Rapid and Simple Method for the Most-Probable-Number Estimation of Arsenic-Reducing Bacteria

A rapid and simple most-probable-number (MPN) procedure for the enumeration of dissimilatory arsenic-reducing bacteria (DARB) is presented. The method is based on the specific detection of arsenite, the end product of anaerobic arsenate respiration, by a precipitation reaction with sulfide. After 4 weeks of incubation, the medium for the MPN method is acidified to pH 6 and sulfide is added to a final concentration of about 1 mM. The brightly yellow arsenic trisulfide precipitates immediately and can easily be scored at arsenite concentrations as low as 0.05 mM. Abiotic reduction of arsenate upon sulfide addition, which could yield false positives, apparently produces a soluble As-S intermediate, which does not precipitate until about 1 h after sulfide addition. Using the new MPN method, population estimates of pure cultures of DARB were similar to direct cell counts. MPNs of environmental water and sediment samples yielded DARB numbers between 10¹ and 10⁵ cells per ml or gram (dry weight), respectively. Poisoned and sterilized controls showed that potential abiotic reductants in environmental samples did not interfere with the MPN estimates. A major advantage is that the assay can be easily scaled to a microtiter plate format, enabling analysis of large numbers of samples by use of multichannel pipettors. Overall, the MPN method provides a rapid and simple means for estimating population sizes of DARB, a diverse group of organisms for which no comprehensive molecular markers have been developed yet.     

Tetracycline and Chloramphenicol Efficiency Against Selected Biofilm Forming Bacteria

Despite the constantly increasing need for new antimicrobial agents, antibiotic drug discovery and development seem to have greatly decelerated in recent years. Presented with the significant problem of advancing antimicrobial resistance, the global scientific community has attempted to find alternative solutions; one of the most promising ones is the evaluation and use of old antibiotic compounds. A number of old antibiotic compounds, such as aminoglycosides, chloramphenicol, and tetracycline, are re-emerging as valuable alternatives for the treatment of difficult-to-treat infections. This study examined the in vitro potency for biofilm formation of five isolates (Klebsiella sp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Achromobacter sp., Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Bacillus pumilis) and the effects of antibiotics on these biofilms. Furthermore the quantitative analysis of planktonic, loosely attached cells, and their susceptibility to antibiotics was also determined. Twitching motility was observed to determine any effect in the biofilm forming capability of the isolates. All the isolates tested were efficient biofilm-forming strains in the polypropylene and borosilicate test tubes. Standard bacterial enumeration technique and CV staining produced equivalent results both in biofilm and planktonic assays. The biofilm formation of all the strains was affected in the presence of tetracycline or chloramphenicol. Highly significant decrease (P < 0.01) in biofilm formation was observed by treatment with chloramphenicol compared to tetracycline. In addition, the two antibiotics also affected adversely the planktonic and loosely attached cells of all isolates. Thus, testing the effects of older antibiotics on biofilms may supply useful information in addition to standard in vitro testing, particularly in diseases where biofilm formation is involved in the pathogenesis.     

A Simple, Rapid Method for Enumerating Total Viable and Metabolically Active Bacteria in Groundwater

We report here a new staining procedure which uses both the enzymatic dehydrogenation of 2-(p-iodophenyl)-3-p-(nitrophenyl)-5 phenyltetrazolium chloride to a pink intracellular formazan and the DNA-specific fluorochrome 4′,6′-diamidino-2-phenylindole. Application of this staining procedure to cells concentrated on filters and then transferred to microscope slides by the filter-transfer-freeze technique has proven valuable for statistically accurate enumeration of the total viable and metabolically active cells in groundwaters.     

Rapid Evolution of Culture-Impaired Bacteria during Adaptation to Biofilm Growth

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Method for Rapid Detection of Cyanogenic Bacteria

An agar plate method is described in which the production of hydrogen cyanide by as many as 50 microbial isolates per plate may be detected. Cyanide produced by the organisms reacts with copper(II) ethylacetoacetate and 4,4′-methylenebis-(N,N-dimethylaniline) in a paper disk suspended above the microbial colonies. Cell growth occurs in depressions in the agar surface, which allows separation of colonies and enhances sensitivity of hydrogen cyanide detection.     

