World Congress and Expo on Applied Microbiology August 18-20, 2015 Frankfurt, Germany

We have previously measured the distribution and pharmacokinetics of biosynthetically labeled endotoxin of Salmonella Typhimurium with 3H (fatty acid residues) and 14C (glucosamine residues) in rats by administering saline containing 14C, 3H-LPS (200 μg/kg) intraperitoneally (IP) ( Kim et al., Toxicology and Industrial Health, 2014). We then developed a physiologically-based pharmacokinetic model (PBPK) using our measured distribution results in rats (Hutter and Kim, Toxicology and Industrial Health, 2014). To predict the dynamics of endotoxin exposure in human blood and its relationship with the production of cytokine levels as critical biomarkers for infection, a human 2-compartment model was developed to estimate levels of cytokine (TNF-alpha) in human blood during infection. The model was calibrated with published data for E5564 (a lipid A antagonist) at a dose of 3500 μg in humans (Wong, et al. J Clin Pharmacol, 2003 43:735-742). The model was validated using published results for E5564 at lower doses. The model was also validated using published results for ONO-4007, a lipid A synthetic agonist (deBono et al. Clin Cancer Res 2000 6:397-405). TNF-α was then fitted to the published results. This model can be useful for the risk assessment of antibacterial or immunotoxic effects of chemicals in the human body.

Alexander P. Malyshkin, male, microbiologist, graduated from Orenburg State Medical Academy in 1979 and worked for this academy as a researcher. After defending his Candidate of Science (Med.) dissertation (PhD thesis), he headed the Division of Laboratory Diagnosis of Orenburg Regional Tuberculosis Dispensary for some time. Dr. Malyshkin's field of research includes microbiology, immunology, and issues of infectious diseases and their prevention. He is the author of the active susceptibility hypothesis and a fundamentally new approach to the prevention of infectious diseases of plants, animals, and humans (including the HIV infection) based on it. The main recent work (now in press) is the chapter on the prevention of infectious diseases in the book Aquatic Plants and Plant Diseases (to be published by Nova Science). Dr. Malyshkin is exploring the possibility of collaboration in further developing and implementing his novel approach to disease prevention, which could be used, in particular, for breeding infection-resistant animal and plant varieties.

The active susceptibility concept regards infectivity as the host's capacity for attracting the microflora that serves useful functions in the body of a healthy carrier, rather than the property of the infective microorganisms. Roughly, it is not germs that infect us; it is we who infect ourselves with them. Infectivity stems from the necessity of the products of certain microbial genes for the host. This concept views asymptomatic healthy carriage of potentially dangerous microorganisms, which is found increasingly often, as a normal phenomenon. Accordingly, an epidemic results not so much from the emergence of a particularly pathogenic microorganism as from enhanced need in this organism (in the form of healthy carriage) and hence, active susceptibility to it across the population. Under certain conditions, this healthy carriage is transformed into an infectious disease, as is often the case with normal microflora. Therefore, decreasing the active susceptibility to the pathogen at the population level is the main prerequisite for preventing, or stopping the spread of, any bacterial or viral infection, as well as for treating it. To do this, the products of the microbial genes that are necessary for the host should be identified, obtained in commercial quantities, and used as therapeutic or prophylactic drugs.

Sabine Kutschke has studied Bioengineering at the Moscow State Institute of Food Production. She has finished her PhD in Biochemistry at the Universität Leipzig in 2002.

Focus of her research is on the interaction of microorganisms with metals. Other research topics are the characterization of natural microbial communities using DNA-based and culturing techniques.

As senior scientist she supervised diploma and master students and worked in several projects in the field’s resource ecology, resource technology and technology transfer. She has published 13 peer-reviewed publications and one patent is pending. Her work was awarded in 2011 with the Technologiepreis des Helmholtz-Zentrums Dresden-Rossendorf.

Biochemistry of REE is very poorly understood. As microbes drive biogeochemistry in many ecosystems it can be expected that microbes play a role in REE biogeochemistry. REE reach environments are a promising source for the recovery of microbes that are suitable candidates for REE extraction and recycling.

The microbial community is a close metabolic network, where some of the organisms actively contribute to the carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus cycle and other microorganisms interact with minerals, metals, and pollutants. On the one hand such a microbial community is well adapted to environment and on other hand it is influenced by the geochemical parameters. Investigation of microbial community of REE containing matrixes has to be accompanied by (geo)-chemical analyses. Geochemical and structural soil parameters like organic compounds, ion exchange or waterholding capacity and porosity influence the microbial population. Moreover daily or seasonal changes of physical matrix properties force the microbial community to adapt. Reflection of environmental circumstances is one challenge describing natural microbial community (Xu 2006). The most sensitive describing tools are culture independent genomic methods. Generated metagenomic data will be matched with already existing genomic databases. Genetic methods like PCR fingerprinting techniques and used to identify and quantify microorganisms interacted with REE containing ore. As already mentioned the data base for comparative genomic is small. To extent this fundament it is necessary to extract single strains, to cultivate them and to analyze their genomes.

Xu, J. (2006). Molecular Ecology 15(7): 1713-1731.

Alexander Rohde is a PhD student at the Freie Universität Berlin and is employed by the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) in Berlin since 2013. In his work at the Department of Biological Safety, he examines the applicability of novel rapid detection methods like fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) for the detection of foodborne pathogens in food.

Yersinia enterocolitica, the causative agent of yersiniosis, is the third most frequent bacterial zoonosis of foodborne origin in the European Union, after Salmonella enterica and Campylobacter spp. Apart from Y. enterocolitica, Y. pseudotuberculosis and Y. pestis are also important human pathogens. Despite their clinical significance, the detection of pathogenic Yersinia spp. by traditional cultivation techniques is slow and often hampered by the presence of excessive amounts of accompanying bacterial flora. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), which targets ribosomal RNAs, represents a promising alternative for a more rapid detection of viable Yersinia spp.

In this study highly specific fluorophore-labelled oligonucleotide probes were designed for each of the three target species Y. enterocolitica, Y. pseudotuberculosis and Y. pestis. Additionally, a genus-specific probe, which binds to the rRNAs of all Yersinia spp., was used as an internal control and a eubacterial probe was employed to enumerate other viable bacteria. Strong FISH signals were observed in rapidly growing as well as in resting cells. By coupling FISH with a direct viable count approach (DVC), a reliable live/dead differentiation was possible. The suitability of FISH for the detection of Yersinia in food was assessed in comparison to ISO 10273:2003. After selective enrichment in Irgasan-Tircacillin-Potassium-Chlorate (ITC) bouillon for 24 hours 1 CFU/g in spiked minced pork meat could be detected with FISH, whereas the detection by ISO 10273:2003 took at least four days.

In conclusion, these results demonstrate the potential of FISH as a rapid and sensitive detection method for viable Yersinia spp.

Background: Celiac disease (CD) is an autoimmune condition characterized by small intestinal enteropathy. Malabsorption of nutrients is a consequence of intestinal injury and when it extends over time can cause malnutrition, due to a permanent intolerance to dietary gluten present in cereals such as wheat, oats, barley and rye.

Objective: To evaluate the presence of Candida spp. in the diagnosed celiac population in adulthood.

Materials & Methods: 80 celiac patients of both sexes aged 18 years diagnosed in adulthood Control Panel to attend to his attention to the Integral Clinic and Surgery in Adults and Gerontes III of the School of Dentistry at the American Open University, matched by sex and age were evaluated with the experimental group. A survey was conducted with features of CD. It made a complete dental chart, conventional indices (bleeding on probing, probing depth, attachment loss, and gingival plaque index) were measured. Buccal mucosa samples were collected with a swab and placed in test tube with saline. And subgingival samples deeper part with Gracey type tubes were placed in physiological solution were taken. Were performed simultaneously extended coloring with Gram technique and Giemsa. Conventional microbiological tests were performed and statistical analysis of data was performed.

Results: Patients surveyed averaged 50 +/- 5 years old. There were no statistically significant differences between groups. The prevalent species were 45% have Candida albicans, 35% Prevotella intermedia, P. gingivalis 27% and 30% more than one Candida species in each periodontal site.

Conclusion: Patients with celiac disease diagnosed in adulthood presented the indigenous microbiota accessory similar to the rest of the population, with a bearing of Candida spp. with higher prevalence of C. albicans on mucous membranes.

Objective: To evaluate the carrying of yeast species in patients with oral hoops.

Materials & Methods: A study of cases and controls included 60 patients was conducted.

Experimental Group: Patients with piercing metal and acrylic. Inclusion Criteria: Patients 14-65 years old, immunocompetent, with piercing. Exclusion Criteria: Taking antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, and antifungal .Who have received periodontal treatment in the last 6 months.

Control Group: Patients without piercing. In addition to conventional medical history a survey was conducted with sterile swabs and samples of soft tissue, palate, and tongue were taken. A sample of the ring and then take placed in tubes with 0.5 ml of PBS. The yeast species were identified in chromogenic medium, Api, ID 32 C, Brichro-Dubli, Fumouze, and DNA amplification by PCR with primers.

Results: The presence of C. albicans was observed, C. parapsilosis, C. tropicalis, C. guillermondii, C. glabrata and C. sake both the peripheral rim and mucosa, the bearing is larger in the peripheral mucosa, lips and cheeks with a significant difference compared with noncarriers of piercing. (P=0.002) -Periodontal equal to the initial condition was maintained in all cases.

Conclusion: Yeasts grow in both piercing and lips, tongue and cheeks and can spread from this new niche.

Background: Previous study shows that ischemic heart disease and periodontal disease share certain common characteristics: They are more frequent in aged populations have shared risk factors such as smoking, diabetes, obesity, and show common pathogenic mechanisms (inflammatory elevated levels of pro phenotypes hiperinflamatorios monocytes, active responses to elevated acute phase). The evidence about the association between chronic oral infections and heart attack as those patients who had experienced a heart attack also showed an unfavorable dental status compared to healthy patients.

Objective: To study the correlation of periodontal disease and microorganisms such as Prevotella intermedia, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Candida albicans and Staphylococcus aureus in patients with heart disease with and without surgical indication.

Materials & methods: Individuals of both sexes, with heart disease with surgical indication were included. The surgical indication take you as a dependent variable for cases, building controls 1: 1 individuals with heart disease without surgical indication Excluded groups: those individuals who present systemic disease but without heart disease, patients with periodontal treatment six months prior to the experience, patients taking anti-inflammatory or antibiotic or antifungal 72 hours prior to the experience.

Results: It was observed that for patients who will go to surgery is present in 9% of the samples Pseudomonas aeruginosa followed by Candida albicans with 13%, Prevotella intermedia with 4% Staphylococcus aureus 7%, Porphyromonas gingivalis with 4% adhesion of Prevotella intermedia with Porphyromonas gingivalis and Candida albicans 2% and a rate of 3% of the sample showed no development. This would demonstrate a greater percentage of Microorganisms present in periodontal disease in patients who will undergo surgery and not those of the control group.

Conclusion: According to the results of diagnosis is low percentage of the total population that is presented as a healthy, what stands out is the abundance of periodontal disease and in patients who will undergo heart surgery have a higher percentage of severe classification this is consistent with the type of microorganisms found with increased virulence in these patients prior to surgery.

Background: The extraction of impacted third molars semi¬-presents little controversy when associated with pathological changes such as infections, unrecoverable carious lesions, cysts, tumors and destruction of adjacent teeth and bone. However, the justification for prophylactic removal of these third molars is less certain and has been debated for many years. The importance of microorganisms septicemia, septic embolization and bacterial endocarditis.

Objective: To study the presence of Candida spp. in semi-retained third molars.

Materials & Methods: 150 patients with semi-retained third molars were studied in different positions: mesioangular (n=50), distoangular (n=50) and vertical (n=50). Radiographic study of analog panoramic technique was performed. Buccal mucosa samples were taken with a swab and placed in a test tube with saline solution. And subgingival samples in the third molar with Gracey type were placed in tubes with saline solution. Were performed simultaneously extended coloring with Gram technique and Giemsa. Conventional microbiological tests were performed. Statistical data analysis (Chi Square) with an alpha error of 0.05 (95%) and a power of 80% was conducted.

Results: The difference was statistically significant (p=0.02) in the bearing of Candida spp. between mesioangular third molars and the other two positions. The buccal mucosa did not show statistically significant differences in the different positions. In mesioangulares, it was found more than one species of Candida in each molar. The prevalence of Candida in decreasing order was C. albicans, Candida dubliniensis followed, C. glabrata, tropical Candida and Candida krusei.

Conclusions: Patients with third molars semi - retained are carriers of Candida spp.

Objective: To evaluate the presence of Candida spp. in periodontal patients taking oral contraceptives and combined with different progestogens.

Materials & Methods: Experimental group: Women with periodontal disease consuming since 1-3 years other COCs. Control group: women with periodontal disease who do not consume them. 200 women with moderate or severe chronic periodontitis who still have menstrual cycles, entering the Hospital Dr. Diego Thompson, serving Gynecology Periodontal indices were recorded and serial radiographic periapical. The sample with Gracey curette type in the stock upper and lower central incisors and first molars I was taken and a pool that was placed in Eppendorf tube with sterile saline solution was performed. Conventional microbiological techniques were performed. Statistical analysis of the data was performed using Chi square test.

Results: A statistically significant difference between the carrying of Candida spp. in women who consumed contraceptives and those who did not (p = 0.03) was found. C. albicans were found in descending order, C. parapsilosis, C. krusei, which is not consumed and C dubliniensis, C. albicans, C. glabrata, C. krusei, C. parapsilosis, C. tropicalis in those who consumed. Regarding progestogens used (Nomegestrol acetate, drospirenone, Levonorgestrel, Gestodene, Dienogest and Cyproterone) no differences were observed in the prevalence of Candida spp. found.

Conclusion: Women who took contraceptives are carriers of different Candida spp. to not consume. In the sample, studied differences with different progestogens are not observed.

Materials & Methods: There were selected 50 patients of the unit of intensive therapy of the university hospital in the Universidad Abierta Interamericana located in Argentina. There were selected patients with removable dentures hospitalized by polytraumatism and with equal antibiotic scheme, without intubation. We considered age and time of internment and realized a clinical examination to determine injuries in mucous mouth, periodontal status and evaluated the conditions of the denture, including time of use, habits of rest, habits of hygiene and adjustment of the same ones. Then we took a sample in the zone of the palate with hyssop in the middle of Stuart and took an additional, consistent sample in the zone that he contacts the mucous court one.

