TO THE EDITOR: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) represents a major cause of hospital-, community- and livestock-acquired infections that are increasingly difficult to manage (1-3). Detection and identification of MRSA by culture and nucleic acid-based methods is challenged by heterogeneous penicillin-binding protein 2a (PBP2a) expression and variability of the staphylococcal cassette ...

Two extremely halophilic archaea, strains MGY-184T and MGY-205, were isolated from sea salt produced in Japan and rock salt imported from Bolivia, respectively. Both strains were pleomorphic, non-motile, Gram-negative and required more than 5 % (w/v) NaCl for growth, with optimum at 9-12 %, in the presence of 2 % ...

A Gram-negative, aerobic, non-motile, pink-pigmented and rod-shaped strain, designated ZS3-33T, was isolated from Antarctic intertidal sandy sediment. The strain grew optimally at 15°C and with 1.0% (w/v) NaCl. It reduced nitrate to nitrite and hydrolyzed Tween 20. It could not produce Bacteriochlorophyll a. The predominant cellular fatty acid was C18:1ω7c ...

A strain named PEPV15T was isolated from a Phaseolus vulgaris nodule in a soil of Northern Spain. The phylogenetic analyses of 16S rRNA and atpD genes showed that this strain belongs to the genus Phyllobacterium. The closest related species were in both cases P. brassicacearum, P. bourgognense and P. trifolii ...

OBJECTIVE: The authors investigated the role of femA regulating gene on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). METHODS: High-level MRSA, low-level MRSA, and methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) were determined by agar diffusion methods. β-lactamase was then detected by nitrocefin and the presence of mecA was determined by PCR. Only β-lactamase-negative but mecA-positive ...

Forty-eight Burkholderia isolates from different land use systems in the Amazon region were compared to type strains of Burkholderia species for phenotypic and functional characteristics that can be used to promote plant growth. Most of these isolates (n=46) were obtained by using siratro (Macroptilium atropurpureum - 44) and common bean ...

Group A rotavirus (RVA) strain K8 (RVA/Human-tc/JPN/K8/1977/G1P[9]) was found to have Wa-like VP7 and NSP1 genes and AU-1-like VP4 and NSP5 genes. To determine the exact origin and overall genetic makeup of this unusual RVA strain, the remaining genes (VP1-VP3, VP6 and NSP2-NSP4 genes) of K8 were analyzed in this ...

Human enterovirus 74 (HEV74) is a recently described serotype within the species Human enterovirus B (HEV-B). Few nucleotide sequences of HEV74 are available, and only one complete genome sequence (the prototype strain) has been published. In this study, we report the complete genome sequence of an HEV74 strain isolated from ...

FK506 is a potent immunosuppressant that has a wide range of clinical applications. Its 23-membered macrocyclic scaffold, mainly with a polyketide origin, features two methoxy groups at C-13 and C-15 and one allyl side chain at C-21, due to the region-specific incorporation of two unusual extender units derived from methoxymalonyl-acyl ...

A Gram-positive staining, aerobic, endospore-forming bacterium, isolated from a necrotic wound of a 35-year-old man was studied in detail for its taxonomic position. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity comparisons, strain CCUG 53270T was grouped into the genus Paenibacillus, most closely related to Paenibacillus rigui (97.2%), Paenibacillus xylanisolvens (96.3%) ...

Background. Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates harboring the K. pneumoniae carbapenemase gene (bla(KPC)) are creating a significant healthcare threat in both acute and long-term care facilities (LTCFs). As part of a study conducted in 2004 to determine the risk of stool colonization with extended-spectrum cephalosporin-resistant gram-negative bacteria, 12 isolates of K. pneumoniae that ...

Rhizobium sp. strain PDO1-076 is a plant-associated bacterium isolated from Populus deltoides, and its draft genome sequence is reported.

Strain HIMB55 is a phylogenetically unique member of the OM60/NOR5 clade of the Gammaproteobacteria isolated from coastal seawater of Kaneohe Bay on the northeastern shore of Oahu, Hawaii, by extinction culturing in seawater-based oligotrophic medium. Here we present the genome sequence of strain HIMB55, including genes for bacteriochlorophyll-based phototrophy.