一种简便的肌醇磷脂微量分析方法

分析磷脂酰肌醇循环(PI cycle)的磷脂组分常采用双向薄层层析法．建立了一个简单快速的单向薄层层析分离肌醇磷脂方法．首先采用不同的有机溶剂体系分别提取非多磷酸肌醇磷脂和多磷酸肌醇磷脂,然后用不同的层析展开体系,对两部分磷脂进行单向薄层层析分离．采用无载体 ³²P标记实验对该方法分离效果进行了观察．此法适用于同位素标记和非标记样品中肌醇磷脂组分的比较分析及多磷酸肌醇磷脂的提取、纯化和定量．     

一种简单、快速提取DNA的方法

随着分子生物学研究的迅速发展,提取ＤＮＡ已成为一项常规实验。用经典方法提取ＤＮＡ［１］,先用蛋白酶Ｋ、ＳＤＳ消化,然后用酚、氯仿抽提,乙醇沉淀,耗时较多,提取液需要多次转移,易引起交叉污染和ＤＮＡ丢失。本文利用硅藻（ｄｉａｔｏｍ）能够特异性吸附核酸的...     

A Rapid and Simple Method for Assaying Interferon1

A new procedure of assaying interferon (IF) has been developed. Cell suspension was dispensed into liquid scintillation counting vials together with IF sample. During an overnight incubation, the cells adhered sufficiently to the bottom of the vials and all the subsequent procedures were carried out without transfer of the cells from the vials. Vesicular stomatitis virus was inoculated and virus-specific RNA was labeled by adding ³H-uridine and actinomycin D to the medium. Incubation was terminated prior to completion of a single-step growth of the virus and radioactivity of the labeled cells in each vial was determined. The reciprocal of the IF dilution which reduced the radioactivity in viral RNA by 50% was taken as the titer. The present procedure consists of simple manipulations and can be completed within 24 hr. Furthermore, it is quite reproducible and gives a titer almost identical to that obtained by the conventional plaque-reduction dose method. The procedure can be applied to mouse L cells, rabbit RK-13 cells and human FL cells, without modification.     

LTSE—新的大肠菌群快速检测法

本文报道快速简易、结果准确、应用广泛、效益明显,总大肠菌群和粪大肠菌群在15～18小时内同时检出,费用比部颁三步发酵法(GB)节省75～84%的大肠菌群检测新方法。笔者研究出 Lactose-Tryptone-Sodium Dodecyl sulfate-Trace Elements[简称 LTSE]培养基,加上几种鉴定验证试验的 LTSE 法,用来快速检测水质、食品、冷饮、餐具等各类样品703件,结果与国标法(GB)对照总符合率为99.3%;同时与美国《水和废水标准检验法》(16版1985年)新发展的现行标准检测粪大肠菌群的正式 A-1法相比较特异性强,灵敏度高,能提高检出率,并节约经费38.1%.     

细菌巨大质粒的快速检测

本文报道了一种快速检测微生物巨大质粒的方法．该方法是通过对Ｅｃｋｈａｒｄｔ所报道的方法加以改进,使之能对根瘤菌、大肠杆菌、甚至链霉菌的大质粒进行快速检测．     

Occurrence of Potentially Pathogenic Bacteria in Epilithic Biofilm Forming Bacteria isolated from Porter Brook River-stones,Sheffield, UK