Results: In the mouth cavity and denture they presented equal species were in Candid albicans in the patients hospitalized up to 15 days. The difference was statistically significant in those with mas of 15 days of internment in which the species more prevalent were Candid dubliniensis, Candida parapsilosis and Candid krusei, (P=0.03). The condition periodontal was decreasing in directly proportional form to the time of internment.

Conclusion: In our study a significant association was observed between patients with artificial denture in Intensive Care Unit and Candida species. In the moderate and serious forms of the disease, they are exposed to conditions where the mouth is not cleaned and intervene in her, objects that will keep her opened and in occasions it dries for the decrease of the saliva when the mouth is in opening in an excessive time.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of periodontal pathogens in women undergoing ovarian stimulation for treatment of Assisted Fertilization.

Materials: A cross-sectional study was conducted through a survey and medical history women between 20 and 35 years (n=29) who attended Halitus for assisted fertilization treatment after signing an informed consent. Control group: women (n = 29) who do not perform reproduction treatment, and are not subject to any hormonal therapy. Dependent variable: periodontal disease. Independent Variable: IVF therapy. During controlled ovarian stimulation of mucosal samples were taken by swabbing the oral cavity which was placed in Stuart medium, then the three sites increased probing depth and a part of the selected Gracey curette supragingival plaque was removed, and the other active part pooled sample was placed in VMGA III. It was conducted widespread that then were stained with Giemsa and Gram. Samples were plated to assess anaerobes in 5% blood agar, chocolate agar with 5% Isovitalex and to evaluate CHROMagar Candida Candida spp. Capnofilia incubated in 5 days. Then the green colonies were presented study development capacity at 45° C and Api ID32C. Statistical analysis of the data was performed.

Results: There was no statistically significant difference between both groups of women in the presence of Candida spp., Prevotella intermedia, Porphyromonas gingivalis are constant. The order of increasing prevalence was C. albicans, C. tropicalis, C. parapsilosis, C. dubliniensis and C. guilliermondii.

Conclusions: The prevalence of periodontal pathogens in women undergoing ovarian stimulation for assisted fertilization treatment is equal to that of women without treatment. .

Victor Hugo Valiati has completed his Ph.D. at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and postdoctoral studies on Evolution of P Transposable Elements in Drosophila at University of Arizona, Tucson, United States. He is head of the Graduate Degree Program in Biology at UNISINOS, a Brazilian Jesuit University. He has published more than 30 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as an editorial board member.

Activated Sludge is the most common technology used in Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTP) around the world. Despite being highly effective, it is possible that recalcitrant compounds, like Polyaromatic Hydrocarbons, accumulate on exceeding sludge. In the Brazilian Third Petrochemical Plant, surplus sludge is disposed in soils of Sludge Farms. To evaluate management possibilities for this soil, microbial activity was monitored in microcosms during 60 days with different treatments after contamination using benzo(a)pyrene (15 mg/kg), phenanthrene and naphtalene (30 mg/kg each). Soil pH was adjusted to 7.0, and the humidity to the field capacity. The treatments where: Natural Attenuation (aeration every 3 days); Bioaugmentation (PAH-degrading Burkholderia isolated from Sludge) once or every 20 days; Biostimulation alone or with Bioaugmentation; Controls without contaminants. Microbial activity (soil respiration) was measured via quantification of CO2 released in the process. The highest metabolic activity was found in Natural Attenuation (results similar to those in bioaugmentation either once or every 20 days). Considering it undergoes continuous bioaugmentation, as the sludge surplus disposed there is composed mainly of microorganisms already adapted to petrochemical waste. We should point out this management is feasible requiring only liming and soil aeration. Therefore, we are testing this method in situ using three 1 m2 areas within the Sludge Farm. Just after sludge application, pH was adjusted and soil was mechanically aerated in two areas, leaving one as control. Analyses of Oils and Grease, Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons and genomic microbial identification are being done to compare the treatments and evaluate microbial dynamics.

Ana Lusia Leal has 16 years of experience in microbiology working in both academic and industrial environments. She is the head of the Biology Department at the Wastewater Treatment Plant from the Brazilian Third Petrochemical Plant, monitoring the quality of the treatment process and finding solutions to operational and environmental problems.

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) are among the most persistent pollutants of petroleum by-products. Strategies to study potential biodegradation of these compounds include evaluation of microbial diversity in contaminated areas, the study of gene families involved in aromatic ring-cleavage and isolation of indigenous bacteria. In this work, an enrichment technique with Benzo(a)pyrene or naphtalene as sole carbon sources was used to isolate bacteria from activated sludge from a Petrochemical Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). Four Burkholderia strains from 3 different species (B. cenocepacia, B. vietnamiensis and B. multivorans) were identified using biochemical and molecular methods. Partial Multilocus Sequence Typing allowed us to identify two new alleles (genes recA and gyrB) in two of our strains (pubmlst.org/bcc/). Another strain had the same alleles as B. vietnamiensis G4, a model strain for hydrocarbon degradation. As further characterization of these strains, we tested their ability to reduce Benzo(a)pyrene in vitro. The strains were grown for 7 days, individually and in consortium, in minimal media containing benzo(a)pyrene as sole source of carbon; B. vietnamiensis G4 strain was also tested. While there was no statistical difference among the WWTP isolated strains and the control when they were cultivated individually, the consortium with four strains showed a reduction in 8.6 % of benzo(a)pyrene related to the control, similar to G4 strain (9 %). Since we found indigenous strains with an efficiency comparable to the model G4 strain, these results highlight the potential of the WWTP isolated strains to be used in bioremediation of the contaminated area.

Elena Tamburini has a PhD in Genetics at the University of Pavia with an experimental work on cellulolytic streptomycetes, carried out at the University of Florence. From 2006, she is Senior Researcher at the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Cagliari. Her main research topics are microbial surfactants and emulsifiers for environmental applications, microbial communities involved in bioremediation and phytoremediation of hydrocarbons and heavy metals. She published 25 articles in international peer-reviewed journals and book chapters.

The Mediterranean Sea has been proposed as a biodiversity hot spot hosting about 17,000 marine eukaryotic species and a number, at present impossible to estimate, of Bacteria and Archaea species. It is a semi-enclosed basin divided into two main sub-basins, with extremely complex water mass circulation and dynamics that give rise to a multitude of habitats, across an east-west and north-south distribution. The environments studied in this work are tourist ports, partially closed habitats, characterized by specific anthropogenic impacts and pollution sources, which can be supposed to be the major forces driving the composition and diversity of microbial communities. The objective of this work was to evaluate the composition and spatial variability of microbial communities in superficial and anoxic sediments of three tourist ports in the Mediterranean Sea. The case study sites were located across the basin: Cagliari (Sardinia, Italy) in the western part, El Kantaoui (Tunisia) in the central part, and Heraklion (Crete, Greece) in the eastern part. Port selection was based on different elements, such as maritime traffic, port dimension. Microbial communities were analyzed by Next Generation Sequencing with the MiSeq platform. Our results showed that the microbial communities in sediments from the three ports had different composition, thus indicating port site as the main grouping factor. A peculiar community composition was highlighted for samples collected near a shipyard in Heraklion, suggesting that this activity heavily impacts the microbial communities and the sediment quality.

This study was carried out in the framework of the project MAPMED, a multidisciplinary project aimed at improving the environmental sustainability of tourist ports in the Mediterranean Sea with regard to hydrocarbon pollution. Specifically it was directed to: 1) identify at lab-scale the limiting factors to hydrocarbon degradation by autochthonous bacterial communities in surface waters, 2) demonstrate at field scale the most efficient remediation technology integrating the biological and mechanical methodologies for oil removal. The main limiting factors to hydrocarbon degradation by bacterial communities were analyzed: temperature, oxygen, nitrogen and phosphorous levels. Microbiological parameters (total counts of unicellular organisms, viable titles of heterotrophs and diesel degraders, degradation activity of diesel in microcosm tests) as well as the total petroleum hydrocarbons were monitored to define the microbial dynamics during treatments. Cork was selected as sorbent material for mechanical oil removal thanks to its eco-friendly properties as well as the wide distribution of the raw material, derived from oak trees, over the Mediterranean basin. The retention of bacterial biomass on the sorbent material and its release into the seawater were also evaluated.

Yanbo Ling has completed his Ph.D at the age of 28 years from Beijing Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology. He is a researcher of Army Tuberculosis Prevention and Control Key Laboratory. He has published 5 papers in reputed journals on active peptides research.

We study the targets of the Chinese medicine of NIUBEIXIAOHE treatment effect on tuberculosis via transcriptomics technologies.64 BALB/c mice were randomly divided into five groups as follow: blank control group, M.vaccae group, low dose group of Niubeixiaohe, high dose group of Niubeixiaohe, and isoniazid group. The mice were given distilled water or different doses of Niubeixiaohe extract by alimentary canal for 6 weeks, but the mice in M.vaccae group need be injected intramuscularly with M.vaccae vaccine, isoniazid and the control group were also given saline by intramuscular injection one time at 2 weeks interval, totally injected 3 times. RNA was extracted by blood, and was analyzed with transcriptome technologies. After Chinese medicine treatment, antibody production was inhibited and Th2-type immune weakened, so the transformation from Th2 to Th1 played a role in anti-TB. After drug treatment, the gene Synj2 was down-regulated, especially M.vaccae was down-regulated very significant, indicating that phagocytosis of M. tuberculosis recovery. Niubeixiaohe has significant immune-effect, and it may have a similar role with the M.vaccae.

Distribution of antimicrobial resistant bacteria among agricultural, livestock and fishery products of domestic production and imported primary products in Korea was assessed. From the total 200 cases domestic food products analyzed in 2014, 77 E. coli, 55 S. aureus, 7 Enterococcus spp. and 9 Salmonella spp. were isolated. For imported 285 samples were analyzed and 29 E. coli, 13 S. aureus and 9 Enterococcus spp. were isolated. For E. coli, from domestic primary products tetracycline, ampicillin, nalidixic acid resistance was relatively high compared to the other antimicrobials. And for imported products streptomycin, tetracycline, ampicillin resistance was relatively higher. In case of S. aureus penicillin resistance was higher in domestic products, but in imported products it was lower than results of previous studies. In case of Enterococcus spp. overall resistance were decreased and continuous monitoring was required in future as number of isolated strains was so few. 2 MRSA strains were isolated from domestic beefs and chicken meats and 2 ESBL producing E. coli from domestic chicken meats, 1 ESBL producing E. coli from imported chicken meats and 5 ESBL producing Salmonella spp. from domestic chicken meats were isolated. Tetracycline resistance of E. coli from domestic products that was slightly decreased from 57.9%(2013) to 51.9% in 2014 managed decreased level of resistance from resistance levels in 2006. Tetracycline resistance of E. coli from imported products showed lower resistance than that of previous year. In case of S. aureus, strains from domestic products had lower resistance than previous year and from imported products showed much lower resistance ever. PFGE and rep-PCR based comparative analysis was conducted against isolates of major resistant bacteria, which showed genetic similarity in 2 Salmonella spp. strains. Via MLST analysis, one MRSA strain from beef were determined as ST72 and one strain from chicken meat was ST692, and that was similar to precedent study in Korea.

Yuna Yun received the B.S. degree in life science, and M.S. degree in protein biochemistry, from Sogang University, Seoul, Korea, in 2006 and 2008, respectively. Now, she is researching microbiology and preservatives in Amore Pacific co., a cosmetic company in Korea for 6 years.

Silver and Silver-based compounds are known to be effective against a broad range of microorganisms and these inorganic materials are non-volatile, heat-resistant and highly safe compare to organic materials. Recently, hydrous face makeup products using makeup puff are increased because of the convenience and handiness, whereas consumers concern about microbial contamination of makeup puff is also increased. Therefore, we invented an antimicrobial makeup puff containing silver oxide (Ag2O) embedded in water-soluble silicon dioxide (SiO2). Silicon dioxide on the textile forms net-shape and release silver ions from insoluble silver oxide. This inorganic compound also act as an anticorrosive. The mechanism of the antimicrobial action of silver ions are closely related to their interaction with thiol groups of microorganisms and it effects even in a trace amount. The antimicrobial efficacy was quantitative evaluated according to the JIS L 1902: 2008. Two pathogens (Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus) and a fungus (Aspergillus niger) were used as the test inoculums. The inoculums were inoculated onto the textile and after 24 h of culturing, living bacteria remaining on the sample are rinsed off and counted. The reduction ratio of cell numbers indicate the antimicrobial efficacy of the textile. As a result, this test material demonstrated excellent antibacterial and antifungal activity in excess of 99.9% growth inhibition against K. pneumoniae, S. aureus and A. niger. By using the antimicrobial makeup puff containing silver oxide, we expect to be reduced the worries of consumers and preserved hygienic condition of the textile during use time.

The phosphate-specific transport system (pst) not only regulates the E. coli phosphate transport and metabolism, it also affects virulence of certain pathogens. We observed a decrease in HEp-2 cell adhesion of a STEC strain with disruption in the pstC gene. In order to understand the effect of pst mutation on the adhesion property and virulence expression of STEC, we compared the proteomes of a wild type STEC and its isogenic pstC mutant.
Crude protein extracts were prepared from the bacterial cell pellets of a wild type STEC serotype O15 and its isogenic pstC mutant. The protein extracts were subject to 2D polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. To perform the first dimension of 2D electrophoresis, 60 ug of protein extract from each strain was suspended in rehydration buffer for isoelectric focusing using a nonlinear IPG strip (17 cm, pH 3-10). Isoelectric focusing was performed at 20°C using the PROTEAN IEF cell (Bio-Rad) under the following conditions: 100V for 1 hour, 500V for 1 hour, 1000V for 1 hour, 4000V for 2 hours and 8000V for 7 hours. After isoelectric focusing, a second-dimension SDS-PAGE was performed. The strip was equilibrated in 5 ml equilibrium buffer and then transferred onto a 12.5% polyacrylamide gel, which was run for 1 hour at 200 V. Following electrophoresis, the gel was fixed in 10% acetic acid with 40% methanol overnight, which was followed by MS-compatible silver staining. The stained gels were scanned and images were analysed using ImageMaster 2D Platinum software version 5 (GE Healthcare, Uppsala, Sweden) for quantification of spot intensities and annotation. The stained protein spots were excised from the 2-D gels, washed, dried and trypsin-digested. Mass spectra were acquired using a Bruker Autoflex MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer. The spectra generated were subjected to the Mascot search engine for identification of peptide sequences. The protein sequence database for STEC O157:H7 genome was downloaded from NCBI to enable Mascot searches.
After three biological replicas, we identified that a total of 28 proteins were differentially expressed between the wild type STEC and the pstC mutant. These included a down-regulation of the intimin (encoded by eaeA) which is an adhesion factor and virulence determinant. Besides, there was also down-regulation of the stress response protein Catalase-Peroxidase and TypA (homologue of BipA), the protein folding factors SlyD (sensitivity to lysis) and peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase B, and also the proteins responsible for metabolic activities including the tryptophanase, Trp repressor-binding protein and glutamine-binding periplasmic protein. On the other hand, the Pho regulon proteins (such as the PhoB and PhoE) were up-regulated.
Our findings showed that pst mutation impaired the expression of intimin, which is an adhesin and virulence factor of STEC, such findings was consistent with our previous observation that pstC mutant had reduced adherence property. Apart from STEC virulence, pst mutation also affected the stress responses of STEC, which might ultimately affected the metabolic activities of STEC.

