples collected by an impinger device. Detection and quantification of airborne fungi by FCM was obtained combining light scatter and propidium iodide red fluorescence parameters. Since inorganic debris are unstainable with propidium iodide, the biotic component could be recognized, whereas the preanalysis of pure conidia suspensions of some species allowed us to select the area corresponding to the expected fungal population. A close agreement between FCM and epifluorescence microscopy counts was found. Moreover, data processing showed that FCM can be considered more precise and reliable at any of the tested concentrations.     

A Comparison of Isolation Methods for Black Fungi Degrading Aromatic Toxins

Mycopathologia - The prevalence of black fungi in the order Chaetothyriales has often been underestimated due to the difficulty of their isolation. In this study, three methods which are often used...     

Comparison of Media for the Isolation of Enterobacter sakazakii

Enterobacter sakazakii is associated with neonatal infections and is occasionally present at low levels (<1 CFU/g) in powdered infant formula milk (IFM). It has been previously reported that some E. sakazakii strains do not grow in standard media for Enterobacteriaceae and coliform bacteria; therefore, a reliable method is needed for recovery of the organism. Three E. sakazakii enrichment broths—Enterobacteriaceae enrichment broth (EE), E. sakazakii selective broth (ESSB), and modified lauryl sulfate broth (mLST)—were compared with a novel broth designed for maximum recovery of E. sakazakii, E. sakazakii enrichment broth (ESE). One hundred seventy-seven strains (100%) grew in ESE, whereas between 2 and 6% of strains did not grow in EE, mLST, or ESSB. E. sakazakii possesses α-glucosidase activity, and a number of selective, chromogenic agars for E. sakazakii isolation based on this enzyme have been developed. E. sakazakii isolation agar produced fewer false-positive colonies than did Druggan-Forsythe-Iversen agar. However, the latter supported the growth of more E. sakazakii strains. It was also determined that 2% of E. sakazakii strains did not produce yellow pigmentation on tryptone soya agar at 25°C, a characteristic frequently cited in the identification of E. sakazakii. The recovery of desiccated E. sakazakii (0.2 to 2000 CFU/25 g) from powdered IFM in the presence of a competing flora was determined with various enrichment broths and differential selective media. Current media designed for the isolation and presumptive identification of E. sakazakii do not support the growth of all currently known E. sakazakii phenotypes; therefore, improvements in the proposed methods are desirable.     

Comparison of Media for the Enumeration of Clostridium perfringens

For the enumeration of viable vegetative cells and spores of Clostridium perfringens, noncommercial (laboratory prepared) sulfite-polymyxin-sulfadiazine (SPS) agar, tryptone-sulfite-neomycin (TSN) agar, and Shahidi-Ferguson-perfringens (SFP) agar were statistically compared to SPS agar without antibiotics. The selectivities of these four media were also evaluated on the basis of their ability to inhibit the growth of pure cultures of a variety of other organisms. The average recovery of vegetative cells of 10 strains of C. perfringens with SFP agar was not significantly higher than with SPS agar with 10(4) organisms per g, but with 10(6) organisms per g it yielded significantly higher recoveries than SPS agar. TSN agar yielded significantly lower recoveries at both inoculum levels. SFP agar gave significantly higher recoveries of spores than SPS and TSN agars. Average plate counts of spores in SFP agar were 75% as high as in SPS agar without antibiotics, but only 45% of the spores grew in SPS agar and 25% in TSN agar. TSN agar was the most selective of the three media, but the selectivity of SPS agar approached that of TSN agar under the test conditions. SFP agar, which was the least selective of the media, allowed growth to some extent of nearly all of the facultative anaerobes tested.     

Comparison of Media for the Isolation of Cryptococcus neoformans

Four media, Staib's Guizotia abyssinica, trypan blue, and Staib's with 2 and 10 mg of methyl violet per liter, were compared for the selective and differential isolation of Cryptococcus neoformans from environmental samples. Trypan blue medium allowed for the differentiation of C. neoformans colonies from Candida albicans colonies several days earlier than did Staib's medium. The addition of methyl violet to Staib's medium was found to be inhibitory to some strains of all species tested. Diphenyl in Staib's medium inhibited the growth of 30 strains of C. neoformans and C. albicans.     

