Bacteriological pattern of acute purulent balanoposthitis in children

The microflora of the prepucial sac in 94 children (aged 2 months to 15 years) with acute purulent balanoposthitis (APB) was studied. In the overwhelming majority of cases APB in children was caused by facultative anaerobic and aerobic bacteria (96.7%); of these, Gram positive bacteria occurred most frequently (85.7% of cases). In 51.6% of children these bacteria were represented by staphylococci, constituting 60.3% of all Gram positive flora. Gram negative bacteria were isolated in 40.6% of cases, Escherichia coli taking the first place among them. The isolated microflora was highly resistant to frequently used wide spectrum antibiotics.     

Psychrotrophic bacterial flora of raw ewes' milk, with particular reference to gram negative rods

The microbial flora of 141 samples of raw ewes' milk was determined, before and after storage for 72 h at 4 degrees and 7 degrees C. Penicillin-resistant bacteria represented ca 61% of 1760 psychrotrophic isolates from refrigerated milk samples. Pseudomonas fluorescens and Pseudomonas fluorescent group-related strains predominated (ca 86%) in the Gram negative psychrotrophic microflora. Leuconostoc dextranicum was the most frequent Gram positive psychrotrophic species isolated.     

Antilysozyme activity and antibiotic resistance of periulcerous zone microflora in patients with gastric and duodenal ulcer

Antilysozyme activity (ALA) as well as antibiotic resistance were detected in 133 microbial cultures isolated from bioptic specimens of the mucous membrane of the ulcerous and periulcerous zones, taken from patients with gastric and duodenal ulcer. In 85.7-94.7% of cases Gram positive cocci and in 62.5% of cases Gram-positive bacilli showed no ALA. 50% of Gram negative bacteria cultures lacked ALA, while the remaining 50% exhibited this activity, on the average, 2.36 +/- 1.40 mkg/ml. Lysozyme activity was determined in 33.3% of the isolated staphylococci strains both with and without ALA. Staphylococci isolated from the gastric mucosa of healthy controls had no ALA in 33.3% of cases, and in 66.7% of cases ALA was equal to 2 mkg/ml. Gram positive coccal microflora showed, mainly, high sensitivity to antibiotics. In Gram negative bacteria antibiotic resistance was determined in 44.3 +/- 21.2% of the isolates. In Gram negative microorganisms correlation between ALA and antibiotic resistance was observed. From the periulcerous zone of patients with gastric and duodenal ulcer persistence associated Gram negative microorganisms were mainly isolated.     

Psychrotrophic bacterial flora of raw ewes'milk, with particular reference to Gram negative rods

The microbial flora of 141 samples of raw ewes'milk was determined, before and after storage for 72 h at 4° and 7°C. Penicillin-resistant bacteria represented ca 61% of 1760 psychrotrophic isolates from refrigerated milk samples. Pseudomonas fluorescens and Pseudomonas fluorescent group-related strains predominated ( ca 86%) in the Gram negative psychrotrophic microflora. Leuconostoc dextranicum was the most frequent Gram positive psychrotrophic species isolated.     

Incidence and Spoilage Potential of Isolates from Vacuum-packaged Meat of High pH Value

Meat of high pH value (6·6) showing dark-cutting characteristics was vacuum-packaged and stored for up to 8 weeks at 0–2°C. 'Off'-odours were detected on opening the packages after 6 weeks of storage. Total counts at this stage were ca. 10⁷/cm² of which lactobacilli were the major component, with ca. 10⁶/cm² Gram negative organisms. Psychrotrophic Enterobacteriaceae represented a major proportion of the microflora only after the full 8 weeks of storage and were not detected previously. Aerobic storage of steaks cut from the vacuum packaged meat stored for 8 weeks resulted in a predominantly Gram negative spoilage flora.
Inoculation studies on meat of normal pH value (5·4) and appearance using representative isolates from the vacuum-packaged meat microflora indicated that most of the test organisms were capable of causing spoilage under aerobic conditions but few under vacuum-packaging when incubated at 4°C. On meat of higher pH value (6·15) many of the Gram negative isolates did not grow as well, whereas the Gram positive isolates grew better than on meat of normal pH value when held under aerobic conditions. Under vacuum-packaging all but one isolate grew as well or better on meat of high pH value than on normal meat at 4°C and objectionable odours were more marked.     