Associate Professor Dr. NuveePrapasarakul received his graduate degree from Faculty of Veterinary Science, Chulalongkorn University, in 1997 and his Ph.D from Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology in 2003. He was granted the fellowship from Crowford foundation, Murdoch University, Western Australia in 2006. At present, he has been in charge for Head Department of Veterinary Microbiology in his graduated university and for editor of Thai Journal of Veterinary Practitionersince 2009. His research on veterinary microbiological theories, especially diagnosis, pathogenesis and microbial controls for bacteria and fungi has been continually running.

Previously, we have reported on concurrent detection and frequency between Malassezia (M.) pachydermatis and Candida (C.) parapsilosis, associating stage of canine seborrhea dermatitis (SD). Thus, the consequence from co-colonization on skin may enhance their pathogenecity in term of biofilm production and antifungal response. The aims of the study were to characterize the biofilm formation derived from co-colonization between M. pachydermatis and C. parapsilosis, in vitro, and to determine antifungal activities of them. Each of 20 isolates of M. pachydermatis and C. parapsilosis were recovered from healthy (n=10) and SD (n=10) dogs. Genotyping and high level phospholipase production certain pathogenicity were confirmed by intergenic spacer 1 (IGS1) region analysis and semi-quantitative egg-yolk plate. Biofilm production were evaluated by crystal violet assay and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The antifungal susceptibilities against ketoconazole and itraconazole were determined by a broth microdilution method. Biofilm was observed by all single and mixed cultures within 24 hour incubation and had the highest amount within 72 h. There was no association of clinical sign from dog origin. Biofilm produced from the mixed culture was higher than that of single colonization (Pair t-test, P<0.05). The minimal inhibitory concentration values of yeasts with biofilm were much higher than that without biofilm (>530 times). The level of resistance to azole had no any significant difference between sessile and planktonic yeasts producing biofilm. The study suggested a strong production of biofilm from co-colonization of yeast pathogens might enhance a possibility to persist on skin lesion in dogs by their mutual symbiosis and incurable by antifungal treatment.

Hadiatullah was writing as Undergraduate student of Biological studies from Brawijaya University Malang. He has taken “Best Student” of Science Faculty in Brawijaya University 2015. He takes a contration of Microbiology studies with some paper competition related in. And he get some a chievment in the national and international scale of paper competition. Beside of competition, he constantly attand for a seminar in Asia Pasific scale.

xylE gene is the gene encoding Catechol 2,3-dioxygenase which responsible to degrading of aromatic compounds. The objective of this paper to observe the relationship of the Pseudomonas sp. based on amino acid sequence with the potency of degraging crude oil. The method used were collecting amino acid sequence of xylE gen of Pseudomonas sp. which obtained from GeneBank (www.ncbi.nm.nih.gov), analysis of polimorfism obtained by using BioEdit after allignment, The phylogenetic trees were constructed based on protein sequences of xylE gene MEGA5.05 software, The conserved domains of amino acid relationship from 10 kinds of Pseudomonas were identified by using BioEdit software. The phylogenetic tree showed that Pseudomonas putida is similar to Pseudomonas stutzeri and has a close similarity with Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes based on amino acid relationship. The data indicated that Pseudomonas putida shares genetic similarities with Pseudomonas stutzeri, and the both of them probably belong to the same potency of degarading crude oil. Based on the polimorfism site, Pseudomonas mendocina and Pseudomonas veronii have less potency than other Pseudomonas species in degarding crude oil.

Eva Kvasničková (born August 8, 1989) is a PhD student at the University of Chemical Technology, Prague, Faculty of Food and Biochemical Technology, Department of Biotechnology. She is an author or co-author of 1 paper in peer-reviewed international journal (impact 0.604), and 6 papers in conference proceedings.

Biofilms are communities of microorganisms irreversibly adhered to a surface or to each other, which are embedded in an extracellular polymeric matrix. They cause wide range of serious human infections and contaminate medical instruments. The huge difference between the behaviour of sessile cells in biofilm and planktonic cells in suspension is their high resistance against typically used antibiotic. The solution of this problem might be in the treatment of biofilm-associated infections with unusual compounds. Examples of such agents are boranes and their derivatives; 3D cluster inorganic compounds consist of boron, hydrogen, carbon or other elements. Our group of samples include cobalt bis(dicarbollide) anion and its aminoderivatives with potentially pharmacologically usable properties.
This study was focused on the monitoring of antimicrobial activity of cobalt bis(dicarbollide) anion and two cobalt bis-1,2-dicarbollide aminoderivatives on a number of selected opportunistic pathogenic microorganisms involving representatives of yeast, gram-negative bacteria and gram-positive bacteria. The second aim was to investigate the anti-adhesive properties of these substances against gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus epidermidis. The antimicrobial activity was investigated in Biocreen C and the influence of cobalt bis-1,2-dicarbollide aminoderivatives on S. epidermidis microbial adhesion inhibition was determined by crystal violet assay and XTT method (evaluation of metabolic activity). We have proved that selected cobalt bis-1,2-dicarbollide aminoderivatives have significant antimicrobial activity and selectivity against gram-positive bacteria and we also demonstrated their anti-adhesive properties against S. epidermidis.

Cellulose is very common substance in the nature occurring mainly in cell walls of the plants. It is compact polymer consisting from glucose subunits. Due to its composition cellulose is potentially useful as a source of carbon and energy for bacterial fermentation. Unfortunately, lignocellulosic complex is generally very rigid and only a few microorganisms are able of its direct decomposition to the fermentable monosaccharides (predominantly glucose). Known, possible indirect approaches for the lignocellulosic substrate utilization are mainly their enzymatic hydrolysis to fermentable sugars or their gasification into the synthetic gas, also called syngas. The second option is to use cellulolytic microorganisms for direct utilization of cellulose to valuable product (so-called consolidated bio-processing). Unfortunately, all of these three main ways of lignocellulosic utilization have many drawbacks like too high price of process and very low product yields. Here we described system applicable for fast and specific isolation of cellulolytic mesophilic clostridium bacteria. Cellulolytic bacteria are relatively poor-described group of anaerobic bacteria which have a potential in biotechnology. For example, some of them are able to produce ethanol and some strains are secondary metabolites producers.

Hana Raschmanova completed her Master´s degree in the Department of Biotechnology of the University of Chemistry and Technology Prague in 2014 at the age of 24 years. Since 2014, she has been the student of PhD degree at the same institute. She specializes in the research of the Unfolded Protein Response in Pichia pastoris and its relationship to the production of recombinant proteins.

High productivity, safety and the ability to secrete high quality heterologous proteins make the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris a popular microbial host system for the production of recombinant proteins. However, inappropriate process conditions, as well as heterologous protein production itself induce stress in the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum. Consequently, a cascade of signalling processes called the Unfolded Protein Response (UPR) pathway is triggered. Because the pathway results in the decrease of proteosynthesis or even protein degradation, and thus is the main factor affecting protein quantity and quality (cell productivity), it would be of great significance to monitor the UPR-activity directly during a cultivation process. Nowadays, UPR is monitored by time-consuming and expensive methods (PCR, electrophoretic methods). To analyse the state of UPR in a real time, we designed a Pichia pastoris strain in which the UPR-activity was detected by flow cytometry. A green fluorescent protein gene was used as a marker of the activity of six selected upstream regions (i.e. promoters) of the UPR-related genes (PDI, ERO, JEM, SCJ, CAL and BiP). The UPR pathway was induced by dithiothreitol addition and the response of the promoters was evaluated as a fluorescence signal by flow cytometry. BiP1 was assessed as the most suitable promoter for stress monitoring, since the five-fold increase of its activity was observed after the treatment. The BiP1 promoter is currently being characterised. We suggested a promising method straightforward monitoring of the cellular stress, that could be applied to optimize a biotechnological production of recombinant proteins.

Shaheen has completed his PhD at the age of 31 years from Al-Azhar University in applied virology. Shaheen has more than 8 years’ experience in the field of virology. Shaheen published more than 9 papers in peer-reviewed journals. Most of them, Shaheen is the first and corresponding authors. In addition to there are five manuscripts in preparation as first author evolved from PhD dissertation.

Coxsackie virus B3 (CVB3) represents current major threats to public health and considers as an important viral pathogen related to viral myocarditis. We determined the antiviral properties of five extracts of Bauhinia variegate leaves in vitro. The most potent extract was selected to be tested in vivo. In vitro, the cytotoxicity effect of the extracts on GMK cells was conducted by MTT colorimetric assay. The antiviral activity of the extracts was determined in three different ways (virucidal, pre-treatment, and post-treatment) by MTT and 50% tissue culture infectious dose (TCID50) methods. In vivo, after toxicity determination, the antiviral activity of the selected extract using two safe doses was evaluated based on determination of the morbidity, mortality, heart to body weight ratio (HW/BW), activities LDH, AST, and CK enzymes, virus titers, and necrosis in heart tissues in infected mice with CVB3. Our results demonstrated that the all extracts of B. variegata showed antiviral activity against CVB3 in vitro with TI ranged from 0.3 to 22.2 and reduction in virus titers ranged from 0 log10 to 4.75 log10 where the methanolic extract was the most effective against CVB3 infection in vitro. In vivo, the methanol extract was found to be safe at 100 mg/kg body weight and therefor for antiviral evaluation we used 100 and 50 mg/kg body weight as safe doses. Our results suggested that the methaolic extract of B. variegate was significantly reduced the morbidity, mortality, HW/BW, virus titers, necrosis and mononuclear cell infiltration of heart tissues at the both dosages. Also the extract showed the ability to maintain levels of LDH, AST, and CK enzymes at normal level in the treated infected mice compared with those untreated infected mice. This result suggested that the methaolic extract of B. variegata may represent a potential antiviral agent to treatment CVB3 myocarditis.

Microalgae are one of the most important feed sources in aquaculture. However, its high production cost of the culture media, low biomass productivity and low lipid productivity are major obstacles in the industrial scale production. Therefore, the present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of some alternative medium formulas, prepared from local commercial agriculture fertilizers (LCAF) instead of F/2 standard Guillard medium (F/2), on growth and general biochemical composition of Nannochloropsis oculata algae cultured in marine hatcheries as food sources for rotifer. Therefore, the indoor experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of LCAF (nitrogen from urea, U or ammonium nitrate, A and phosphorus (phosphoric acid, P) sources and concentrations(50, 100, 200 and 300% N or P) of F/2 medium contents in 16 treatments on growth (chlorophyll a content (CHL-a), dry weight (DW), cell density (CD), growth rate (GR) and time doubling (TD) and biochemical composition (lipid, protein, carbohydrate, fatty acids, amino acids, and lipid productivity) of microalgae. The results showed the following; 1) the highest significant (P<05) content of CHL-a was achieved by LCAF (A300+P100) treatment (14.57 Pg/106cell) followed by (U300+P200, 14.31 Pg/106cell), and F/2 (14.21 Pg/106cell), while the LCAF (A100+P200) treatment was the lowest (1.65 31 Pg/106); 2) the highest DW and CD values (1.114 g/l and 15.85X106 cell/ml) were achieved by LCAF (U100+P300) treatment, followed by F/2 (1.082 g/l and 14.84X106 cell/ml), while the lowest was LCAF (A100+P200) treatment with DW (0.618 g/l) and CD (5.32X106 cell/ml) respectively; 3) the results showed that there were highly significant differences (P≤0.05) between all treatments in biochemical composition (total lipid, protein, carbohydrate and energy content) of N. oculata. The LCAF (P50+A50) treatment showed highest significant (P≤0.05) lipid percentage (51.22%) and energy content (6550 Cal/g) and F/2 treatment achieved (34.78% and 6556 Cal/g), while LCAF (U100+P300) treatment showed the lowest lipid (25.75%) and energy (4892 Cal/g). Furthermore, A50+P100 achieved the lowest protein (19.61%) and the highest carbohydrates (22.89%), with energy (6164 Cal/g), while the highest protein (39.39%) was obtained from U100+P50 with energy (6102 Cal/g). The lowest carbohydrate (9.66%) was observed in P300+A100 with energy (5884 Cal/g); 4) the saturated fatty acids (SFA) were tended to decrease when cultured under nutrient limitation by LCAF media as compared with F/2 medium. On the other hand, the results showed that the LCAF tended to increase HUFA at the expense of SFA. Under the nutrient limitations, EPA percentage were highly increased (14.62% to 31.57% of total FA) by using LCAF as compared with F/2 control (10.07% of total FA). As well as DHA content increased (5.03% to 7.38% of total FA) by using LCAF, comparing to F/2 (3.26% of total FA). The LCAF (A100+P300) media achieved DHA (2.64%) lower than F/2 control and 5) the amino acids (AA) profile values showed that the most abundant amino acids in N. oculata were glutamic acid, aspartic acid, and valine, which were responsible for more than 40% of total AA percentage.

