Yersinia strains isolated from river water: biochemical,serological, and phage typing characteristics

Twenty-fourYersinia enterocolitica-like strains were isolated from heavily contaminated river water. Twenty-three of the strains could only be isolated on deoxycholate-hydrogen sulfidelactose agar after cold-enrichment in tryptone soya broth. Biochemically, these strains exhibited the common properties ofY. enterocolitica. However, most strains were also melibiose-, rhamnose-, raffinose-, and Simmons’ citrate-positive. Two strains fermented lactose. The serological typing showed that the strains belonged to the serotypes O:1, O:14, O:38 and O:55. Four strains had a K-antigen linked to a complex antigenic structure. Two strains were autoagglutinated. One strain was agglutinated by two different serotypes. The strains belonged to the phage types X_o and X_z.     

Aeromonas sobria in bubaline (water buffalo) abortion: growth requirement, biochemical characters, antibiotic susceptibility, experimental pathogenicity and serology

A. sobria was isolated unexpectedly on Campylobacter selective medium from abortion specimens of 16 buffaloes. All strains (AS1-AS16) required Campylobacter growth supplement (sodium pyruvate, sodium metabisulphate and ferrous sulphate) and 10% C02 atmosphere on primary isolation. They were unusually sensitive to bile salt and failed to grow on MacConkey's agar. Biochemically, these strains were homogeneous but antibiogram profile and physiological/other characters revealed a moderate heterogeneity. In vitro antibiotic sensitivity pattern showed a number of antibiotics effective whereas only a few (penicillin and co-trimoxazole) ineffective against these strains. It took 9 days for 3 x 10(8) A. sobria organisms/ml in 5 ml quantity to terminate the pregnancy in an experimentally infected buffalo via iv route. Foetal and placental lesions were classical as that of field cases. The infection evoked serum antibody response. Apparently disease-free buffalo sera were devoid of such antibodies.     

Biochemical,serological, and phage typing characteristics of 459Yersinia strains isolated from a terrestrial ecosystem

The origins of human contamination withYersinia enterocolitica are still unknown. We have investigated the major components of a terrestrial ecosystem (soil, earthworms, field voles, shrews, crops, hares, rabbits, and birds) for the presence ofYersinia. Four hundred fifty-nine strains ofYersinia were isolated. We report the first isolations of typicalY. enterocolitica belonging to classical or new biotypes and ofY. enterocolitica-like organisms (sucrose negative; rhamnose positive; melibiose and rhamnose positive) from soil samples, earthworms, crops, and birds. Sucrose-negativeY. enterocolitica strains and biotypes 1, 2, and 3, usually associated with human nonmesenteric syndromes, are predominant in soil, which can be considered as a reservoir for these biotypes.Y. enterocolitica serogroups O∶3 and O∶9, strains of which are responsible in Europe for human mesenteric syndromes, were not found in this study. The epidemiology ofY. enterocolitica infections is discussed.     

2-Acetamidoglucal,a new metabolite isolated from the urine of a patient with sialuria

A new metabolite, namely 2-acetamidoglucal, has been found in the urine of a patient with sialuria in addition to the metabolites N-acetylneuraminic acid, N-acetylmannosamine, N-acetylglucosamine and N-deoxy-2,3-dehydro-Nacetylneuraminic acid reported earlier. The structure has been identified by mass spectrometry and 360 MHz proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and verified by synthesis. All accumulated compounds fit into the metabolic pathway for the biosynthesis of CMP-N-acetylneuraminic acid. Sialuria is discussed in terms of a failure of regulation of UDP-N-acetyl-glucosamine 2-epimerase.     

多器官功能衰竭患者检出栖稻假单胞菌1例

栖稻假单胞菌(Pseudomonas oryzihabitans,P.oryzihabitans)作为条件致病菌和院内感染菌,多见于免疫力低下合并基础疾病患者,其抗感染预后良好,甚少出现多器官功能衰竭病例.本例患者无明显诱因出现双下肢水肿半月余,后全身乏力、气短、尿少3d,继而出现多器官功能衰竭.患者的血培养中检出1株...     