成人牙周炎龈下套氧菌分离鉴定及药敏试验结果分析

分离并鉴定了329例成人牙周炎龈下优势厌氧菌群,并对不同病程中的菌群变迁、厌氧菌的药物敏感性进行了分析.成人牙周炎龈下标本中厌氧菌阳性检出率为97.9%,其中以牙龈紫质单胞菌检出率最高(38.5%),具核梭杆菌次之(18.9%).随着牙周病变程度的加重,牙龈紫质单胞菌、具核梭杆菌、产黑色素普氏菌、星群厌氧链球菌、厌氧消化链球菌的检出率增高(P＜0.05),小韦荣球菌的检出率下降(P＜0.01),表明前5种厌氧菌在AP发病过程中有重要作用,小韦荣球菌与之无关.替硝唑、甲硝唑和克林霉素对438株革兰氏阴性厌氧菌的MIC90分别为1～8,2～8和4～16 mg/L,对278株革兰氏阳性厌氧菌的MIC90分别为16～32,16～64和4～16 mg/L,表明替硝唑和甲硝唑体外抗革兰氏阴性厌氧菌效果优于克林霉素,抗革兰氏阳性厌氧菌作用不如克林霉素.     

Biofilm formation in an ice cream plant

The sites of biofilm formation in an ice cream plant were investigated by sampling both the production line and the environment. Experiments were carried out twice within a 20-day period. First, stainless steel coupons were fixed to surfaces adjacent to food contact surfaces, the floor drains and the doormat. They were taken for the analysis of biofilm at three different production stages. Then, biofilm forming bacteria were␣enumerated and also presence of Listeria monocytogenes was monitored. Biofilm forming isolates were selected on the basis of colony morphology and Gram’s reaction; Gram negative cocci and rod, Gram positive cocci and spore forming isolates were identified. Most of the biofilm formations were seen on the conveyor belt of a packaging machine 8 h after the beginning of the production, 6.5 × 10³ cfu cm⁻². Most of the Gram negative bacteria identified belong to Enterobacteriaceae family such as Proteus, Enterobacter, Citrobacter, Shigella, Escherichia, Edwardsiella. The other Gram negative microflora included Aeromonas, Plesiomonas, Moraxella, Pseudomonas or Alcaligenes spp. were also isolated. Gram positive microflora of the ice cream plant included Staphyloccus, Bacillus, Listeria and lactic acid bacteria such as Streptococcus, Leuconostoc or Pediococcus spp. The results from this study highlighted the problems of spread of pathogens like Listeria and Shigella and spoilage bacteria. In the development of cleaning and disinfection procedures in ice cream plants, an awareness of these biofilm-forming bacteria is essential for the ice cream plants.     

2-Arylbenzothiazole, benzoxazole and benzimidazole derivatives as fluorogenic substrates for the detection of nitroreductase and aminopeptidase activity in clinically important bacteria

A series of 2-(2-nitrophenyl)benzothiazole 7, 2-(2-nitrophenyl)benzoxazole 10 and 2-(2-nitrophenyl)benzimidazole 13 derivatives have been synthesised and assessed as indicators of nitroreductase activity across a range of clinically important Gram negative and Gram positive bacteria. The majority of Gram negative bacteria produced strongly fluorescent colonies with substrates 7 and 10 whereas fluorescence production in Gram positive bacteria was less widespread. The l-alanine 16 and 19 and β-alanine 21 and 23 derivatives have been prepared from 2-(2-aminophenyl)benzothiazole 14 and 2-(2-aminophenyl)benzoxazole 17. These four compounds have been evaluated as indicators of aminopeptidase activity. The growth of Gram positive bacteria was generally inhibited by these substrates but fluorescent colonies were produced with the majority of Gram negative bacteria tested.     

Intestinal microflora and concomitant gastrointestinal diseases in patients with chronic hepatitis B and C

In chronic viral hepatitis B and C the development of intestinal dysbacteriosis and high occurrence of concomitant diseases of the gastrointestinal tract were observed. In cases of increased dysbacteriosis degree and in the presence of concomitant diseases the blood plasma of patients exhibited higher activity in reaction with the of amebocytes lysate obtained from crabs of the genus Limulus. A suggestion was made that the endotoxin of Gram negative intestinal microflora could probably play some role in the development of pathological processes in chronic viral hepatitis B and C.     

胸腹水培养中的病原菌分布及耐药性分析

目的了解胸腹水培养中病原菌的分布和耐药情况,为临床合理用药提供依据。方法通过回顾性分析中山市第二人民医院住院部自2011年1月至2013年11月送检的胸腹水标本细菌培养及药敏资料。结果在494份胸腹水标本中共检出47株病原菌,总阳性率为9.5%;其中326例胸水分离出病原菌28例,阳性率为8.59%,胸水培养中革兰阳性菌占67.86%,革兰阴性菌占32.12%,菌种较为分散;168例腹水分离出病原菌19例,阳性率为11.31%,腹水培养中革兰阴性菌占73.68%,革兰阳性菌占26.32%。检出革兰阴性病原菌对氨苄西林和四环素耐药率较高,对阿米卡星、美罗培南和亚胺培南敏感。检出革兰阳性病原菌对氨苄西林、头孢西丁和红霉素耐药率高,对万古霉素、替考拉宁和吗啉噁酮敏感。结论应重视胸腹水标本的细菌学检查,依据药敏试验合理使用抗菌药物,减少细菌的耐药率。     

Synthesis and biological activity of novel antibacterial quinazolines

Novel quinazolines, having interesting antibacterial activity have been prepared, characterized and tested against a panel of susceptible and resistant Gram positive and Gram negative organisms.     

