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Mutants of Rhizoctonia solani were developed using UV irradiation of the mycelia of isolate RS7, which is the field isolate causing sheath blight in rice. The mutants showed reduced virulence, as compared to RS7 in detached leaf sheath and intact rice plants. All the mutants produced some toxin but in varied quantities. The amount of toxin produced by the mutants was positively correlated with disease development on rice plants and detached leaf sheaths. The wild isolate RS7 and mutant RSU7 produced more quantity of toxic material, which in turn related to severe sheath blight symptoms. Sclerotial production on the infected rice sheath also showed significant variation among the mutants and the virulent and less virulent isolates. SDS-PAGE analysis of the mycelial proteins showed many proteins of different molecular weights varying among mutants and wild isolate at different stages of mycelial growth. Correlation between reduction in toxin production and disease severity is statistically significant.
The inhibition of bacterial motility was studied by a trifluoro methyl ketone derivative on two Escherichia coli strains (wild strain having a proton pump system and the proton pump-deficient mutant strain) and two Helicobacter pylori strains (clarithromycin susceptible and clarithromycin resistant). Evidence is presented of the inhibitory action of 1-(2-benzoxazolyl)-3,3,3-trifluoro-2-propanone (TF18) on the proton motive forces of the two bacterial strains by affecting the action of biological motor and proton efflux in the membranes. The swimming, the forward motion was more sensitive than the vibration or tumbling to the inhibition. We suppose that the inhibiton of bacterial motility is related to the virulence of bacteria: consequently the pathogenicity can be reduced in the presence of TF18.
The present study reports on the location of major foci of footrot in goats in the Extremadura region of Spain by the determination of locally occurring strictly anaerobic microorganisms involved in the pathogenesis and development of this disease. The most commonly isolated microorganisms belonged to the genera Dichelobacter, Fusobacterium, Porphyromonas and Prevotella; these were found in conjunction with other species of minor importance. The species most frequently isolated were Fusobacterium necrophorum (40%), Dichelobacter nodosus (31.7%), Porphyromonas asaccharolytica (21.1%) and Prevotella melaninogenica (12.9%). Virulence factors identified in the isolated microorganisms included haemolysins, elastases and lecithinases, which enabled the organisms involved to initiate and/or aggravate the disease. Serotyping was performed for Dichelobacter nodosus isolates, since this species is responsible for triggering the process of infection. A and C were the most frequently isolated serovarieties (representing 40.7% and 25.9% of the cases, respectively).
Growth and haemolytic activity of several pathogenic Vibrio species were compared in egg-fried-rice with different egg ratios. Egg-fried-rice preparations with rice-to-egg ratios of 4:1, 1:1, and 1:4 were inoculated with either Vibrio parahaemolyticus, V. cholerae, V. vulnificus, or V. alginolyticus and incubated for 24 h. Cell number, thermostable direct haemolysin (TDH) activity, and total haemolytic activity were determined. The cell number and total haemolytic activity increased in all Vibrio strains after 24 h, and these were most marked in egg-fried-rice with the highest egg content (1:4 (rice:egg) ratio; P<0.05). V. alginolyticus exhibited the maximal growth and V. parahaemolyticus the highest haemolytic activity, but only V. parahaemolyticus ATCC 33847, V. alginolyticus CAMT 21162, and V. alginolyticus HY 91101 showed TDH activity. Results suggest that lowering egg content in egg-fried-rice could reduce growth and virulence of Vibrio pathogens.
Helicobacter pylori is a Gram-negative motile bacterium causative agent of acute and chronic digestive and extra-digestive human infections. According to different reports worldwide, H. pylori symptomatic and asymptomatic infections are a global problem. The statistical investigations show a percentage of 50 for people who are involved in H. pylori acute/chronic digestive and/or extra-digestive infections around the world. This review focuses on digestive and extra-digestive diseases caused by H. pylori, the related virulence factors, diagnostic techniques including non-invasive and invasive diagnostics and treatment. There is an abundance of diagnostics for detection and identification of H. pylori. The availability, cost, and the condition of test performance may differ from place to place. To increase the level of reliability in association with diagnostic tools for detecting H. pylori, several techniques must be applied at once as multi-diagnostic technique. Furthermore, there are several pharmacotherapies which can be used for complete eradication of H. pylori infection.
Some wild species of the genus Oryza such as O. rufipogon and O. longistaminata show a high level of resistance to pests and diseases including rice blast (caused by Magnaporthe grisea). To transfer blast resistance from wild species into cultivatedvarieties (O. sativa), interspecific hybrids were produced and anther culture was used toaccelerate the procedure of resistance breeding. Anther culture efficiency depended onboth the medium and the genotype of the cultivated varieties and the wild species. Afterinoculation with a mixture of six strains with wide spectrum virulence, all the F1 hybridswere resistant to blast; the F2 plants segregated, from high resistance to susceptibility, anda similar result was obtained for the H1 and H2 plants. At the H3 stage, blast resistancetended to be stable and almost 100% of inoculated H5 plants were highly resistant to riceblast. For agronomic characteristics, the F2 and H1 showed segregation, but no significantdifferences were seen between the cultivated parents and the H2 to H5 generations. Theresults demonstrate that blast resistance genes can be transferred from wild rice speciesinto cultivated varieties through crossing and anther culture, and the H5 can be used asstable lines in future breeding programmes.