The high production cost of microalgae remains a constraint to many shrimp hatcheries. Culture media for microalgae should be economical, allow high growth rates, satisfy the needs of the microalgae, and be easy to prepare. Therefore, the present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of some alternative medium formulas, prepared from local commercial agriculture fertilizers (LCAF) instead of F/2 standard Guillard medium (F/2), on growth and general biochemical composition of Chaetoceros calcitrans, the most common species used in marine hatcheries as food sources for shrimp larvae. Therefore, the indoor experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of LCAF (nitrogen from urea, U or ammonium nitrate, A and phosphorus phosphoric acid, P) sources and concentrations( 50,100, 200 and 300 % N or P) of F/2 medium contents in 16 treatments on growth (chlorophyll a content (CHL-a), dry weight (DW), cell density (CD), growth rate (GR) and time doubling (TD) and biochemical composition (lipid, protein, carbohydrate, fatty acids, amino acids, and lipid productivity) of microalgae. The results showed the following: 1) the results showed significant differences (P≤0.05) between all treatment media in CHL-a, CD, µ and TD, while no significant differences (P≤0.05) in DW between all treatment media; 2) the highest significant (P<05) CHL-a content (21.72 Pg/106 cell) and cell density (9.55X105 cell/ml) was achieved by LCAF (A200+P200) treatment, while the LCAF (U50+P300) treatment was the lowest (2.66 Pg/106) and (5.59X105 cell/ml); 3) the results showed that there were highly significant differences (P≤0.05) between all treatments in biochemical composition (total lipid, protein, carbohydrate and energy content) of C. calcitrans. Comparing to F2 Guillard medium (CO), which achieved (11.60%) lipids, (64.98%) protein, and (21.90%) carbohydrates with the highest total energy (5687 Cal/g), the highest significant total lipids percentage were achieved by LCAF treatment A300+P300 (13.49%) with total energy (4969 Cal/g), while the lowest (6.45%) were achieved by LCAF treatment U300+P50 with total energy (5184 Cal/g). Further, the highest significant total protein percentage were achieved by LCAF treatment U300+P200 (68.40%) with total energy (5305 Cal/g), while the lowest (45.40 %) were achieved by LCAF treatment A50+P300 with total energy (4359 Cal/g). Furthermore, the highest significant total carbohydrates percentage were achieved by F/2 control treatment (21.90%) with total energy (5687 Cal/g), followed by LCAF treatment A200+P50 (20.64%) with total energy (5000 Cal/g), while the lowest (12.08%) were achieved by LCAF treatment A100+P300 with total energy (4459 Cal/g); 4) the saturated fatty acids (SFA) were tended to decrease when cultured under nutrient limitation by LCAF media as compared with F/2 medium. On the other hand, the results showed that the LCAF tended to increase HUFA at the expense of SFA and 5) the amino acids (AA) profile values showed that the most abundant amino acids in C. calcitrans were glutamic acid, aspartic acid, and valine, which were responsible for more than 40% of total AA percentage.

Introduction: Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) is a highly resistant opportunistic pathogen and is capable of forming biofilms on medical devices. Bacterial biofilms, which are micro-colonies encased in extracellular polysaccharide material are very difficult to be treated by conventional antibiotics. During the last decade, P. aeruginosa phages have been extensively examined as alternative to antimicrobial agents. The aim of the study was to assess bacteriophage-antibiotic combination on planktonic and biofilm states of P. aeruginosa isolates.
Materials: In this study, we isolated 6 lytic phages from hospital effluents. Phages were tested against 50 P. aeruginosa strains, isolated from different clinical specimens delivered to the Diagnostic Microbiology Laboratories, Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University.
Results: Out of the 50 isolates, 15 were susceptible to these phages. The biofilm producing capacity of these 15 isolates was investigated. The results showed that 14 isolates (93.33%) produced detectable biofilm. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum biofilm eradication concentration (MBEC) assays were used to evaluate the antibiotic sensitivity patterns of these P. aeruginosa isolates in both their planktonic and biofilm phases to Amikacin and Meropenem. Additionally, the effects of phage on the planktonic and biofilm states of isolates at different multiplicities of infections (MOI) were tested. In the planktonic state, the Amikacin-phage combination showed synergistic effect (P=0.001). Similarly, the Meropenem-phage combination showed synergistic effect (P=0.003). In the biofilm state, the Amikacin-phage combination showed biofilm eradication in 50% of the isolates (P=0.003). On the other hand, the Meropenem-phage combination showed biofilm eradication in 14.3% of the strains.
Conclusion: The combination of phage and Antibiotics could have potentially more benefits on P. aeruginosa planktonic and biofilm states than just using phages or antibiotics alone.

Loss of effectiveness of commonly used antibiotics such as penicillin and other β-lactam drugs against MRSA lead to calling for immediate need for improvement in drug design, discovery, and delivery. The application of nanotechnology to drug delivery system is widely expected to change the landscape of pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries for foreseeable future, where nanoparticles represent a very promising approach to this aim. The aim of this work was to assess whether penicillin-bound nanoparticles will display antibacterial activity against MRSA and to determine the bioactivity of penicillin-bound nanoparticles. Staphylococcus aureus isolates were subjected to oxacillin and cefoxitin disc diffusion method, and PCR for detection of mecA gene for identification of MRSA and MSSA isolates. Fifty MRSA and 30 MSSA were selected and further tested. Determination of Penicillin and Penicillin-bound nanoparticles MIC by broth microdilution method was performed. All MRSA isolates were resistant to penicillin using both methods. As for the MSSA isolates, using penicillin-bound nanoparticles, none displayed resistance at a dilution of ≥ 512 µg/ml (0.0%), ten (33%) revealed an MIC of ≥ 16 µg/ml, whereas 7 revealed an MIC of 16 µg/ml. It was observed that 3 isolates (10%) of MSSA turned sensitive to penicillin when performing the MIC broth microdilution test, using penicillin-bound nanoparticles. Though 27 MSSA isolate remained resistant; yet the MIC of penicillin-bound nanoparticles was significantly reduced. In conclusion, penicillin-bound nanoparticles was effective only with MSSA producing penicillinase in reducing MIC of penicillin or even making MSSA sensitive to penicillin. But with MRSA, penicillin-bound nanoparticles gave no effect.

She has completed her Ph.D at the age of 34 years from Alexandria University. She is a lecturer of Microbiology, at Botany and Microbiology, Alexandria University, Egypt She has published about 7 papers in reputed journals.

The present study concerns with the biotreatment of waste water of petroleum refinery. Optimization and statistical evaluation of medium components for four local bacterial strains was investigated for achieving maximum total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) removal efficiency. Morphological and biochemical analysis identified the most active species as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus licheniformis, Bacillus shaericus and Bacillus brevis and 16S rRNA sequencing analysis identified the most potent strain as Pseudomonas aeruginosa KH6 and submitted to GenBank with accession number (KH6 KM194714). Preliminary experiments of crude oil degradation revealed that the bacterial strains gave the highest TPH removal efficiency after 15 days incubation in the presence of crude oil as a carbon source and yeast extract and (NH4)2SO4 as nitrogen sources at 35°C, pH 7 and salinity less than 10 g/l. Present study reported statistical medium optimization for the biodegradation efficiency using Plackett-Burman design. The decreasing in crude oil concentration was significant for maximum biodegradation efficiency for the strains, and the highest removal efficiency was 85.55 % which was obtained by Pseudomonas aeruginosa KH6 at 0.5% crude oil. The optimized media achieved by statistical design raised the removal efficiency for Pseudomonas aeruginosa KH6 reaching 1.17 times higher than that of the control medium. While, the increase in Fe2SO4 factor resulted in an evaluation in the TPH removal efficiency for Bacillus sphaericus. The increase in MgSO4.7H2O factor resulted in an evaluation in the TPH removal efficiency for Bacillus brevis.

Among 22 isolated silver-tolerant strains of Fusarium, six isolates were selected for further studies in respect to synthesizing silver nanoparticles. Both substrate colour change, the characteristic UV-Visible spectra, and plasmon resonance centered around ca. 420 nm were considered as indicators of colloidal silver. The results showed that although all the six investigated fungi displayed the transformation of the medium colour into brownish, only three showed ability to produce extracellular silver nanoparticles. Based on the morphological characteristics and sequence analysis of 18S rRNA, the silver nanoparticles producers were identified as F. oxysporum, F. graminearum and F. solani. The Physical and chemical properties of the synthesized silver nanoparticles were further studied using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), X-ray Diffraction analysis (XRD), and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The results confirmed that the produced particles are elemental silver with a regular spherical shape, smooth surfaces and a dimension range of 5-80 nm. The influence of substrate concentration, pH value, temperature, salinity and incubation time on the production and stability of silver nanoparticles were also investigated. These results suggested lack of implication of silver tolerance by these fungi and the production of metallic silver. The results were also discussed in the context of biotechnological application for microbial production of silver nanoparticles .

Nidal Zabermawi is an Assistant Professor of Applied Microbiology She is currently working At the Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science, King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. She completed her Master degree in Microbiology(Microbial Fermentations) 2006 in King Abdul-Aziz University, Saudi Arabia Jeddah and her PhD in Applied Microbiology 2013 from the same University as well. Her research interests include first study and monitoring of environmental pollutants either organic (pesticides; crude oils…..etc.) or inorganic (e.g. heavy metals…etc) in aquatic environments and contaminated soils. Second, removal of such pollutants using indigenous and /or exogenous microorganisms in free-living or fixed treatment systems.

The present study aimed to investigate Atrazine residues and biodegradation by naturally occurring bacteria in open field and indoor cultures of corn and cucumber and amended with Atrazine. The comparative study employed three soil types {Abu El-Matameer area, El-Behaira Governorate, Egypt (soilM), Hada Al-Shame area, Saudi Arabia (soilH), and El-Sharqia Governorate, Egypt (soilE)}to investigate the relation between the fate of Atrazine in different ecosystems and soil characteristics including the indigenous degraders. In a previous study by the authors, physical, chemical, mechanical and biological properties of soils were characterized with special emphasis on quantitative and qualitative analysis of Atrazine-resistant bacteria from different contaminated soils. This study resulted in isolation and identification of 23 indigenous bacteria and showed quantitative and qualitative variations in soil bacterial populations based on the natural characteristics of the soil and Atrazine concentration. In the field experiment, corn grew well to its full cycle (120 days) in the presence of the Atrazine at its recommended dose (RD). Cucumber plant grew only to its full cycle in the presence of 0.5 X RD of the herbicide in soilE while it did not grow in soilH at any concentration of the tested herbicide. Also no Atrazine residue was detected in any of cucumber fruit. Higher averages of Atrazine residues (0.232 and 0.140 ppm after 25 and 50 days respectively) were detected in soilM during outdoor corn cultivation compared to the residues in the indoor cultivation. However, in the outdoor cultivation Atrazine was not detected after 75 days of its application. During indoor cucumber cultivation much lower Atrazine residue averages were detected compared to residues obtained in the outdoor corn cultivation. Results clearly confirmed that soil characteristics, plant type as well as environmental conditions controlled biodegradation of Atrazine which is reflected by its residues.

Faten Ahmad Al-Sulaimany has obtained her postgraduate studies (PhD and Masters degrees) from King Abdul-Aziz university (KAU henceforth), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. She currently works as an assistant professor at the department of Biology, college of Sciences at KAU. As for her research interests, she is interested in: Micro-Biology, Virology, and Bio-Technology. She has published a number of papers related to the said field. She has also attended a number of conferences, and has been a member of some recognized scientific associations.

Equine influenza virus (EIV) surveillance is important in the management of equine influenza. It provides data on circulating and newly emerging strains for vaccine strain selection. To this end, antigenic characterisation by haemaggluttination inhibition assay (HI) was carried out on 507 equine influenza samples collected in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during 2009 and 2010. 493 samples were isolated that tested positive by haemaggluttination inhibition assay. Samples were also tested by reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) using the matrix primers proved to be the most sensitive methods for the detection of virus.

Jamal M.A Khaled has completed his Ph.D at the age of 35 years from King Saud University in 2010. He is Asst. Prof. of microbiology in Collage of Science King Saud University and Biotechnology department, Thamar University, Yemen. He has published more than 15 papers in ISI journals and one academic book.

Dermatophytes are a scientific label for a group of three genera (Microsporum, Epidermophyton and Trichophyton) of fungus that causes skin disease in animals and humans. Conventional methods for identification of these fungi are rapid and simple but are not accurate comparing to molecular methods. Objective: This study aimed to isolate human pathogenic dermatophytes which cause dermatophytosis in Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia and to identify these fungi by using conventional and molecular methods. Methods: The study was conducted in Medical Complex, Riyadh and King Saud University. Samples of infected skin, hairs and nails were collected from 112 patients. Diagnosis of skin infections, direct microscopic test, isolation and identification of dermatophytes by conventional and molecular methods were carried out. Results: The results indicated that the tinea capitis infection had the highest prevalence among the patients (22.3%) while Tinea barbae had the lowest. In this study the identified dermatophyte isolates belong to nine species as Trichophyton violaceum, Trichophyton verrucosum, Trichophyton rubrum, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Trichophyton schoenleinii, Trichophyton concentricum.

Academic background and qualification: I completed my PhD in Molecular Genetics from University of Guelph, Canada, my MSc in Microbiology from Yarmouk University of Jordan and my BSc in Medical Technology from Jordan University of science and technology, Jordan. I have 15 years full time experience as assistant professor then associate professor of Molecular genetics, teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students as well as supervise research postgraduate students in various fields related to my speciality. Additionally, I have an excellent level of written and spoken English and Arabic, as well as advanced computer skills.
Leadership Interests and academic activities: I was a Dean of Allied Health Faculty at Hashemite University (2007-2012) and my responsibility including overall a management of faculty. Our students mostly female have the option of obtaining a BSc degree in one of the following fields: Medical Laboratory Sciences, Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Radiological medical image. At the graduate level there is available a Master degree in Medical Laboratory Sciences. The Faculty has around 25 Doctorate degree holders in different subjects working at assistant, associated or full professorship. There are also lecturers, teaching and research assistants, lab technicians and administrative assistants that are involved in the teaching and administrative needs of each department. At the graduate level I supervised about 35 graduate master degree students in Medical Laboratory Sciences. In addition to my academic role I voluntary contribute to the development of health services for Jordanian people who live in refugee’s camps and rural communities.
Personal statement: I believe my qualifications, leadership skills and language requirements would be an ideal match to take part in international conferences and meetings. I believe that this role will help me to achieve better my goals in providing and sharing my experiences with international colleagues outside my school as well as at the Global level.

Genetic polymorphisms of Methylentetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) have significant roles in developing diseases including Helicobacter pylori infection. This association may be mediated through vitamin B-12 deficiency. The aim of this study is to determine any relationship between (c.677C>T) mutation of MTHFR gene, vitamin B-12 deficiency and H pylori infection among thrombophilic patients.

A cross sectional study design for 130 patients with pulmonary embolism (PE), deep venous thrombosis (DVT), recurrent abortion from AL Hussein medical city (Amman, Jordan). Laboratory investigations were carried out for vitamin B-12 measurement, H pylori infection (IgG and IgA) and MTHFR (c.677C>T) gene polymorphisms.