Comparison between Gram stain and culture for the characterization of vaginal microflora: Definition of a distinct grade that resembles grade I microflora and revised categorization of grade I microflora

Background  

The microbiological diagnosis of bacterial vaginosis is usually made using Nugent's criteria, a useful but rather laborious scoring system based on counting bacterial cell types on Gram stained slides of vaginal smears. Ison and Hay have simplified the score system to three categories and added a fourth category for microflora with a predominance of the Streptococcus cell type. Because in the Nugent system several cell types are not taken into account for a final score, we carried out a detailed assessment of the composition of the vaginal microflora in relation to standard Gram stain in order the improve the diagnostic value of the Gram stain. To this purpose we compared Gram stain based categorization of vaginal smears with i) species specific PCR for the detection of Gardnerella vaginalis and Atopobium vaginae and with ii) tDNA-PCR for the identification of most cultivable species.     

Siderophore and chitinase producing isolates from the rhizosphere of Nicotiana glauca Graham enhance growth and induce systemic resistance in Solanum lycopersicum L.

A screening for Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) was carried out in the rhizosphere of wild populations of Nicotiana glauca Graham in south-eastern Spain. Nine hundred and sixty strains were isolated and grouped in four parataxonomic groups: Gram positive endospore forming bacilli, Gram positive non-endospore forming bacilli, Gram negative bacilli and others. Two groups were selected to continue the study: Gram negative bacilli since it was the most abundant, and Gram positive sporulated bacilli, seeking their sporulating capacity as an advantage for inoculants formulation. The ability of these to release siderophores and chitinases in vitro was evaluated. Ninety six isolates were siderophore producers, and 56 of them were also able to produce chitinases. Fifty percent of these were tested for growth promotion in tomato. The best results were obtained with 5 Gram negative bacilli and one Gram positive sporulated bacilli; 5 strains increased all growth parameters while one of them, N21.4, severely compromised plant growth. The ability of these 6 strains to induce systemic resistance against the leaf pathogen Xanthomonas campestris in tomato was evaluated. Five of them effectively reduced disease symptoms (up to 50%). The six strains were identified by 16s rDNA sequencing resulting in 3 Pseudomonas, 1 Bacillus and 2 Stenotrophomonas; it’s striking that 2 Pseudomonas protected up to 50% while the other increased disease incidence. This indicates that systemic induction is strain specific and not necessarily related to production of siderophores and chitinases.     

Synthesis and antimicrobial activity of novel 2-thiazolylimino-5-arylidene-4-thiazolidinones

New 2-thiazolylimino-5-arylidene-4-thiazolidinones (compounds 4a-j), unsubstituted or carrying hydroxy, methoxy, nitro and chloro groups on the benzene ring, were synthesized and assayed in vitro for their antimicrobial activity against Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria, yeasts and mould. The compounds were very potent towards all tested Gram positive microorganisms (MIC ranging from 0.03 to 6 microg/mL in most of the cases) and Gram negative Haemophilus influenzae (MIC 0.15-1.5 microg/mL), whereas no effectiveness was exhibited against Gram negative Escherichia coli and fungi up to the concentration of 100 microg/mL. The 5-arylidene derivatives showed an antibacterial efficacy considerably greater than that of the parent 2-(thiazol-2-ylimino)thiazolidin-4-one 3, suggesting that the substituted and unsubstituted 5-arylidene moiety plays an important role in enhancing the antimicrobial properties of this class of compounds. The remarkable inhibition of the growth of penicillin-resistant staphylococci makes these substances promising agents also for the treatment of infections caused by microorganisms resistant to currently available drugs.     

A novel indicator plant to test the hypersensitivity of phytopathogenic bacteria

Hypersensitive response is an important, definitive test to separate plant pathogenic bacteria from saprophytes. The current standard protocol uses tobacco and four o'clock plants as indicators for Gram negative and Gram positive phytopathogenic bacteria, respectively, and inoculation is accomplished by infiltrating bacterial suspensions into intact leaves. Both plants, especially the four o'clock, have thin leaves which make inoculation difficult, sometimes leading to inaccurate tests. Here we propose the use of Sedum hybridum as an alternative indicator plant. Sedum plants are readily available, easy to propagate and fast growing. Their leaves are much thicker, thus infiltration of a bacterial suspension is easier compared to tobacco and four o'clock. Additionally, sedum plants can be used universally to test both Gram negative and Gram positive phytopathogenic bacteria.     