The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of Vibrio parahaemolyticus in shellfish samples harvested along the Slovenian coast. Shellfish samples of Mediterranean mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) were collected along the Slovenian coast at four locations (Seča, Piran, Strunjan and Debeli Rtič) between 2006 and 2008. Samples were examined and analysed for the presence of V. parahaemolyticus by conventional and molecular methods. The presence of Vibrio in the samples was examined by conventional methods on plate grown bacterial cells before and after enrichment in alkaline saline peptone water (ASPW). PCR methods were used for the detection of V. parahaemolyticus-specific toxR and tlh genes and of the virulence-associated tdh and trh genes. Out of 168 samples examined, 24 were positive for toxR and tlh genes by PCR from enrichment broth. Five out of 62 (8.1%), 4 out of 32 (12.5%) and 15 out of 74 (20.2%) samples were positive in 2006, 2007 and 2008, respectively. Colonies of V. parahaemolyticus were isolated from only one sample positive for V. parahaemolyticus by PCR.
Species belonging to the filamentous fungal genus Trichoderma are well known as potential candidates for the biological control of plant pathogenic fungi and as cellulase producers of biotechnological importance. Several data were published in the last decade also about the clinical importance of this genus, indicating that Trichoderma strains may be potential opportunistic pathogens in immunocompromised patients. However, there is a lack of information about the potential virulence factors of clinical Trichoderma strains. This study was designed to examine the extracellular proteolytic enzymes of six clinical T. longibrachiatum isolates. Supernatants from induced liquid cultures of the examined strains were screened for proteolytic enzyme activities with 11 different chromogenic p-nitroaniline substrates. The production of trypsin-like, chymotrypsin-like and chymoelastase-like protease activities cleaving N-Benzoyl-L-Phe-L-Val-L-Arg-p-nitroanilide, N-Succinyl-L-Ala-L-Ala-L-Pro-L-Phe-p-nitroanilide,and N-Succinyl-L- Ala-L-Ala-L-Pro-L-Leu-p-nitroanilide, respectively, was common among the strains examined. Separation of trypsin- and chymotrypsin-like activities by column chromatography revealed, that both systems are complex consisting of several isoenzymes. The pH-dependence of these two protease systems was also studied. Based on the results, the different isoenzymes seem to have different optimal pH values. Extracellular proteolytic enzymes may be involved in the pathogenecity of Trichoderma strains as facultative human pathogens.
Advances in medical and surgical therapy over the past two decades have changed the nature of patient care during hospitalization. Recently developed technologies and therapies, involving bone marrow or solid-organ transplants and chemotherapeutic agents, have become common at many medical centers, resulting in the emergence of many immunocompromised individuals. In intensive care units (ICU) the use of invasive monitoring devices, parenteral nutrition, broad-spectrum antimicrobial agents, and assisted ventilation has helped in the treatment of patients suffering from previously devastating or fatal diseases and has provided opportunities for life to premature neonates previously thought to be non-viable [1]. However, these successes have resulted in the proliferation of a severely ill, immunocompromised, long-lasting hospitalized patient population. The AIDS epidemic has also added patients at risk to this growing population of immunocompromised individuals [2]. The immunocompromised patient is highly susceptible to nosocomial infections caused by organisms such as fungi that were previously considered to be of low virulence or „non-pathogenic” [3]. Besides the well-known endemic fungal pathogens (Histoplasma capsulatumCoccidioides immitisandBlastomyces dermatitidis), opportunisticCandidaspecies have been implicated most frequently in nosocomial fungal infections.
Nosema ceranae is present in honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) colonies worldwide. Studies on the comparative virulence of N. ceranae and N. apis showed significant differences in individual mortality, and the prevalence of N. ceranae seems to be predominant in both the continental and the Mediterranean climate regions. This study attempted to monitor the geographical and seasonal distribution of these two Nosema species in Hungary, using a simple laboratory method. The distribution of N. ceranae and N. apis infection rates along all seasons was homogeneous (P = 0.57). In co-infected samples, the intensity of N. ceranae infection was always significantly higher than that of N. apis infection (P < 0.001). The infection rate of infected bees in exterior samples was higher than in interior samples in each season; however, the differences were not statistically significant. The species N. ceranae had been present in Hungary already in 2004. Statistical analysis of data shows that the infection level is best represented by sampling exterior bees to establish the proportion of infected bees rather than by determining the mean spore count.