Evaluation of Two Commercially Available Media for Detection of Bacteremia

Analysis of the results of 13,162 blood cultures during a 9-month interval has shown that Pseudomonas aeruginosa statistically was recovered more frequently from Trypticase soy broth (TSB) than from Thioglycollate-135C and that contaminants, including Staphylococcus epidermidis and aerobic and anaerobic Corynebacterium species, were isolated with statistically greater frequency from Thioglycollate-135C than from TSB. No other statistically significant differences were found.     

食品卫生微生物学检验培养基质量分析

为探讨培养基ISO国际标准对国内培养基质控的等效性,选择国内外4家培养基生产厂家的霉菌培养基、酵母菌培养基和显色培养基,从质控菌株生长率、抑菌效果等方面进行质量分析比对试验.生长率质控标准菌株在各种霉菌培养基、酵母菌培养基上的生长率均值均大于0.5,在显色培养基上的生长率均值均大于0.7,符合ISO国际标准.经统计分析,试验的4家培养基厂家生产的培养基质量水平差异不显著(P＞0.05),这为将新出台的培养基国家标准拟等效采用培养基ISO国际标准提供了基础材料和依据.     

Optimal Combination and Concentration of Antibiotics in Media for Isolation of Pathogenic Fungi and Nocardia asteroides

Strains of Blastomyces dermatitidis, Sporothrix schenckii, Histoplasma capsulatum, Cryptococcus neoformans, Nocardia asteroides, and Coccidioides immitis were tested for in vitro susceptibility to polymyxin, gentamicin, kanamycin, chloramphenicol, and neomycin at concentrations of 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16 mug/ml. Polymyxin was the most inhibitory and gentamicin was the least inhibitory of the five antibiotics. Two Histoplasma mycelial strains were partially inhibited by 2 and 8 mug of gentamicin per ml and showed at least a 2+ growth at the higher antibiotic concentration. Kanamycin and neomycin produced significant inhibition of N. asteroides but otherwise were noninhibitory. A combination of chloramphenicol and kanamycin, each at 16 mug/ml, and gentamicin, at 4 mug/ml, was noninhibitory to the strains tested except for N. asteroides. Chloramphenicol at 16 mug/ml was not inhibitory for N. asteroides. The results suggest that the optimal antibiotic combination to use in the isolation of fungi and higher bacteria is chloramphenicol, 16 mug/ml, and gentamicin, 4 mug/ml. Addition of sheep blood (5%) had no effect on antibiotic susceptibility of the organisms studied.     

食药用菌酸乳制作中深层发酵滤液添加量的比较

利用深层发酵培养基对两种食药用菌（香菇、猴头菌）进行深层发酵培养,然后分别将香菇（猴头菌）发酵滤液、奶粉、无菌水按不同比例配制成相应的复原奶,并接种乳酸菌制成酸乳。同时检测不同比例发酵滤液添加量所制得的酸乳的营养和理化特性,选择出了最佳比例的滤液添加量,即香菇滤液添加量以3份较好,而猴头菌则以4份滤液添加量最佳。     

AMF和坪床基质对草坪草水肥流失影响

水肥管理是运动场草坪草养护管理的重要内容,基于丛枝菌根真菌(Abuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi,AMF)具有促进植物生长、吸收土壤水分和养分等生理生态效应,笔者提出AMF和草坪草共生体将有效减少草坪草生长过程中的水肥流失的假设。试验通过构建3种不同土砂体积比的坪床基质,种植"兰引3号"结缕草(Zoysia japonica cv.Lanyin No.3),并分别设置接种摩西管柄囊霉(Funneliformis mosseae,Gm)或根内球囊霉(Rhizophagus intraradices,Ri)以及不接种(ck)3个处理,以探讨和评价AMF共生体在不同基质下对草坪草水分以及养分截留能力影响。结果表明,土壤基质是影响渗滤液的相对体积(P=0.000)以及渗滤液中硝酸根离子(P=0.000)、钾离子的总量(P=0.000)的主要因素;AMF可以减少渗滤液的相对体积以及渗滤液中硝酸根离子、钾离子的流失,但作用未达显著水平,而对渗滤液中的磷元素的总量影响极显著(P=0.000);通过基质与菌剂对磷酸根离子总量的交互效应进行简单效应分析后发现,土砂比2∶8基质下,ck的渗滤液中磷酸根离子总量极显著高于Gm(P=0.000)与Ri(P=0.000);土砂比4∶6基质下,ck也显著高于Gm(P=0.001)与Ri(P=0.025),而土砂比6∶4基质下,ck与Gm和Ri没有显著差异。综上,接种AMF能有效减少磷酸根离子的流失,而对于水分以及硝酸根离子、钾离子的流失而言,基质更显重要。故选取适当的土壤基质并辅以AMF菌剂,能够减少土壤中水分、硝酸根离子、磷酸根离子、钾离子的流失。根据本试验结果,在采用"兰引3号"结缕草作为草坪草的情况下,4∶6土砂比+AMF的组合是有效减少坪床养分流失的水肥管理策略。     