This study showed that the frequency of vitamin B-12 deficiency among thrombophilic patients was 15%, 81% were chronically infected, while 38% were acutely infected with H pylori. The frequency of MTHFR (c.677C>T) gene polymorphic: wildtype 41%, homozygous 14%, and heterozygous 45%. There is a significant relationship between H pylori chronic infection and MTHFR (c.677C>T) gene polymorphism among wild type, homozygous and heterozygous patients. All thrombophilic patients with homozygous MTHFR (c.677C >T) were chronically infected with H pylori. No statistical significant relationship between MTHFR (c.677C>T) gene polymorphism and vitamin B-12 level and no statistical significant relationship was observed between the concentration of vitamin B-12 and H pylori infection.

A significant relationship between chronic infection with H pylori and MTHFR(c.677C>T) gene polymorphism. All thrombophilic patients with homozygous MTHFR (c.677C >T) were chronically infected with H pylori.

Margarit Petrosyan has completed her Ph.D at the age of 45 years from Supreme Certification Commission of the Republic of Armenia (of Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia). She is the associate professor and researcher of Yerevan State University, Armenia. She has published more than 40 papers in reputed journals and over 60 participations on scientific meetings. She has supervised many masters and doctoral works.

The growing problem for today is the resistance of microbial strains against different antibiotics. Therefore, looking for new sources of antibiotics, especially of plant origin is of interest. Antibacterial activity of essential oil, purified from aerial parts of Origanum vulgare (growing in different regions of Armenia) during the flowering period was determined against different bacterial strains (Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus WDCM 5233, Gram-negative E. coli VKPM M-17 and ampicillin-resistant E. coli dhpα-pUC18) using the agar diffusion method. Composition of essential oil of O. vulgare was determined by gas chromatography (GC) (Bruker 450-GC (USA)). It was revealed that S. aureus was more sensitive against essential oil of O. vulgare (diameter of bacterial growth, absence zone was 13.0±1.0 mm), whereas the diameter of the growth, absence zone of E. coli was 10.0±1.5 mm. Antibacterial activity of investigated essential oil against resistant strains of E.coli was almost similar to the activity against not resistant strain (diameter of growth absence zone was 11.0±1.5 mm). GC analysis of essential oil showed the presence of about 200 names of different substances. The greatest part of them was different terpenes (β-Caryophyllene-epoxide – 13.3%; β-Caryophyllene-8.2%; ο-Cymene – 5.2%, etc.). Thus, concerning obtained data it is possible to suggest essential oil of O. vulgare as a source of antibacterial substances.

Bifidobacteria play an important role in maintaining human health, and suppress harmful bacteria by controlling the pH of the large intestine. About 14 strains of the Bifidobacteria have been isolated from the faeces of infants nursed exclusively from the maternal milk (their ages less than 5 months) from commercial French yoghurt (active bifidus] and from milk (celia bifidus) on MRS medium (containing 0.05% cysteine-HCl, with nalidixic acid 2 mg m-1). A total of six strain are strict anaerobic and gram-positive. Bifidobacteria, identified as, B. longum (60% of the samples) was the most frequently found species, followed by B. bifidum (21.0%), B. breve (19%). These strains were evaluated for potential use as probiotics based on their adhesion to intestinal epithelial cells, resistance towards acidic (resistance to low pH) and bile conditions. pH values ranging from 6.5 to 7, however, these strains are sensitive to the pH 8, Bifidobacterium are mésophiles with optimal growth at 36 °C to 41 °C. All isolates studied have a fast growth in glucose.

I’m Yahia BELLIL, a Doctorate (in my 3rd years of PhD studies) in Applied Microbiology from Oran University, Faculty of life sciences and nature, department of biology. In my magister studies (3 years after Engineer studies), I was working on the Growth control of Listeria species using bioactive Leuconostoc strains from dromedary milk which was significant, which deserve to be published in Omics journals in 2014. Now in my PhD thesis I’m working on characterization and evaluation of Lactic acid bacteria to control Listeria species using molecular approach (PCR, sequencing, MALDITOF-MS,...) to characterize LAB strains and their metabolites to be used in Biotechnology as bioconservatives to control pathogens bacteria in food. I’ve collaborate in scientific work with Spanish team from Santiago De Compostela University which was published in BioMed Journals in 2013. I’ve participate in different scientific meeting and International congress.

Mainly antibiotics produced by bacteria and fungi are characterized by their enzymatic synthesis. The intensive use of these molecules has led since the 1940s, for the emergence of resistant strains. This potential has led scientists to reconsider how to use antibiotics and to look for other antimicrobial agents, would overcome these resistance phenomena. Lactic acid bacteria such as Leuconostoc mesenteroides produce a wide variety of substances with antimicrobial activity that can be used to control pathogens. In this study 90 isolates of lactic acid bacteria isolated from raw camel milk were identified phenotypically and biochemically to select Leuconostoc strains from other lactic acid bacteria that reveals. Precisely, twelve strains of Leuconostoc mesenteroides, these isolates were tested in order to obtain bacteriocinogenic cultures. A screening of antibacterial activity was carried putative isolates against three pathogenic strains: Listeria innocua ATCC 33090, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538. A description of the response of a pathogen indicator in the presence of extracellular product of selected isolates was performed followed by a kinetic growth of this pathogen. The initial screening was used to select candidates with best potential antagonist; secondary screening allowed retaining 5 bacteriocinogenic Leuconostoc. The growth kinetics of pathogenic indicator strains in mixed culture reveals a significant reduction of antilisterial loads compared to control. These molecules with antagonistic activity against Listeria sp can reduce the problem of bacterial contamination. Likewise antibiotics, target bacteria can mutate and become resistant spontaneously, it is essential to ensure good security against infectious agents.

Khadidja SIDE LARBI, young researcher in the field of biology. She has a diploma of specialized studies in microbiology, a master in microbial biotechnology and health safety at the faculty of SNV, University of mascara / Algeria, and is currently preparing his doctoral thesis in Health Sciences and Technology at the same university. During her studies, she completed various training regarding the use of syrup dates and carob for fermentation of Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus; Isolation and antibiotic susceptibility of resistant pathogens from wastewater after treatment; Antibacterial activity of Marrubium vulgare against wound infections (alternative treatment of antibiotic resistance).

The emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria has become a public health problem at the global level. This problem is of growing concern in hospitals. It is therefore necessary to make use of new active substances. One of the strategies is to explore the medicinal plants. Our interest is focused on Inula viscosa L. this plant is a common in the Mediterranean region including Algeria. It is commonly used in traditional medicine. The antibacterial activity of the methanol extract and essential oils of the aerial part of this plant was evaluated by the methods of diffusion and micro-dilution. The techniques have been applied to eight strains which showed resistant to most antibiotics. The susceptibility tests show that the antibacterial activity varies with the extract concentration and the nature of the germ.

Khaled BOUDJEMA is preparing his PhD at university of Boumerdes, Algeria. He is an assistant-teacher in department of Biology and researcher in research laboratory of food technology at the same university

Cheese whey is by-product of dairy industry. It represents an important environmental problem because of its high volumes produced and high organic matter content. In this study, prehydrolysed cheese whey was utilized as fermentation medium using yeast to produce bioethanol which known currently as an important renewable energy source. At first, the lactose, main sugar in cheese whey, must be enzymatically hydrolysed into fermentiscible sugars glucose and galactose. Then, the yeast strain was isolated from soil and further identified by morphological, physiological, biochemical and molecular characteristics. In addition, the operating parameters of fermentation such as temperature, pH and substrate concentration were optimized. As results, the phenotypic and genotypic data indicated that our isolate strain is belonged to Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Furthermore, the operating parameters of fermentation such as temperature 30, pH 5 and 20 % (w/v) of sugar concentration are considered as optimum values to give best bioethanol production yield.

Asmaa BELMIMOUN was born on July 06, 1989 in Mascara, Algeria. He chooses to study in biology branch for five years. With a successful track career, he finished the five years by getting his graduation of StateEngineer Biology in Food Sciences in July 2011 from the University of Mascara – Algeria- under the theme of: "Contribution to the evaluation of fish’s coproducts."After this, he continue his path until getting his graduation of Master in Biology in specialty of Microbial Biotechnology and Health Safety from the University of Mascara – Algeria- under the theme of “effects of polyphenols extracted honey on Staphylococcus aureusResistant to Methicillin” in July 2012. With a strong will, he continues his studies in the third phase in Ph.D of LMD system.

The problems regarding application of conventional antibiotics,including antimicrobial resistance, environmental problems, can-cerogenity, side effects and high costs, have reinforced a tendencyto replace synthetic antimicrobials with natural alternative agents. Medicinal plants, such as Myrtus communis L. and Zygophyllum album , are a source of new compounds which can be used in both the food industry and for medical purposes, primarily as antimicrobial agents.

Two methods for determining the antimicrobial properties of extracts and essential oils that are the most widely used are agar diffusion method and broth dilution method.

The results are usually presented as values minimal inhibitor concentration (MIC) and minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC), the oils showed considerable activity against most Gram negative and positive bacteria at concentration of 0.5-1,0% (v/v). while the extracts of the two plant (Myrtus communis and zygophyllum album) were effective against some microbial strains with MICs values between 17 and 27 l/ml.

Furthermore, it has been shown that phenylpropanoids antimicrobial activity depends on the type and number of substituents on the aromatic ring, tested microbial strains, and various experimental test parameters, including growth medium and temperature.

Mr. Taha Ahmed BENABBOU, he is a Doctorate (in the 3rd years of PhD studies) in Microbial Engineering in Oran University, Faculty of life sciences and nature, department of Biotechnology. In his engineering studies, he was working on the artificial transformation of E.coli K12 with different DNA plasmids, three years later, received his magister from ORAN University which he was working on Antibiotic resistance of lactic acid bacteria isolated from some dairy products. Currently in his PhD thesis he work on the Molecular characterization of antibiotic resistance gene cluster diffused in the intestinal microbiota of rat using molecular approach (PCR, sequencing,..) to characterize the different antibiotics resistance genes. He was participate in different scientific meeting and International congress. He also has some hobbies like playing chess and walking. He was born in 1986 in Saida, Algeria.

Resistance to antimicrobial drugs (antibiotics) is a common characteristic in the world of bacteria. In the interaction between bacteria, genetic material is transferred from one bacterium to another; Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) colonize the gastrointestinal and urogenital tracts of humans and animals and are present in foods such as dairy products, fermented meats, fruits and vegetables. There is some concern that antibiotic resistance in LAB could then be transferred to possibly pathogenic bacterial species, complicating the treatment of a disease or infection and lead to the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. In order to illustrate the current situation of antibiotic resistance, distinction between intrinsic and atypical resistances, and some of the genetic determinants, this study was conducted. In the first we have established the resistance profile of 51 of lactic acid bacteria strains from the collection of the LBMB (Laboratory of microorganism’s biology and biotechnology), they were tested against 21 different antibiotics. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were measured for five of these antibiotics; curves concordances to tetracycline and doxycycline have clarified diameters for discriminating these antibiotics. Several bacteria have expressed simultaneous resistance to tetracycline, nitrofurantoin, bacitracin and spiramycin. The research of mobile genetic elements has led us to detect two plasmids in lactobacilli contains tetracycline resistance gene. These plasmids, pCHM19 pCHTD29, were transferred by electroporation into an indicator bacteria and tetracycline-resistant transformants were obtained on selective medium. After horizontal transfer of resistance genes carried by these plasmids, the resistance can be expressed in the indicator. The stability of these plasmids in the transformers in the presence or absence of the selected agent varied by case. The expression level of resistance to tetracycline examined in solid medium, varied among clones. Finely lactic acid bacteria may play an active role in the spreading of antibiotic resistance, a series of measures inspired from a principle of precaution should be taken before they are used as commercial starters or probiotic cultures in food products, complemented by a more prudent use of antibiotics in agriculture, veterinary, and human medicine.

Hamza BELKHODJA was born on July 8, 1989 in sig, Mascara, Algeria. He chooses to study in biology branch for five years, two years in common core and the rest of years in specialty of food sciences. With a successful track career, he finished the five years by getting his graduation of State Engineer Biology in Food Sciences specialty Option: Control and Food Quality in July 2011, University of Mascara - Algeria under the theme of: "Contribution to the evaluation of sins’s coproducts."After this, he continue his path until getting his graduation of Master 2 in Biology in specialty of Microbial Biotechnology and Food Safety, University of Mascara - Algeria under the theme of “effects of polyphenols extracted honey on Staphylococcus aureus Resistant to Methicillin” in July 2012. With a strong will, he continues his studies in the third phase in Ph.D of LMD system.

Fish processing is a crucial sector to meet the nutrient needs for humans, but it generates a significant amount of the estimated 50% of total waste. It follows the same time a problem of dumping of waste (co) in different environments which increases environmental pollution and in particular the water environment. As part of our experiment, we try to recycle waste of fishery products (edges, heads and guts .....) by studying the quality of waste sardine to exploit as circles culture for microorganisms such as Lactobacillus and E. coli. To this end, we have developed a culture medium for fastidious bacteria such as lactic acid bacteria. Thus, a culture medium for non-fastidious bacteria such as E. coli. In this case, were prepared universal media (MRS TGEA) say witnesses and other culture media changed we replaced the two media peptones conventional cultures (Lactobacillus MRS and TGEA for E. coli) by isolate obtained from fish waste. Through the physicochemical analyzes, the isolate obtained has a high biological value (rich in essential amino acids). The results indicate that the use of this isolate must be accompanied with other essential elements of culture (vitamin compounds, essential amino acids, minerals, ...) as growth factors to optimize the growth of bacteria involved. This work allowed us to have a recovery method that reduces the risk of pollution caused by discharges of different fish processing industries. So we have contributed to the preservation of our aquatic environment.

Ali Najafi is a Bioinformatist. He completed masters in Molecular Biology and did PhD in Bioinformatics and systems biology at the age of 34 years from Tehran University, Tehran, Iran. At present, he is a researcher in Molecular Biology Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. His research areas are: microarray data analysis, bioinformatics software development, network and pathway reconstruction, and computational complex disease modeling. To date, he has published more than 30 scientific papers.