Biofilms in aquatic ecosystems develop on wet benthic surfaces and are primarily comprised of various allochthonous microorganisms, including bacteria embedded within a self-produced matrix of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). In such environment, where there is a continuous flow of water, attachment of microbes to surfaces prevents cells being washed out of a suitable habitat with the added benefits of the water flow and the surface itself providing nutrients for growth of attached cells. When watercourses are contaminated with pathogenic bacteria, these can become incorporated into biofilms. This study aimed to isolate and identify the bacterial species within biofilms retrieved from river-stones found in the Porter Brook, Sheffield based on morphological, biochemical characteristics and molecular characteristics, such as 16S rDNA sequence phylogeny analysis. Twenty-two bacterial species were identified. Among these were 10 gram-negative pathogenic bacteria, establishing that potential human pathogens were present within the biofilms. Klebsiella pneumoniae MBB9 isolate showed the greatest ability to form a biofilm using a microtiter plate-based crystal violet assay. Biofilm by K. pneumoniae MBB9 formed rapidly (within 6 h) under static conditions at 37 °C and then increased up to 24 h of incubation before decreasing with further incubation (48 h), whereas the applied shear forces (horizontal orbital shaker; diameter of 25 mm at 150 rpm) had no effect on K. pneumoniae MBB9 biofilm formation.     

一种简便快速的聚合酶活性实时检测新方法

基于双链DNA结合染料能特异嵌入双链DNA发出荧光的原理,发展了一种实时检测DNA聚合酶活性的简便方法.在检测过程中,聚合酶的聚合反应进程被实时转换为荧光信号,通过监测荧光强度的变化实时检测聚合酶的活性及药物对聚合酶活性的影响.该方法不需要对DNA进行放射性同位素标记和荧光标记,也不需要聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳和聚合酶链式反应,是一种简便、快速的聚合酶活性实时检测新方法,为研究抗肿瘤药物对聚合酶活性的影响提供了一种简捷方法,也将为相关疾病诊治和药物筛选提供一种新的思路.     

A Simple, Rapid Method for Demonstrating Bacterial Flagella

We developed a simple, rapid method for demonstrating flagellation of bacteria using the fluorescent protein stain NanoOrange (Molecular Probes, Eugene, Oreg.). The NanoOrange reagent binds to hydrophobic regions of proteins, which results in substantial enhancement of fluorescence. Unbound reagent is essentially nonfluorescent. NanoOrange fluorescently stained bacterial cell bodies, as well as flagella and other appendages, which could be directly observed by epifluorescence microscopy. Detection of flagella was further improved by using a charge-coupled device camera for image capture and processing. The reliability of the method was tested by using 37 pure cultures of marine bacteria. Detection of flagella on the isolates by NanoOrange staining was compared to detection by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). For 36 of 37 cultures, the two methods yielded the same results. In one case, flagella were detected by TEM but not by NanoOrange, although the difference may be attributable to differences between the culture preparations. NanoOrange staining is rapid (10 to 15 min) and does not require fixation or dehydration, so live samples can be stained. Since NanoOrange is a general protein stain and works directly in seawater, it may also prove to be useful for staining other proteinaceous material that is of interest to aquatic microbial ecologists.     

Simple Method for Rapid Determination of Antibiotic Blood Levels

A simple method for the rapid determination of antibiotic blood levels is described. Results are readily obtainable within 4 to 6 hr. The reported procedure is based upon determination of the highest dilution of a patient's serum capable of inhibiting dextrose fermentation by a standardized inoculum of a staphylococcus strain or of an Escherichia coli strain, when colymycin or polymyxin are involved, as compared to previously determined endpoints in this regard of defined concentrations of the different antibiotics dissolved in normal human serum. Excellent correlation was observed with 36 serum specimens that contained different antimicrobial agents in varied concentrations when simultaneously assayed by the standard method and the subject procedure of this report.     

A Rapid Stain Method for Detecting Certain Plant Virus Inclusions

The trypan blue method for detecting certain virus crystallin inclusions is greatly facilitated by a pre-stain treatment with a diethyl-ether-ethyl-alcohol solution made up in physiological saline (5-ml. of diethyl ether and 10 ml. of ethyl alcohol diluted to 100 ml. with physiological saline solution). Maceration of the study material in trypan blue solution also gives good results.