A novel bacterium capable of fixing nitrogen was isolated from plantain rhizosphere soil in China. The isolate, designated YN-83(T), is Gram-positive, aerobic, motile and rod-shaped (0.4-0.6 μm × 1.9-2.6 μm). Phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed that strain YN-83(T) was a member of the genus Cohnella. High similarity of 16S ...

An obligately anaerobic, non-pigmented, non-spore-forming, Gram-negative rod-shaped strain isolated from the gut of the subterranean termite Reticulitermes speratus, Rs-03T, was characterized by determining phenotypic and biochemical features, cellular fatty acid profiles, menaquinone profiles and the phylogenetic positions based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed ...

A yellow pigmented, Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium designated FNE08-7(T) was isolated from subsurface water of the North East basin of the bog lake Grosse Fuchskuhle (Brandenburg, Germany). A first analysis of the nearly full-length 16S rRNA gene sequence including environmental 16S rRNA gene sequences derived from freshwater ecosystems showed that strain ...

A key survival mechanism of Clostridium botulinum, the notorious neurotoxic food pathogen, is the ability to form heat-resistant spores. While the genetic mechanisms of sporulation are well understood in the model organism Bacillus subtilis, nothing is known about these mechanisms in C. botulinum. Using the ClosTron gene knockout tool, sigK, ...

We conducted this study to investigate molecular characteristics and genetic relatedness of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREF) isolates obtained from humans and poultry in Korea. For a total of 147 VREF isolates from humans (71 clinical isolates), 76 poultry isolates and one employee in Korea, we ran a comparision on the ...

Strain Gsoil 348(T) was isolated from a ginseng field soil sample by selecting micro-colonies from one-fifth strength modified R2A agar medium after a long incubation period. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that the strain is related to members of the phylum Armatimonadetes (formerly called candidate phylum OP10). Strain Gsoil ...

In this study, 77 clinical and 67 oyster V. parahaemolyticus isolates from North America were examined for biochemical profiles, serotype, and presence of potential virulence factors [tdh, trh, and type three secretion system (T3SS) genes]. All isolates were positive for oxidase, indole, and glucose fermentation, consistent with previous reports. The ...

A collection of seven multidrug-resistant clinical isolates of Enterobacter cloacae with reduced susceptibility to ceftazidime and cefepime recovered from 2009 to 2010 at the University Hospital of Mahdia, Tunisia, was analysed. PCR analysis and sequencing demonstrated that all study isolates harbored SHV-12 β-lactamase that was transferred by conjugation. Characterization of ...

An actinomycete strain designated SA181T, was isolated from Saharan soil in the Hoggar region (South Algeria) and was characterized taxonomically by using a polyphasic approach. The morphological and chemotaxonomic characteristics of the strain were consistent with the members of the genus Saccharothrix, and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis confirmed that ...

A set of 25 urease producing, yellow pigmented enterococci was isolated from environmental sources and studied by using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. The phenotypic classification divided the isolates into two groups and both phena were characterized using 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, DNA base composition, rep-PCR fingerprinting and automated ribotyping. ...

Neisseria meningitidis may be classified according to the lipooligosaccharide immunotype. We show that this classification can be achieved by PCR genotyping of the genes involved in the lipooligosaccharide inner-core biosynthesis, lpt3, lpt6, lgtG and lot3. Genotyping data correlated well (90-100%) with mass spectrometry data and was, therefore, applied to screen ...

The velvet genes are conserved in ascomycetous fungi and function as global regulators of differentiation and secondary metabolism. Here, we characterized one of the velvet genes, designated FgVelB, in the plant pathogenic fungus Fusarium graminearum, which causes Fusarium head blight in cereals and produces mycotoxins within plants. FgVelB-deleted (DeltaFgVelB) strains ...