HCV infection is a prevalent disease with approximately 170 million individuals (3%) chronically infected worldwide. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small (17-23 nucleotides) noncoding RNAs that serve as post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression. Viruses can also encode viral miRNAs to alter host physiology or to influence its replication. The purpose of this study was to predict a novel miRNA encoded by 5'-UTR hepatitis C virus (HCV) genome.
RNA secondary structure prediction tool, Blastn, and multiple sequence alignment tools were used for identify new member of miRNA and its target. In this study, a novel small RNA encoded by 5'-UTR hepatitis C virus (HCV) genome has been predicted that regulated forkhead box K2 (FOXK2) gene.
Predictionally, the small RNA could down regulate a human transcription factor known Interleukin enhancer binding factor (FOXK2) via RNAi pathway in human cells. FOXK2 activates interleukin-2 gene and then induces the human immune responses.
Possibly, HCV interferes with the human immune system by generating viral encoded small RNA to knock down its target the FOXK2 mRNA.

Objectives: Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) are one of the most important etiologic agent of urinary tract infection (UTI). UPEC stains have various types of virulence factors including adhesions, toxins and iron uptake systems. Virulence genes are mainly located on transmissible genetic elements and/or in particular locus on the chromosome called pathogenicity islands (PAI). The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of uropathogenic E.coli strains carrying aerobactin gene recovered from the patients admitted to Baqiyatallah hospital in Tehran, Iran.

Methods: The urine samples were collected from hospitalized patients with UTI admitted to Baqiyatallah hospital, Tehran, Iran from April to October 2014. Standard microbiological and biochemical techniques were used to identify the E. coli strains. Total genomic DNA was extracted using boiling method. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using specific primers were used for detection of virulence gene encoding aerobactin among the strains. The PCR amplicons were visualized after electrophoresis and staining with ethidium bromide.

Results: Fifty E. coli strains were isolated and included in the study. The results obtained from PCR amplification showed that aerobactin gene was amplified successfully with the final size of 602 bp in all stains. The frequency of uropathogenic E. coli strains harboring aerobactin gene was %88.

Conclusion: Our finding indicated that the frequency of uropathogenic E. coli strains carrying aerobactin gene in the study is very high and can pose a threat for spreading of the organism in the hospital.

Mojhgan Sheikhpour has completed her PhD at the age of 35 years from Tarbiatmodaress University Faculty of Biological Sciences, Department of Genetic. Her PhD thesis topic was Evaluation of dopamine gene receptors expression in Non-Small Cell lung cancer patients and pharmacogenetic study of them in order to induction of cell apoptosis. She interested is cancer research and her research efforts are focused on discovering new therapeutic targets and novel drugs for cancer diagnosis, medical management and treatment. She is a member of Genetic society and is teaches and investigates in Tehran university in Iran and has published papers in reputed journals.

Lung cancer is one of the leading cancer-related deaths worldwide. Therapeutic approaches to lung cancer, such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery have been widely used. Nonetheless, because this standard chemotherapy often limited survival benefit due to severe toxicity. Recent reports have been recognized that, herbal drugs, phytochemicals and bacteriochemicals are attractive approaches for lung cancer therapy with little side effects. Furthermore, there are evidences that various metabolite of plants, fungi and bacteria have proven to be useful and effective in sensitizing conventional agents, prolonging survival time, preventing side effects of chemotherapy, and improving quality of lifein lung cancer patients. Streptomyces cope with osmotic stress by accumulating or de novo synthe-sizing of low molecular weight, highly water-soluble organic solutes, so-called compatible solutes or osmolytes. Ectoine, 1,4,5,6-tetrahydro-2-methyl-4-pyrimidine carboxylic acid and its hydroxylated derivative, 5-hydroxyectoine are two of the most commonly found osmolytesin Streptomyces. They typically are synthesized in response to increases in environmental osmolarity . But there are a few documents to demonstrate potential of prevention or therapy of diseases by these groups of substances. In this new research, we investigated antiproliferative action of two compatible solute Ectoine and 5- Hydroxy ectoine on a human lung cancer cell line (QU-DB). QU-DB was treated by five doses of ectoine and also hydroxyectoine at 48h and cytotoxicity effects of these compatible solutes on cultured cell line were demonstrated by MTT assay. Finally, nuclear morphology of cells was monitored by DAPI florescent staining method. It has been demonstrated that not only Ectoine, but also hydroxyectoine inhibited the proliferation of QU-DB in a dose-dependent fashion and both of them had cytotoxic effects on cancer cell line and induced apoptosis in them at concentration ranging between 2mM to10mM. Because compatible solutes are compliant natural products without documented toxic potential, we propose that this group of substances may be used for the treatment of lung cancer in humans instead of traditional chemotherapy.

Background: Enterococcus faecalis normal intestinal flora of humans and one of the causes of nosocomial infections that cause urinary tract infections, endocarditis and menangeditise the ability to form biofilm on surfaces such as catheters, venous catheters artificial heart valves and ocular lenses, the ESP and cylA factors .The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ability of the bacteria in the biofilm formation and detection of virulence factors in clinical isolates of enterococci surface protein and cytolysin and Study of cyla and esp gene expression in Enterococcus faecalis culture in microfluidic conditions.

Material and methods: A total of 54 clinical E. faecalis isolates was collected from hospitals in Ahvaz Ability of biofilm formation was measured by Microtiter plate assay. All isolates were then examined for presence of the ESPand cylA genes . and Study of cyla and esp gene expression in Enterococcus faecalis culture in microfluidic conditions by RealTimePCR method.

Results: The microtiter plate assay results showed that attachment abilities in 4 (7%) strains were strong, oundes.:in 10 (26%) strains were moderate, and in 14 (56%) strains were weak and 5 (11%) strains didn’t form biofilm. The prevalence of the ESP and cylA genes identified by PCR among clinical isolated strains, and the results were 83% and 70.%, respectively. Gene expression in cultured microfluidic system compared with conventional cultivation increased in the laboratory.

Conclusion: Our results suggest different biofilm formation ability in clinical isolated strains of E.faecalis. Biofilm formation on medical devices such as intravascular catheters, artificial heart valves and ocular lenses can increase antibiotic resistance and cause many health problems. Increased expression of virulence genes in simulated body microfluidic system symptoms increase the risk of bacteria in the body compared to what we see is a laboratory environment.

Gholam Khodakaramian has completed his Ph.D at the age of 33 years from Tarbiat Modarres University, Faculty of Agriculture in Tehran, Iran and postdoctoral studies from Hiroshima University, Graduate School of Advanced Sciences of Matter, Higashi-Hiroshima, Japan. He is faculty member and head of the Department of Plant Protection at Bu-Ali Sina University. He is working on the identification, genetic diversity, pathogenicity and biocontrol of plant pathogenic bacteria. He has published more than 60 papers in some reputed international and local journals and serving as an editorial board member of the agricultural biotechnology journal which publish by Bu-Ali Sina University.

Several Streptomyces species are reported from the potato growing area in the world which cause potato scab diseases. Pathogenicity genes of them are nec1 and thaxtomin biosynthesis genes including txtA, txtB, txtC and txtD and the main produced phytotoxins are thaxtomin, concanamycin and a compound named as FD-981. As potato scab disease is an important disease in Iran, samples which shown scab symptoms including raised, netted and deep or shallow-pitted lesions collected from the main potato fields. The causative agent Streptomyces strains were isolated, which they were very heterogeneous belong to four main groups: S. scbies, S. acidiscabies, S. turgidiscabies and Streptomyces sp. They were pathogenic on potato, parsnip, horseradish, carrot and some other tested plants. Raised and netted potato scab-inducing strains produced thaxtomin determined by thin layer chromatography, but this phytotoxin could not be detected in the pitted lesion-inducing strains. Selected strains were examined for the presence and situation of the pathogenicity related genes as they induced variable disease symptoms under field and greenhouse condition. Pulsed field gel electrophoresis technique revealed that most of the tested strains carried a linear plasmid. Amplification of the pathogenicity gene fragments and Southern hybridization analysis showed that only some tested trains harbor nec1 and txt genes. A total of 20 representative strains was grown in modified oatmeal medium and extracted with ethyl acetate. It was shown that some strains produced pathogenicity compound (s) other than thaxtomin which induced pitted lesion on potato tuber slice.

Introduction: Salmonella enteritidis is the most isolated strain from poultry products that caused some healthy problems as a human pathogenic bacterium.Chicken meat and egg are two important sources of Salmonella enteritidis infection. This study was conducted to detected Salmonella enteritidis in poultry products using culture and PCR method.
Materials and Methods: In this study a total of 300 samples, including 240 samples from chicken meat and 60 samples from eggshell, were collected from Qom. After biochemical tests, specific primers (ST11,ST14) for salmonella was used to identify genus of Salmonella. The presence of sefA, sef14, sef17, sef21 genes, through PCR method Salmonella serovar enteritidis was confirmed. Also, antibiotic susceptibility was determined base on standard method of agar disc diffusion.
Result: Twenty four samples were identified as Salmonella genus. Between them, 14 isolates were positive for sefA gene and were identified as Salmonella enteritidis species. The 12(%85.7) isolates of Salmonella enteritidis were collected from chicken meat and 2(%14.3) isolates were collected from eggshell. Also, the most of resistance to antibiotics were observed against Doxycycline and Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. All of samples were sensitive to Ciprofloxacin, Ceftriaxone, Ceftazidime, Cefotaxime and Imipenem.
Conclusion: The result of this study showed that further monitoring of poultry products are needed in Qom. Also PCR is a sensitive and rapid method for detection of Salmonella enteritidis in food.

I graduated from Tehran university of Medical Sciences on 18 Feb 2011 for Ph.D degree in medical mycology. I am a faculty member of Golestan University of Medical Sciences. Mycotoxin analysis and mycotoxin producing fungi is my interest field of study.

Effective and widespread photo catalytic techniques are being developed for applications including disinfection, water cleaning, air pollution, pharmaceutical and food industry, biological and environmental problems. Since the structural and chemical composition of the spores of gram positive bacteria is rough and provisionally non fertile, so the resistance vary a vast range of chemicals and pathogenic that live in soil and water, to UV light are 5 to 50 times more than their vegetative cells. Due to the antibacterial activity of UV light and photo-catalysts such as (TiO2) titanium dioxide, TiO2/UV, They are being examined for viable inactivation of wide range of harmful microorganisms and providing as a treatment of pathogenic bacteria. Material and Methods: In this study the photocatalytic deactivation of two fungiʼs spores (Aspergillus parasiticus, Candida albicans) and spore of bacteria (Bcillus subtilis, Bacillus cereus) were investigated by using Tio2 NPs (0.1-2 g/L) and UV light in a reactor. The results: The activity of UV and TiO2 increased with exposure time to 2 hours. TiO2 alone did not show significant antibacterial and antifungal activity. Conclusion: These results showed that the quantity of sterilization could be affected by the type of catalyst, exposure time, UV wavelength and average nanoparticle size and the photocatalytic disinfection against spore species were mainly effective in UV-C and the rate of inactivation improved by the presence of TiO2 NPs and increasing the exposure time. These particles could be used as a significant fungicide and bactericide in agricultural applications and food industry.

Amir Reza Niknejad is a student from Microbiology field. He started research with his father when he has 6 years old. He won two Jabber -hayyan Prize (Science Congress for student in Iran) in 2013 and 2014. He has interests in cultivation fungi from the wood of trees. Isolation metal tolerated bacteria from the environment and sewage is his new research in progress.

Introduction: Petroleum hydrocarbons contain a complex mixture of compounds which can be categorized for simplicity into four fractions: saturates, aromatics, resins (N, S, O) and asphaltene . In recent years leakage gasoline from underground storage tank primarily from the automobile service station and pipelines has been exceeded. Many microorganisms are also known to degrade a wide range of aromatic compounds. This research will finally help in bioremediation studies to remove oil contamination areas in an affected environment by the use of bacteria strains. Bioremediation in the form of adding microorganisms to affected areas will play an important role in the future as environmentally safe and cost-effective response to oil pollution.

Materials & Methods: Seven soil samples from gasoline and automobile service station were selected in Gorgan, North of Iran. Soil suspension were prepared and inoculated to screening media containing oil, Zylene and Benzene. Bacteria was isolated after growth on media containing 3,5,7 % Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH). Identification of bacteria was well done with conventional methods.

Results: Bacillus sp. was the most predominant bacteria that grows in 7% Zylene and Benzene, and 5% oil. Further work is continuing.

Conclusion: With the understanding of the variation of bacteria hydrocarbon degradation in the laboratory experiments, it would be possible to increase strategies for using vital bacteria or cell wall and metabolites for the removal of hydrocarbons from contaminated areas before they extend to other sites. The results will also show that soil contains a healthy indigenous bacterial population capable of supporting bioremediation.

Vinod Kumar Gupta obtained his PhD degree in 1979 and presently holding the position of Professor of Chemistry Department, at Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee. He worked as a post-doctoral fellow at University of Regensburg, Germany, in 1993 as an EC fellow and was DAAD visiting professor at University of Chemnitz and Freie University of Berlin in 2002. His research interests include chemical sensors, waste water treatment, environmental and electro analytical chemistry. Dr. Gupta is an elected Fellow of the World Innovation Foundation (FIWF) since July 2004 and Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences (FNASc) since 2008.

The adsorption potential of a nonliving alga Nostoc comminutum for the removal of hazardous dyes from aqueous solutions was assessed. The algal biomass in its native form exhibited the highest dye removal efficiency at a pH of 1 and at a contact time of 50 min. The effect of various chemical pre-treatment was studied in order to assess the role of surface chemistry and the underlying mechanism. Combined with Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) studies, it was concluded that the carboxylic and amine groups played a dominant role in the dye binding process. pH studies further revealed that besides the electrostatic mechanism, other physical interactions might be operative, which is also revealed from the Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) isotherm model. Kinetic studies indicated that the adsorption process followed the second-order kinetics and particle diffusion mechanisms were operative. Thermodynamic studies revealed that the adsorption of two dyes onto the algal biomass was feasible, spontaneous, and exothermic under the studied conditions. Microwave irradiation was proposed as a green method for the regeneration and reuse of the biomass. A 16% loss in the regeneration efficiency of the biosorbent was observed, which reveals its stability and reuse potential. Column experiments with real textile wastewater established the practicality of the developed system. Finally, a comparative study revealed the efficacy of the biosorbent with other previously reported biosorbents for dye removal.