Two halophilic Ectothiorhodospira strains with unusual morphological,physiological and biochemical characters

Two strains belonging to the genus Ectothiorhodospira were isolated from enrichment cultures inoculated with sulfide-containing samples from the saltern of Trapani. Cells are motile short spirilla with internal stacks of membranes. During sulfide utilization they produce external globules of sulfur that are then completely oxidized to sulfate. These halophilic microorganisms need NaCl concentrations of 11% and 18% and a slightly alkaline pH. They are typical photoautotrophic bacteria, utilizing sulfide, sulfur and, only one of them, thiosulfate as photosynthetic electron donors; growth is stimulated by organic compounds. Neither of the two strains is capable of assimilatory sulfate reduction and neither grows in the dark. Pigments of the two strains are bacteriochlorophyll a and carotenoids of the normal spirilloxanthin series subgroup 1B. Quinones are Q8 and MK8 in a strain and Q8 and MK7 in the other one: the latter situation, with quinone side chains of different lengths, is atypical within phototrophic bacteria. For morphological, physiological and biochemical characters, at least one of these strains clearly stays apart from the six Ectothiorhodospira species described until now.List of abbreviations HPLC high performance liquid chromatography - TLC thin layer chromatography - Qn ubiquinone—number of isoprenoid units of the side chain - MKn menaquinone—number of isoprenoid units of the side chain - R_t retention time - R_f retention factor Dedicated to the memory of Professor Gino Florenzano who inspired this work     

Characterization of a novel Vibrio parahaemolyticus phage, KVP241, and its relatives frequently isolated from seawater

A vibriophage, KVP241, and six of its relatives were isolated independently from seawater using Vibrio parahaemolyticus as the host. All of the phages had the same morphology (a hexagonal head and a tail with a contractile sheath) and the same host range (specific for some V. parahaemolyticus strains). DNA-DNA hybridization experiments elucidated that their genomes are highly homologous to each other. Analyses of amino acid sequences of putative major capsid proteins indicated that KVP241 may be weakly related to T4-type phages having a more elongated head.     

2-Acetamidoglucal, a new metabolite isolated from the urine of a patient with sialuria.

A new metabolite, namely 2-acetamidoglucal, has been found in the urine of a patient with sialuria in addition to the metabolites N-acetylneuraminic acid, N-acetylmannosamine, N-acetylglucosamine and 2-deoxy-2,3-dehydro-N-acetylneuraminic acid reported earlier. the structure has been identified by mass spectrometry and 360 MHz proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and verified by synthesis. All accumulated compounds fit into the metabolic pathway for the biosynthesis of CMP-N-acetylneuraminic acid. Sialuria is discussed in terms of a failure of regulation of UDP-N-acetylglucosamine 2-epimerase.     

The Seminole Indians of Oklahoma: Morphology and serology

Two hundred and sixty-three Indians aged six and above were studied in Oklahoma for blood types, hemoglobin types, and physical traits; 53% were Seminoles and the remainder were admixed with Creek or other populations. The results indicate that they resemble the Florida Seminoles in most of their serologic traits. In physical traits they are comparable to the group studied by Krogman two decades ago. Compared with the Florida Seminoles, the Oklahoma sample are slightly taller and heavier, significantly lighter in skin color, and have a lower incidence of sickle cell gene. By both serology and morphology the Oklahoma group are most similar to Florida Seminoles, slightly less similar to other Indian groups, and still less to White and Negro populations. The Oklahoma sample of women showed a non-significantly greater fertility than those of Florida. Some indication of positive assortative mating for skin color was found in both groups.     

Specific glycosidase activity isolated from a random phage display antibody library

Carbohydrates serve as key receptor sites in various cellular events such as viral attachment, tumor formation, and tissue inflammation. A potential route to control these events is to manipulate targeted carbohydrate structures in vivo using specifically designed glycohydrolases. Here we show that a stereospecific catalytic activity designed toward a particular sugar and linkage can be readily isolated from a phage display antibody library derived from a nonimmunized host. The activity was isolated using a transition-state analogue mimicking an alpha-glucosidasic linkage as antigen and showed a 20-fold specificity for that sugar and linkage. The DNA sequence, however, contains a large deletion in the antibody gene, which also changes the downstream reading frame, resulting in a translated sequence containing only 57 amino acids that has a predominantly hydrophobic amino terminal and a strongly hydrophilic carboxy terminal. The isolated catalytic activity has a strong pH dependence, attributable to one or more of the numerous potentially charged groups in the carboxyl terminal. While the protein readily forms more stable multimers, the 7.3-kD monomer represents by far the smallest glycosidase enzyme reported to date and can provide substantial new information toward understanding and modifying glycosidase activity.     