Actinomycete strains K10-0485(T) and K10-0528(T) were isolated from the roots of Ophiopogon japonicus collected in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequences, morphological characteristics and chemotaxonomic data indicated that these strains belonged to the genus Actinoallomurus. Strain K10-0485(T) showed high similarity of the 16S rRNA gene ...

The first isolation of Mycobacterium kyorinense specimens in Brazil is described. M. kyorinense is a recently identified species, with few strains only reported in Japan. The Brazilian isolates were initially identified as M. celatum by PRA-hsp65. However, biochemical tests indicated the same profile of M. kyorinense and distinguished them from ...

Surfactin is a biological surfactant with numerous potential applications. In this study, Bacillus subtilis was engineered to improve surfactin production by the activation of two competence-stimulating pheromones, ComX and competence and sporulation factor (CSF) to stimulate the transcription of srfA operon. Both signaling factors, encoded by comX and phrC, were ...

Pantoea vagans C9-1 is a biocontrol strain that produces at least the two antibiotics inhibiting the growth of Erwinia amylovora, the causal agent of fire blight disease of pear and apple. One antibiotic, herbicolin I, was purified from culture filtrates of P. vagans C9-1 and determined to be 2-amino-3-(oxirane-2,3-dicarboxamido)-propanoyl-valine also ...

Deficiency in the translocase complex (SecG mutant strain) or in the major type I signal peptidase (SipY mutant strain) function in Streptomyces lividans resulted, as expected, in a drastic reduction of secretory protein production and in a bald phenotype. The transcriptional profiling of both strains showed that the expression of ...

An indigo-reducing facultatively alkaliphilic strain, designated as strain C40T, was isolated from a fermented Polygonum Indigo (Polygonum tinctorium Lour.) liquor sample aged for 10 months obtained from Date City, Hokkaido, Japan. 16S rRNA gene sequence phylogeny suggested that strain C40(T) is a member of the genus Amphibacillus with the closest ...

Seven strains of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) are defined based on C-terminal sequence variations of the latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1). Some strains, especially those with a 30-bp deletion, are thought to be related to tumorigenic activity and geographical localization. The aims of the study were to determine the prevalence of ...

Clin Microbiol Infect 2012; 18: 395-400 ABSTRACT: The recent finding of a new mecA homologue, mecA(LGA251) , with only 70% nucleotide homology to the conventional mecA gene has brought the routine testing for mecA as a confirmatory test for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) into question. A multiplex PCR was designed ...

Rahnella sp. strain Y9602 is a gammaproteobacterium isolated from contaminated subsurface soils that is capable of promoting uranium phosphate mineralization as a result of constitutive phosphatase activity. Here we report the first complete genome sequence of an isolate belonging to the genus Rahnella.

The working temperature of a photobioreactor under sunlight can be elevated above the optimal growth temperature of a microorganism. To improve the biohydrogen productivity of photosynthetic bacteria at higher temperatures, a [FeFe]-hydrogenase gene from the thermophile Clostridium thermocellum was expressed in the mesophile Rhodopseudomonas palustris CGA009 (strain CGA-CThydA) using a ...

Five strains, JPY461T, JPY359, JPY389, DPU-3 and STM4206 were isolated from nitrogen-fixing nodules on the roots of Mimosa spp. and their taxonomic positions were investigated by a polyphasic approach. All five strains grew at 15-40 °C (optimum, 30-37 °C), at pH 4.0-8.0 (optimum, pH 6.0-7.0) and with 0-1 % (w/v) ...

Reverse transcription-real time polymerase chain reaction (real time RT-PCR) assay with Universal Probe Library (UPL) probes has been developed for the detection and genotyping of Chilean infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV) isolates from infected cell culture. Partial nucleotide sequences (1175bp) of the VP2 coding region from a selection of 7 ...

A thermophilic Bacillus strain ASU7 was isolated from soil sample collected from Assiut governorate in Upper Egypt on latex rubber-containing medium at 45 °C. Genetically, the 16S bacterial ribosomal RNA gene of the strain ASU7 was amplified by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequenced. The sequence of the PCR product ...