The extensive use of cyanide poses a serious threat to ecosystem. Remediation of cyanide contaminated water bodies using microorganisms is becoming a popular alternative over chemical and physical methods of cyanide detoxification. The objective of the present study is to develop a microbial consortium using three bacteria for effective degradation of simulated cyanide wastewater. Three bacterial isolates namely Enterobacter sp. RL2a, Serratia marcescens RL2b and Achromobacter sp. RL2c which were isolated from different soil samples were grown together in minimal medium (pH 6.0). In vitro cyanide degradation was studied for various parameters viz. temperature, innoculm volume, pH and cyanide concentration using three bacteria in various combinations. Response surface methodology (RSM) approach was used for optimization of reaction conditions for cyanide degradation using 4 mg/ml microbial consortium. The effect of different variables on cyanide degradation was studied using plackett-burman design and central composite design. The predictions of the RSM were validated by performing degradation of cyanide at given set of conditions. The consortium developed in the present study could degrade 99 % of 25 mM cyanide in simulated wastewater and tolerate 30 mM at 30o C and pH 6.0. Response surface methodology approach resulted in 1.5 fold increase in cyanide degradation. Removal of cyanide from waste water using combination of microorganisms proved to be a better approach. The consortium have shown high rate of degradation and tolerance for cyanide as compared to previous reports on microbial degradation of cyanide.

Rashmi Kumari has obtained her Master’s Degree in Zoology from Department of Zoology, University of Delhi. Presently she is pursuing her Doctoral degree in Molecular Biology at Department of Zoology, University of Delhi. Her Doctoral research focuses on the Genetic Manipulation of rifamycin biosynthetic gene cluster of Amycolatopsis mediterranei S699 for production of rifamycin analogues.

The genus Amycolatopsis comprises a large group of medicinally and commercially important Gram positive filamentous bacteria. They are prolific producers of a large number of biologically active compounds viz. antibiotics, anticancer agent, immune suppressant etc. Although genomes of species belonging to genus Amycolatopsis have been sequenced but these have not been analyzed. This study focus on the intra and inter-generic comparative genomic analysis of 24 Amycolatopsis strains with emphasis on phylogeny, functional attributes and secondary metabolite producing ability. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence, Average Nucleotide Identity and ribosomal genes were in consensus with each other and these strains clustered in four distinct groups based on the biosynthetic gene clusters they harbour. All strains of A. mediterranei were 99.9% similar and cluster together with A. rifamycinica (92.51%) and A. vancoresmycina (91.52%) as they also harbour the rif PKS cluster. Phylogeny revealed a major drawback in classification of four A. orientalis strains based on their ANI values and need to be reclassified in order to generate proper phylogenetic assessment of genus Amycolatopsis. Functional analysis revealed the two-component system for gene expression was highly abundant in all the strains along with ABC transporters. Detailed analysis led to construction of a novel rifamycin biosynthetic gene cluster in A. rifamycinica which differed by 10% at nucleotide level from rif biosynthetic gene cluster of Rifamycin B producer A. mediterranei S699. In conclusion, this study revealed the genetic key components of genus Amycolatopsis and provided an insight into secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters across different species.

Priya Singh has obtained her Master’s Degree in Zoology from Department of Zoology, University of Delhi. Presently working as a Junior Research Fellow in Molecular Biology Laboratory, Department of Zoology. Her doctoral research focusses on “Genetic manipulation of Amycolatopsis mediterranei S699 for production of Rifamycin analogs”.

Rifamycin B is produced by an actinobacterium Amycolatopsis mediterranei S699. Semi-synthetic derivatives of rifamycin B (rifampicin or rifampin, rifabutin, rifaximine, rifapentine and rifalazil) are used for the treatment of tuberculosis (TB), leprosy and AIDS related mycobacterial infections. But none of these is effective against Multi Drug Resistant-TB (MDR-TB). This raised the need to develop novel rifamycin B analogs and corresponding derivatives to combat MDR infections. However, due to the chemical complexity of the rifamycin B further chemical modifications are not possible. An alternative approach to modify the rifamycin B backbone is combinatorial biosynthesis by manipulation of the Rifamycin Polyketide Synthase (rifPKS) gene cluster in the producer strain itself. Thus acyltransferase (AT) domain of the sixth module (AT6) of rifPKS (which adds propionate unit to the growing polyketide chain) was swapped with AT domain of the second module (AT2) of rapamycin PKS (rapPKS) (adds acetate unit) in A. mediterranei S699. The resulting mutant produced 24-desmethylrifamycin B lacking pendant methyl group at C-33 of the rifamycin skeletal structure. It was confirmed using NMR and LC-MS studies. The analog was further converted to 24-desmethylrifamycin S & 24-desmethylrifampicin that showed better antibacterial activity than rifampicin against MDR strains of M. tuberculosis. Based on this proof of concept further manipulations of other domains (AT5, AT7, AT8, DH9 & DH10) are being carried out for production of more rifamycin analogs for biological and pharmaceutical applications. Biography Priya Singh

Introduction : A retrospective analysis of microsurgical experience of lateral and anterior third ventricular tumors by a single surgeon is presented. Material and Methods : Three hundred ventricular lesions, 207 anterior third ventricular and 93 lateral ventricular, were operated by the senior author between 1987 and 2013. These were mostly primary intraventricular lesions. 87% of the third ventricle lesions were benign as was most of the lateral ventricular lesions. Colloid cyst (146 cases) was the commonest 3rd ventricular lesion and neurocytoma (24 Cases) the commonest lateral ventricular tumor. Results : While the majority of the third ventricular tumors were operated by the transcallosal route, the transcortical was the preferred route for lateral ventricular tumors. Following transventricular entry there were four options to the third ventricle, transforaminal, interforniceal, subchoroidal and subforniceal suprachoroidal. Our preferred route is the transforaminal followed by subforniceal suprachoroidal; the later was first time developed and reported in the literature by the author in 1994. The approaches to the lateral ventricle are more varied and was dependent on the location of the lesion. In general, shunts were not inserted in benign lesions. The approach was microsurgical with endoscope assistance in the majority of the cases. Pure endoscopic approach was used only in a few. The operative outcome was excellent in 90 percent of cases. There has been only 1 operative mortality in the early part of the series. Conclusions : The majority of the intraventricular lesions are benign and eminently treatable by microsurgery with excellent results.

I am currently pursuing my Ph.D at Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi. I have published four research articles, one review article in peer reviewed journals and have also filed one patent.

Biological control of phytopathogenic fungi continues to inspire the research and development of environmentally friendly bioactive alternatives. A fungal antagonist isolated from Loktak Lake, Manipur, India, designated as Streptomyces exfoliatus MT9 was characterized and identified on the basis of fatty acid methyl ester and 16S rRNA gene analysis. The strain MT9 showed strong and broad spectrum antagonism towards tested fruit-rotting fungi. The antagonist MT9 secretes three vital fungal cell-wall lytic enzymes i.e. chitinase, β-1,3-glucanase and protease along with low molecular weight antifungal secondary metabolite i.e. siderophores. In addition, extracellular fluid and its organic solvent extract also exhibited potential antagonism towards tested fruit-rotting fungi. Antifungal metabolite(s) were characterized as polyene in nature.

Systematics is a basic discipline behind the microbiological science. It provides a solid framework for the classification, nomenclature and identification of microorganisms. Starting from olden times, a number of methods introduced for natural species identification. Old microbial taxonomical system heavily relied on morphological and physiological features. Later, modern schemes have introduced to study genetic relatedness using DNA, RNA and protein sequences. A combined technique has developed using the olden and modern system called polyphasic taxonomy or polyphasic identification. This approach includes phenotypic data (e.g. biochemical tests), chemotaxonomic data (e.g. fatty acid composition), genotypic data (e.g. DNA-DNA hybridization) and phylogenetic information (e.g. rRNA gene sequences). For describing new species, one needs to show phenetic and genomic unity among the members of the new species and to find a diagnostic phenotype that distinguishes a given species from its closest relatives. Notably DNA–DNA hybridization values of less than 70% identity provide the threshold for the description of novel species. Today, DNA-DNA hybridization (DDH) and sequencing are the keystones of prokaryotic taxonomy. According to IJSEM, until now there are 2,300 bacterial names in the approved list. Most of them reported in rest of the countries (e.g. Japan, China, Germany etc.). To conserve and catalogue our microbial diversity an economically feasible and highly efficient techniques must be developed.

Muhammad Irfan is doing PhD from department of microbiology Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad Pakistan. He also got a split scholarship from Tubitak and did his research from karadeniz technical university turkey.

Efficient degradation of plant polysaccharides requires xylanolytic enzymes with a high catalytic capacity. In this study, Proline sequence was fused with a C-terminal of xylanase gene from GthC5Xyl.To determine its function, both GthC5Xyl and GthC5XylProl were expressed in Escherichia coli Bl21 host. The C-terminal oligopeptide had significant effects and simultaneously broadens the Optimal Temperature and pH Ranges and improves the specific activity of GthC5Xyl. Compared with GthC5Xyl, GthC5XylProl exhibited improved specific activity, a higher temperature optimum (70°C versus 60°C), Higher pH optimum (8 versus 6), and broader ranges of temperature and pH optima (pH 6.0 to 9.0 and 60°C to 80°C versus pH 5 to 8 and 40°C to 60°C). The modified enzymes showed 85% of maximal activity after incubating in xylan substrate for 3 h at 80°C compared to only 45% activity for wild-type enzyme. Moreover. This study reveals an engineering strategy to improve the catalytic performance of enzymes. Our study demonstrated that properly introduced proline residues on C-terminal surface of xylanase family might be very effective in improvement of enzyme thermostability.

Our environment іs a rich source of microorganisms іncludіng bacterіa and fungі that can produce sіgnіficant bioactive compounds (BaCs). These microbes have been shaping their environment and thus the earth's biosphere for billions of years through an enormous range of BaCs. These days as a result of far-reaching research, the study of microbial BaCs is recognized as an essential component of natural products chemistry and as well as they are considerable envіronment frіendly compounds which have various іndustrіal and agricultural applications. Іn Pakistan the knowledge regarding the іndіgenous microbes capable of producing BaCs is in very early stages. Our purpose of this study was to screen two microbes CMGN122 and CMGN370 isolated from Sindh, Pakistan for production of BaCs and their genes. Biological screening samples from microbial fermentation extracts were obtained after optimizing growth conditions and extraction procedures that capture BaCs produced. Column chromatography (CC) and TLC were used for isolation, compound identification and structure elucidation was done by different techniques of NMR and Mass Spectrometry. CMGN122 identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa (GenBank Accession No. JN969597), was found to produce three different Phenazine compounds and pyrroloquinoline quinone (Pqq). CMGN370 identified as Candida sp. (GenBank Accession No. JN969598) showed production of two compounds Daidzein and N-(5-Acetylamino-pentyl)-acetamide. Genes for phenazines and PqqC were isolated and amplified.

Muhammad Farooq Baig has completed his MBBS at the age of 23 years from Dow Medical College, University of Karachi and Mphil Medical Microbiology at the age of 33 years from BMSI (Basic medical science institute) JPMC ,University of karachi, Pakistan. He is working as Aisistant professor of Pathology/ Microbiology at Muhammad Medical college Mirpurkhas sindh. He has published more than 6 papers in reputed journals.

Objective: To detect H. pylori antigen in stool and to determine the diagnostic accuracy of H. pylori stool antigen. Design: Comparative analytical study. Setting: This study was carried out at Pakistan Medical Research Council (PMRC), at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi from May 2006 to September 2006. Material & Methods: Endoscopic biopsy specimens were collected for rapid urease test and histopathology examination. Stool samples were taken for detection of antigen of Helicobacter pylori. The stool antigen test is a rapid immuno-assay based on “lateral flow chromatography technique” using monoclonal antibodies for qualitative detection of Helicobacter pylori antigen in human stool. Result: Fifty males and 50 females were selected for this study by non-probable purposive sampling technique. Their mean age was 39 years ranging from 15 to 55 years. The sensitivity and the specificity of Helicobacter pylori stool antigen test (HPSA) with rapid urease test was found to be 89.1% and 92.6% respectively and the sensitivity and specificity of HPSA test with histopathology was 92.8% and 89.6% respectively. Conclusion: Helicobacter pylori stool antigen (HPSA) is an accurate easily carried out in routine laboratory and is non-invasive.

Exposure to pathogenic microorganisms can occur via drinking water associated with faecal contamination; seafood from wastewater contaminated rivers or fresh produce irrigated or processed with contaminated water. Frequent disposal of untreated or poorly treated wastewater effluent remains a major source of surface water pollution particularly in developing countries. The current study attempted to detect and quantify the prevalence of human adenovirus (HAdV) and faecal indicator bacteria (FIB) in the discharged effluents of two selected wastewater treatment facilities in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Wastewater samples were collected monthly from the final effluents tanks and the points of discharged of the final effluents into the receiving watershed for twelve months (September 2012 to August 2013). Forty eight samples were collected in all. Detection and quantification of HAdV was done using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) while the detection and enumeration of FIB (including faecal coliforms and Escherichia coli) was done using standard membrane filtration techniques (MF). HAdV was detected in 87.5% (42 out of 48) wastewater samples with concentration ranging from 8.4 × 101 genome copies (GC)/litre to 1.0 × 105 GC/litre. Presumptive FIB counts ranged between 0 and 2.7 × 104 CFU/100 ml for faecal coliforms and between 1 and 1.2 × 105 CFU/100 ml for E. coli. Lack of correlation between FIB counts and HAdV concentrations highlights the inadequacy of using FIB as surrogate for enteric virus assessment in water system. The outcome of this study suggest a need for proper monitoring of wastewater treatment plants to ensure that pathogenic microorganisms including enteric viruses of public interest are properly inactivated by disinfection before treated wastewater effluents are released back into environment.

A bioflocculant-producing bacterium, isolated from sediment samples of marine environment in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa demonstrated a flocculating activity above 60% for kaolin clay suspension. Analysis of the 16S ribosomal deoxyribonucleic acids (rDNA) nucleotide sequence of the isolate in the GenBank database showed 99% similarity to Bacillus toyonensis strain BCT-7112 and was deposited in the GenBank as Bacillus toyonensis strain AEMREG6 with accession number KP406731. The bacteria produced bioflocculant (REG-6) optimally in the presence of glucose and NH4NO3 as the sole carbon and nitrogen source respectively, initial medium pH of 5 and Ca2+ as the cation of choice. Chemical analysis showed that purified REG-6 was glycoprotein mainly composed of polysaccharide 77.8% and protein 11.5%. It was thermally stable and had strong flocculating activity against kaolin suspension over a wide range of pH 3-11 with relatively low dosage requirement of 0.1 mg/ml in the presence of Mn2+. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) revealed the presence of hydroxyl, carboxyl and amide groups preferred for flocculation. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that bridging was the main flocculation mechanism of REG-6. The outstanding flocculating performance of REG-6 holds great potential to replace the hazardous chemical flocculants used in water treatment.