Detection ofCandida albicans by culture, serology and PCR in clinical specimens from patients with ulcerative colitis: Re-evaluation of an old hypothesis with a new perspective

The relationship between inflammatory bowel disease and microorganisms was evaluated. The presence of Candida albicans-specific IgM and IgG antibodies in serum samples and the presence of C. albicans in stool and colonal mucosa samples of the patients did not exhibit any significant difference between 21 patients in active stage and 15 patients in remission of ulcerative colitis (UC) (compared with 19 control patients). The invasion of yeast cells to the colonal mucosa was demonstrated by detecting C. albicans DNA using specific PCon1, PCon2, and PspA2 primers in PCR assay. Eighteen of 36 patients (50%) were found to be DNA positive while in 19 controls only 4 (21%) were found to be positive. The presence of DNA in the association of the positive serological reactivity is suggested as an important diagnostic marker of UC.     

Purification,electron microscopy and serology of virus isolated fromEuonymus europaea

“Euonymus mosaic virus”, purified from cucumber cotyledons by the differential and density-gradient centrifugation, shows typical nucleoprotein absorption spectrum. Electron microscopy reveals isometric virus particles of about 37 nm diameter. No reaction of purified “Euonymus mosaic virus” was observed with antisera against a raspberry ringspot virus, tobacco ringspot virus, cherry leaf roll virus, strawberry latent ringspot virus, tomato ringspot virus, elm mosaic virus, arabis mosaic virus, tomato bushy stunt virus and watermelon mosaic virus.     

Comparison of the serology, transforming ability, and polypeptide composition of human papovaviruses isolated from urine.

Four isolates of human papovaviruses (RF, GS, DW, and MG viruses) obtained from the urine specimens of renal allograft recipients in widely separated locations were compared with BK virus. Hemagglutination inhibition tests and plaque neutralization assays showed that all were antigenically related to BK virus. All isolates transformed baby hamster kidney cells, transformation being determined by the ability of the cells to plate in soft agar. Purified preparations of each isolate were iodinated with chloramine T and the polypeptide compositions were compared by electrophoresis of disrupted viruses in polyacrylamide gels containing sodium dodecyl sulfate. The gel patterns of all isolates were similar to that of BK virus. The tryptic digests of two major iodinated virion proteins, VP1 and VP3, were analyzed on an ion exchange column. The peptide patterns of GS, DW, and BK virus were identical; those of RF and MG virus closely resembled the patterns of the above three with only minor differences in some peptides. The results show that the four isolates and BK virus are antigenically closely related, have similar onocogenic potential, and are distinguishable from simian virus 40 and JC virus.     

樟个木虱形态特征及生物学特性

樟个木虱Triozacamphorae是近年来上海地区香樟上发生的一种新害虫。作者对其形态和生物学特性进行了研究。樟个木虱在上海以 1年发生 2代为主 ,偶发 3代。樟个木虱以低龄若虫在叶片上越冬 ,3月下旬至 4月上旬越冬代羽化 ;第 1代开始于 3月下旬 ,羽化高峰在 6月份 ;第 2代开始于 5月下旬 ,并主要以该代若虫越冬 ;第 3代若虫偶发 ,开始于 7月上旬 ,以若虫越冬。樟个木虱第 1代若虫的平均发育历期为 5 0 72d,1～ 5龄若虫的历期分别为 :1 8 .3 1± 2 .2 1d ,1 4. 90± 9. 92d,6 .1 1± 2 . 2 0d,5 .80±3 . 61d ,5 60± 1 5 1d。成虫的寿命为 3～ 1 1d ,平均寿命为 6 41d。樟个木虱的产卵量为 3 9. 1粒 雌虫。2 4℃下 ,卵历期 5～ 7d不等 ,平均为 5. 3 4± 0 . 5 7d ,卵平均孵化率为 83 . 7%。樟个木虱低龄若虫中 3龄若虫最耐高温 ,其次为 2龄若虫 ,1龄若虫最不耐高温。     

Characteristics of PR5, a lipid-containing plasmid-dependent phage.

An extensive characterization of plasmid-dependent phage PR5 isolated from sewage has been carried out. The phage has a head diameter of 65--68 nm, is isometric with a double-layered capsid, and a minority possess tails. It adsorbs to many but not all types of bacteria possessing P, N, or W plasmids. The phage contains 20% lipid, 15.1% DNA, and 64.9% protein by weight and has a buoyant density of 1.265 g/ml in CsCl. The DNA is double-stranded with a G + C content of 49% and a molecular weight of 7.4 +/- 0.6 x 10 (6) as shown by electron microscopy. Phospholipid content is 66% of lipid and consists of cardiolipin (13%), phosphatidylethanolamine (43%), and phosphatidylglycerol (44%) and differ quantitatively from that of host bacteria. Anti-PR5 serum inactivates other similar phages, PR3 and PR4. Phage adsorption is impaired in deep rough mutants of Salmonella minnesota.