The Flexibility of Bacterial Cell Walls

S ummary . There are considerable differences in the extensibility of the cell walls of bacteria in different genera. Gram negative spp. examined were more flexible than the Gram positive ones.     

Physiological Diversity of Rhizoplane Diazotrophs of the Saltmeadow Cordgrass,Spartina patens: Implications for Host Specific Ecotypes

Diazotrophic bacteria are important contributors to salt marsh productivity, but the biotic and abiotic factors that influence their distributions and function and the extent of their diversity cannot be understood in the absence of physiological information. Here we examine the physiological diversity and distribution patterns of diazotrophic bacteria associated with the rhizoplane of the saltmeadow cordgrass, Spartina patens, in comparison with diazotrophs from other intertidal grasses (tall and short form Spartina alterniflora and Juncus roemerianus) from the same salt marsh. S. patens plants were collected from two distinct habitats, and a total of 115 strains (111 Gram negative and 4 Gram positive strains) were isolated into pure culture by stab inoculating roots and rhizomes into combined nitrogen-free semisolid media. Most strains were microaerophilic and approximately one-half were motile. API test strips were used to eliminate redundancy within the culture collection, resulting in 21 physiologically different API groups (17 Gram negative and 4 Gram positive groups). A representative strain from each API group was selected for dot blot hybridization with a nifH specific probe and 16 strains (13 Gram negative and 3 Gram positive) were scored as positive. The nifH positive API group representative strains were characterized further using BIOLOG test plates. Substrate utilization potentials defined two S. patens strain clusters, and only one S. patens strain was physiologically similar to any other strain from a different host plant origin. No distinctions could be made based on the different S. patens habitats, suggesting that the host plant may have a greater impact than abiotic environmental conditions on the distributions of the rhizoplane diazotrophs recovered.     

Veillonella,Firmicutes: Microbes disguised as Gram negatives

The Firmicutes represent a major component of the intestinal microflora. The intestinal Firmicutes are a large, diverse group of organisms, many of which are poorly characterized due to their anaerobic growth requirements. Although most Firmicutes are Gram positive, members of the class Negativicutes, including the genus Veillonella, stain Gram negative. Veillonella are among the most abundant organisms of the oral and intestinal microflora of animals and humans, in spite of being strict anaerobes. In this work, the genomes of 24 Negativicutes, including eight Veillonella spp., are compared to 20 other Firmicutes genomes; a further 101 prokaryotic genomes were included, covering 26 phyla. Thus a total of 145 prokaryotic genomes were analyzed by various methods to investigate the apparent conflict of the Veillonella Gram stain and their taxonomic position within the Firmicutes. Comparison of the genome sequences confirms that the Negativicutes are distantly related to Clostridium spp., based on 16S rRNA, complete genomic DNA sequences, and a consensus tree based on conserved proteins. The genus Veillonella is relatively homogeneous: inter-genus pair-wise comparison identifies at least 1,350 shared proteins, although less than half of these are found in any given Clostridium genome. Only 27 proteins are found conserved in all analyzed prokaryote genomes. Veillonella has distinct metabolic properties, and significant similarities to genomes of Proteobacteria are not detected, with the exception of a shared LPS biosynthesis pathway. The clade within the class Negativicutes to which the genus Veillonella belongs exhibits unique properties, most of which are in common with Gram-positives and some with Gram negatives. They are only distantly related to Clostridia, but are even less closely related to Gram-negative species. Though the Negativicutes stain Gram-negative and possess two membranes, the genome and proteome analysis presented here confirm their place within the (mainly) Gram positive phylum of the Firmicutes. Further studies are required to unveil the evolutionary history of the Veillonella and other Negativicutes.     

Comparison of the quick Gram stain method to the B&M modified and favor methods

The Gram stain is an established method for bacterial identification, but the time needed to carry out this stain is 2-3 min. We attempted to shorten this time and stained a total of 70 clinical specimens isolated from using the Bartholomew & Mittwer (B&M) modified or Favor methods with a 3 s duration for washing and staining steps. Results were plotted and analyzed using a Hue Saturation Intensity (HSI) model. The range based on a plot of the two methods with the HSI model was presented as a reference interval. Our results indicated that 100% (35/35) of strains were Gram positive and 97.1% (34/35) were Gram negative for the quick B&M modified method. In the quick Favor method, 80.0% (28/35) were Gram positive and 68.6% (24/35) of strains were Gram negative. We propose that the quick B&M modified method is equivalent to the standard Gram staining method and is superior to the quick Favor method.