An Apparatus (Georgiou-Petri Dish) for Growing Fungi and other Microorganisms on Liquid Media in a Petri Dish

This work describes a new apparatus for growing fungi and other microorganisms on liquid nutrient media in a Petri dish. The apparatus is composed of a net supporting a cellophane membrane stretched between an outer and an inner ring that is placed inside a Petri dish. This modification of the standard Petri dish offers many advantages for studying growth, metabolism, differentiation, and other aspects of fungi in liquid cultures with minimal waste of expensive chemicals. Monitoring of excreted or absorbed substances by the fungi, the aseptic transfer of undisturbed fungal colonies from dish to dish, and harvesting are made easier, using this apparatus.     

Bioremediation of Heavy Metals in Liquid Media Through Fungi Isolated from Contaminated Sources

Wastewater particularly from electroplating, paint, leather, metal and tanning industries contain enormous amount of heavy metals. Microorganisms including fungi have been reported to exclude heavy metals from wastewater through bioaccumulation and biosorption at low cost and in eco-friendly way. An attempt was, therefore, made to isolate fungi from sites contaminated with heavy metals for higher tolerance and removal of heavy metals from wastewater. Seventy-six fungal isolates tolerant to heavy metals like Pb, Cd, Cr and Ni were isolated from sewage, sludge and industrial effluents containing heavy metals. Four fungi (Phanerochaete chrysosporium, Aspegillus awamori, Aspergillus flavus, Trichoderma viride) also were included in this study. The majority of the fungal isolates were able to tolerate up to 400 ppm concentration of Pb, Cd, Cr and Ni. The most heavy metal tolerant fungi were studied for removal of heavy metals from liquid media at 50 ppm concentration. Results indicated removal of substantial amount of heavy metals by some of the fungi. With respect to Pb, Cd, Cr and Ni, maximum uptake of 59.67, 16.25, 0.55, and 0.55 mg/g was observed by fungi Pb3 (Aspergillus terreus), Trichoderma viride, Cr8 (Trichoderma longibrachiatum), and isolate Ni27 (A. niger) respectively. This indicated the potential of these fungi as biosorbent for removal of heavy metals from wastewater and industrial effluents containing higher concentration of heavy metals.     

Comparison of Three Blood Culture Media for Recovery of Anaerobic Bacteria

Comparison of an anaerobic brain heart infusion broth with tryptic soy broth and Thioglycollate medium failed to demonstrate significant differences in isolation rates of anaerobic bacteria from blood.     

几种细胞凋亡检测方法的比较

近年来,凋亡细胞的检测方法从以形态学观察发展到生物化学、免疫化学和分子生物学等定性和定量测定技术,并在细胞、染色质到分子水平日趋完善和成熟。这些方法多用于描述DNA的片段化和细胞死亡过程中许多特定成分的检测。细胞凋亡具有其生物复杂性,检测方法要求灵敏度高、特异性强、准确性好、凋亡与坏死的区分明显等。由于每种方法各有优缺点,故应避免使用单一方法检测。     

Selective Media for the Detection of Revertants in Cultures of Glycogen-deficient Mutants

Glycogen-deficient yeast mutants grew more slowly than wild-type cells on certain nonfermentable carbon substrates. Revertant colonies could be detected on these lines.