The molecular fingerprinting of a collection of 94 Staphylococcus aureus isolates from patients with osteomyelitis in Argentina was performed. Twenty-three SmaI pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) types and 37 spa types were identified. The isolates were assigned to 23 sequence types (STs). The proportion of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) isolates was ...

N-Acylhomoserine lactone (AHL)-degrading enzyme, AiiM, was identified from the potato leaf-associated Microbacterium testaceum StLB037. In this study, we cloned eight aiiM gene homologues from other AHL-degrading Microbacterium strains. The similarity of the chromosomal locus of the aiiM gene is associated with the phylogenetic classification based on 16S rRNA. Degenerate PCR ...

A thorough phenotypic and genotypic analysis of 150 strains belonging to the Mycobacterium terrae complex resulted in the identification of a number of previously unreported sequevars (sqvs.) within the species known to belong to the complex. In the species Mycobacterium arupense were detected 3 sqvs. in the 16S rRNA gene, ...

A novel Gram-positive, moderately halophilic bacterium, designated strain X4BT, was isolated from soil around the hypersaline lake Aran-Bidgol in Iran and characterized taxonomically using a polyphasic approach. Cells of strain X4BT were motile rods and formed ellipsoidal endospores at a terminal or subterminal position in swollen sporangia. Strain X4BT was ...

OBJECTIVES: Acinetobacter baumannii presents a clinical challenge when it is non-susceptible to carbapenems. The prevalence of carbapenem-non-susceptible A. baumannii in Japan is unclear, as previous studies have been limited in scope. We investigated the spread of carbapenem-non-susceptible A. baumannii in Japan and performed a comparison with findings from overseas. METHODS: ...

With finesse and strain: Highly strained derivatives of fenestranes, [4.6.4.6]fenestradienes, have been prepared using a remarkable reaction cascade featuring a 4-exo-dig cyclocarbopalladation, a Sonogashira-type coupling, a regioselective alkynylation, and an 8π/6π electrocyclization sequence.

Salinity is an increasing problem in Africa affecting rhizobia-legume symbioses. In Morocco, Phaseolus vulgaris is cultivated in saline soils and its symbiosis with rhizobia depends on the presence of osmotolerant strains in these soils. In this study, 32 osmotolerant rhizobial strains nodulating P. vulgaris were identified at the species and ...

A novel Gram-staining-negative bacterium, designated TF5-37.2-LB10T, was isolated from subsurface water of the Toarcian geological layer of Tournemire (France). Cells were non-motile straight rods that formed cream to light pink colonies on 10-fold diluted LB agar. Strain TF5-37.2-LB10T contained menaquinone 7 (MK-7) and its major fatty acids were iso-C15:0, summed ...

Oenococcus oeni is a lactic acid bacterium of economic interest used in winemaking. This bacterium is the preferred species for malolactic fermentation (MLF) due its adaptability to the chemically harsh wine environment. MLF enhances the organoleptic properties and ensures deacidification of wines. The aim of this work was the transcriptional ...

Hydrogen cyanide (HCN) is a secondary metabolite produced by many antagonistic Pseudomonas species. In the present study, the gene cluster encoding HCN synthesis in a newly isolated Pseudomonas fluorescens strain, In5, from South Greenland was investigated. Sequence analysis showed that the Greenlandic hcn gene cluster comprises a novel hcn cluster. ...

The aim of the project was to isolate and characterize bacteriocin-producing enterococci, as well as determine the prevalence of enterocin structural genes in 187 enterococcal clinical isolates from the northwest of Iran. The isolates were screened for antibacterial activity against 15 different indicator strains. The proteinaceous nature of the antimicrobial ...

BACKGROUND: Group A rotaviruses are the leading cause of non-bacterial severe diarrhea disease in infants and young children. In humans, the most common genotypes are G1-G4 and G9. Recently, G12 strains have been sporadically reported in several countries, including Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. OBJECTIVES: To analyze rotavirus strain diversity in ...