B.Sc. (Hons) Microbiology (1983), Calabar, Nigeria; advanced to Ph.D. (1987) by Graduate School Board and Senate of the University of Calabar following his excellent performance in M.Sc. course work examinations. Obtained Ph.D. in 1992 by course work and Thesis. Professor of Environmental and Public Health Microbiology (2004); Head, Department of Microbiology (2001-2006). Elected Dean, Faculty of Science (2008-2010). Re-elected Dean (UNOPPOSED, 2010-2012). Member of 10 learned societies including the Nigerian Society for Microbiology and American Board of Research Advisors. He has more than 51 scientific publications in reputable national and international journals with high impact factor. Consultant Environmental and Public Health Microbiologist (Since 1998) and Litigation Expert Witness on crude oil pollution matters (Since 2000). He has attended more than 22 Scientific Conferences. Member, Senate Appeals Committee. Elected Senate Representative, Board of School of Continuing Education and Governing Board of College of Health Sciences. Editorial Board member and Editor-in-Chief to some reputable Journals in Nigeria. He is married with 5 children.

The microbiological, biochemical changes and biogas production during composition of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch (OPEFB) for 42 weeks were studied using standard analytical procedures. The nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, carbon-nitrogen ratio, heavy metals and proximate composition were also assayed. The results revealed abundance and heterogeneity in genera and species of heterotrophic bacteria and fungi which included Micrococcus luteus, Klebsiella aerogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus megaterium, Absidia repes, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus glaucus, Fusarium oxysporium, Mucor haemalis, Helminthosporium satiuum, Saccharomyces uvarum and Candida pseudotropicalis. Mean aerobic and anaerobic bacterial densities ranged from 2.9 x 105 to 5.0 x 105 cfu/g and 2.7 x 105 to 4.7 x 105cfu/g respectively while fungal densities ranged from 3.3 x 105 to 7.4 x 105cfu/g. Successional studies revealed primary colonizers of the compost comprised both bacteria (29.6%) and fungi (66.7%) with a pH range of 7.8 to 8.5.The results also revealed high levels of heavy metals ranging from 8.78 to 0.19mg/I for iron, 4.80 to 0.48mg/I for sodium, 2.79 to 0.08mg/I for calcium, 2.53 to 0.40mg/I for zinc, 2.41 to 0.07mg/I for cadmium, 2.23 to 0.20mg/I for lead and 1.89 to 0.22mg/I for copper. The high level of Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium (NPK) ranged from 1.62 to 0.10mg/I, 11.33 to 0.17mg/I and 8.66 to 0.11mg/l respectively while proximate compositional studies showed varying levels of carbohydrate (76.53% to 23.94%), protein (10.15% to 0.68%), lipids (0.54% to 0.48%), ash (8.00 % to 43. 90%), fiber (4.78% to 31.00%), moisture (63.00% to 63.55%) and organic matter (92.00% to 56.10%) respectively, with a positive correlation (p<0.05) in ash and fiber content over time. Anaerobic digestion of 2,750g of the OPEFB yielded biogas in the range of 0.035m3 to 0.035m3. The results underscore the use of OPEFB as organic fertilizer and suggest additional value as a good source of renewable energy rather than waste in developing countries.

The drinking water and leachate samples from dumpsite of rural settlement of Ekiti North Senatorial district, Ekiti State, were subjected to bacteriological and physiochemical analysis using standard microbiological techniques and Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry method. The mean of total bacterial, coliform and enterococcal count ranged from 0.1 x 105 CFU/mL to 13.9 x 105 CFU/mL; 0.1 x 105 CFU/mL to 7.2 x 105 CFU/mL and 0.1 x 105 CFU/mL to 6.3 x 105 CFU/mL respectively for water samples; and 14.6 x 107 CFU/mL to 24.2 x 107 CFU/mL; 11.7 x 107 CFU/mL to 28.3 x 107 CFU/mL and 13.4 x 107 CFU/mL to 34.9 x 107 CFU/mL respectively for leachate samples. Escherichia coli had the highest percentage occurrence of (34%) while Klebsiella spp had the least percentage occurrence of (1%). Only 6 - 33% and 0-18% of Gram positive and Gram negative isolates were respectively resistant to ofloxacin but all the isolates were resistant to other antibiotic at varying percentages. A little above half (54%) of the total isolates exhibited multiple antibiotic resistance some of which posses plasmids with very high molecular weight varying between 4.361Kbp and 23.130Kbp. Physicochemical and metal concentration of the water samples ranged as follow: temperature (25 - 27oC), pH (6.25 - 6.70), dissolved oxygen (12.19 - 18.29mg/L), conductivity (114 - 206µhoms/cm), turbidity (0.69 - 1.01NTU), acidity (10 - 14mg/L), alkalinity (25 - 60mg/L), biochemical oxygen demand (0.62 - 11.18mg/L), hardness (6 - 80mg/L), total suspended solid (0.87 - 0.98mg/L), chloride (18 - 86mg/L), magnesium (88 - 384mg/L), calcium (7.82 - 8.91mg/L), sodium (10.96 - 11.35mg/L), potassium (15.99 - 16.18mg/L), iron (0.19 - 0.44mg/L), zinc (0.02 - 0.23mg/L), lead (0.01 - 0.02mg/L), cobalt (0.02 - 0.04mg/L) and cadmium (0.001 - 0.01mg/L). The temperature of the leachate ranged between 34 and 34.2oC, pH was between 6.3 and 7.1, zinc and lead ranged between 0.02 and 0.04 while cadmium was between 0.01 and 0.02. There were no traces of copper and cobalt detected in any of the samples. This study showed that most of the water samples in Ekiti-North senatorial district are unfit for drinking and domestic use hence should be treated prior to usage.

Dr. P.Ashok Kumar, Reader in Microbiology is currently the Director for Division of General Studies, Sokoto State University who holds Phd in Marine Biotechnology (Microbiology Interdisciplinary). Dr. P.Ashok Kumar got Best Oral Presentation Award in the 2nd International Conference on Biotechnology, held at University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. Dr. P.Ashok Kumar was the Convener for National Conference on “Challenges in Biochemical Engineering – G e n o R e a c ‘0 9 (MOES and CSIR Sponsored) during 16th and 17th April 2009. Dr. P.Ashok Kumar holds the Global Outreach Membership in American Society for Microbiology (ASM). Dr.P.Ashok Kumar was one among the active participants in the 6th International Workshop on “Application of Advanced Molecular Methods for Diagnosis of Human Genetic Diseases” organized by National Institute of Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology and International Centre for Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology, held at Tehran, Iran, during 13th May to 16th May, 2008. Dr.P.Ashok Kumar was invited to deliver a lecture in The Annual International Conference on World Health and Asian Traditional (WHAT) Medicine, at Tropical Botanics SDN BHD, Kaula Lampur, Malaysia, 19-20th June 2009. Dr.P.Ashok Kumar represented The ASTU, Ethiopia for the Royal Society of Chemistry - PACN Congress on Agricultural Productivity, Water and Waste, United Nations Conference Centre, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2012.

Wide and uncontrolled usage of antibiotics has made the pathogens to become resistant to currently used antibiotics. There is an urgent need for development of a new drug or a highly active molecule for controlling antibiotic resistant strains. In this study 32 strains of Actinomycetes were isolated and subjected to primary screening by giant colony method against Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Aeromonas hydrophilia. The secondary screening was carried out by fermentation process. Antibacterial activity was evaluated by well plate method. The extract of isolates was subjected to well plate method against pathogenic bacteria. B. subtilis and E. coli was highly inhibited by R1 isolate. Other isolates showed limited inhibition of bacteria. The R1 isolate was mutated by UV irradiation. The mutants differed from the wild parent in reduced growth rates, changes in the shape and size of the colony, sporulation level, antibiotic activity and variation in the color of the mycelium. Bacillus subtilis and E. coli was highly inhibited by AK1 isolate. Comparatively the zone of inhibition was higher with Actinomycetes AK1 inoculated plates. The secondary metabolite production was enhanced by UV mutagenesis when compared to wild type. Actinomycetes may produce different molecule that can inhibit different types of pathogens, however efforts like strain development can be done to produce new bioactive components against multidrug resistant bacteria.

In an attempt to evaluate the safety in consumption of suya within the people of Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria, 20 samples of suya were collected from 10 different suya spots in Ado Ekiti. The total bacteria counts varies according to each of the sample, in which suya sample collected at Atikankan area has the highest value of bacteria count of 2.85 x 105 CFU/ml. The least bacteria count was recorded in sample F (Basiri sample) with 9.8 x 104 CFU/ml. On the other hand, there is no coliform growth in the other plates. A total number of 20 bacteria were isolated from the suya samples. Five different bacteria genera were identified. The bacteria isolated were Escherichia coli, Enterobacter spp, Streptococcus spp., Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus spp. Staphylococcus aureus is the most occurring bacteria isolated with percentage distribution of 13(65%), followed by Streptococcus spp with 3(15%) and Bacillus spp. has 2(10%). Escherichia coli and Enterobacter spp has the lowest number of occurrence with 1(5%) respectively. The antibiotic susceptibility test reveals 25% of the bacteria were resistant to ciprofloxacin, 100% were resistant to retafumurin and cefotaxime respectively. 10% were resistant to levefloxacin and 50% were resistant to norfloxacin. Key Words: Suya, Antibiotics and Antibiotics resistance.

Concomitant parasitic infections are common in the developing world, yet most studies focused on a single parasite in a narrow age group. In this study, the extent of polyparasitism, and co-infections were investigated in rural communities of Osun state, Nigeria. Two hundred and Forty-seven consenting individuals consisting of 118 males and 129 females participated in this study. Faecal specimens, venous blood and skin snips were collected from the participants. The Kato-Katz technique and formol-ether concentration method were used to screen the faecal samples for soil-transmitted helminth, while Giemsa-stained blood smears was used for Plasmodium falciparum detection. Skin snips microscopy and haematoxylin stained blood smears were used for the diagnosis of onchocerciasis and loiasis respectively. Demographic information was collected from all the participants and data were analyzed using Chi – square test. The prevalence of P. falciparum, hookworms and Ascaris lumbricoides were 55.9%, 19.4% and 26.3% respectively. The overall prevalence of the filarial infections was 4.5% for Loa loa microfilaremia, 23.5% for Onchocerca volvulus microfilarial. Thirty-eight percent of the population harbored at least two parasites concurrently. Females (52.2%) were generally more infected with all the helminths than males (48.8%) but the difference was not statistically significant (0.128). For onchocerciasis prevalence, males (29.7%) were more infected than females (17.8%) and the difference was statistically significant (p=0.035). Co-infection of malaria and loiasis was observed in 1.2% of the population (p=0.051), while 13% were co-infected with malaria and onchocerciasis (p=0.903). Co-infection of malaria and hookworm was observed in 10.5% of the population. The overall mean Packed Cell Volume (PCV) of the population was 40.03±5.84 and no significant difference (p=0.224) was observed between PCV and infection status. Also no significant association (p=0.051) was observed between the age group and infection status. The intensity of the parasites was classified into 1-9, 10-99, 100-149, and 150 and above accordingly. Almost all the helminths except Ascaris lumbricoides had low grade of helminths (1-9). The intensity was more pronounced in Ascaris lumbricoides than other helminths. A. lumbricoides + P. falciparum co- infection had higher geometric mean parasites density (GMPD) value when compared with only P. falciparum infection and there was no significant difference valve of co infection of P. falciparum + loa loa, P. falciparum + O .volvulus and P.falciparum + Hookworm with P. falciparum alone. This study confirmed that polyparasitism is still common in rural communities in the study area. The findings can be used for the design and implementation of appropriate intervention strategies to alleviate morbidity and co-morbidity in rural communities.

Background: Recently due to current discoveries of the nutritional and bioactive components, whey and its components are considered as main ingredients in most protein formula supplements in infant food, sport nutritional food and beverages among others in the developed country. Whey protein and product provides real benefits for people that are seeking muscle growth, fat loss and high quality nutrition.
Method: Laboratory rats were fed with different Whey products to determine its effect on the intestinal health and microbes, liver enzymes and total protein. Four groups of rats were fed with different whey samples: Fresh liquid whey (FLW), Fermented liquid whey (FELW), Fresh lyophilized whey (FLYW), Fermented lyophilized whey (FELYW). Daily weight was recorded until twenty eight days (28) while their feacal microbial load was enumerated weekly. Liver enzymes and Total protein were determined in blood collected.
Result: There was a gradual increase in rat weight and decrease in their microbial load from the first week to the end but a sudden increase in their weight was observed at the last day. Different whey increased Total Protein and no effect on liver enzymes.
Conclusion: Whey is very high in protein, promoting good health and increasing the human intestinal Microflora and has no effect on liver. The types to be taken must be considered in order to achieve the desire results.

Ngo Mback Madeleine N.L. has completed on July 2013 her Master Degree in Biochemistry focused on antifungal activity of plant essential oils at the University of Yaoundé I, Department of Biochemistry, and Cameroon. Her PhD work is focused on the antimicrobial mechanism of action and chemistry of plant extracts from Cameroon. She has participated in many conferences and seminars where she has published her scientific works. She is also working as teacher of Life Sciences in an important Cameroonian School.

Objective: The limitations encountered in the treatment of fungal infections are due to the resistance, high toxicity, and overuse of conventional antifungals. All this enhances the need for the search of alternative drugs from natural origin.
Methodology: The aerial parts of Aeollanthus heliotropioides were harvested and essential oil (AHEO) were extracted by hydrodistillation. The chemical composition was determined using (GC) and (GC/MS). Furthermore, the sensitivity of Candida genus and Cryptococcus were determined using broth microdilution method by evaluating the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal fungicidal concentration (MFC). The fungicidal parameters were checked by viability assay using methylene blue stain. The Fractional Inhibitory Concentration Index (FICI) were determined to characterize the type of interaction of essential oil in combination with thymol using the two dimensional checkboard. The optimums were obtained through response surfaces. The efficiency of the optimums concentrations was obtained experimentally on two Candida albicans strains ATCCL26 and ATCCP37039, through the time kill kinetic study.
Results: The major compounds were linalool (38.54%), Z-α-farnesene (25.06%), 9-hexa-decen-1-ol (13.91%) and massoia lactones (4.52%). The MIC ranged from 0.62 mg/ml to 5 mg/ml. The combination of thymol and essential oil has lead mainly to synergistic effects (0,14≤ICIF≤4). The optimums (1.59±0.44 μl/ml/0.59±0.11mg/ml) revealed a total inhibition of yeast after 120 and 180 minutes according to the yeasts strains used.