Identification and antifungal susceptibility of a large collection of yeast strains isolated in Tunisian hospitals.

In this study, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) was used as a rapid method to identify yeasts isolated from patients in Tunisian hospitals. When identification could not be exstablished with this procedure, sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer with 5.8S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) (ITS1-5.

Impact of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry on the clinical management of patients with Gram-negative bacteremia: a prospective observational study.

Background: Early identification of pathogens from blood cultures using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry may optimize the choice of empirical antibiotic therapy in the setting of bloodstream infections. We aimed to assess the impact of this new technology on the use of antibiotic treatment in patients with gram-negative bacteremia.

Methods: We conducted a prospective observational study from January to December 2010 to evaluate the sequential and separate impacts of Gram stain reporting and MALDI-TOF bacterial identification performed on blood culture pellets in patients with gram-negative bacteremia.

Characterisation of the putative effector interaction site of the regulatory HbpR protein from Pseudomonas azelaica by site-directed mutagenesis.

Bacterial transcription activators of the XylR/DmpR subfamily exert their expression control via σ(54)-dependent RNA polymerase upon stimulation by a chemical effector, typically an aromatic compound. Where the chemical effector interacts with the transcription regulator protein to achieve activation is still largely unknown. Here we focus on the HbpR protein from Pseudomonas azelaica, which is a member of the XylR/DmpR subfamily and responds to biaromatic effectors such as 2-hydroxybiphenyl.

Molecular analysis of a novel gene cluster encoding an insect toxin in plant-associated strains of Pseudomonas fluorescens.

Pseudomonas fluorescens CHA0 and the related strain Pf-5 are well-characterized representatives of rhizosphere bacteria that have the capacity to protect crop plants from fungal root diseases, mainly by releasing a variety of exoproducts that are toxic to plant pathogenic fungi. Here, we report that the two plant-beneficial pseudomonads also exhibit potent insecticidal activity. Anti-insect activity is linked to a novel genomic locus encoding a large protein toxin termed Fit (for P.

Host and invader impact of transfer of the clc genomic island into Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1.

Genomic islands, large potentially mobile regions of bacterial chromosomes, are a major contributor to bacteria evolution. Here, we investigated the fitness cost and phenotypic differences between the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 and a derivative carrying one integrated copy of the clc element, a 103-kb genomic island [and integrative and conjugative element (ICE)] originating in Pseudomonas sp. strain B13 and a close relative of genomic islands found in clinical and environmental isolates of P.

Internal arsenite bioassay calibration using multiple bioreporter cell lines.

Bioassays with bioreporter bacteria are usually calibrated with analyte solutions of known concentrations that are analysed along with the samples of interest. This is done as bioreporter output (the intensity of light, fluorescence or colour) does not only depend on the target concentration, but also on the incubation time and physiological activity of the cells in the assay. Comparing the bioreporter output with standardized colour tables in the field seems rather difficult and error-prone.

Mutant HbpR transcription activator isolation for 2-chlorobiphenyl via green fluorescent protein-based flow cytometry and cell sorting.

Mutants were produced in the A-domain of HbpR, a protein belonging to the XylR family of σ(54)-dependent transcription activators, with the purpose of changing its effector recognition specificity from 2-hydroxybiphenyl (2-HBP, the cognate effector) to 2-chlorobiphenyl (2-CBP). Mutations were introduced in the hbpR gene part for the A-domain via error-prone polymerase chain reaction, and assembled on a gene circuitry plasmid in Escherichia coli, permitting HbpR-dependent induction of the enhanced green fluorescent protein (egfp). Cells with mutant HbpR proteins responsive to 2-CBP were enriched and separated in a flow cytometry-assisted cell-sorting procedure.

Clinical strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa overproducing MexAB-OprM and MexXY efflux pumps simultaneously.

Simultaneous overexpression of the MexAB-OprM and MexXY efflux systems was demonstrated by real-time reverse transcription-PCR and immunoblotting experiments for 12 multiresistant clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. DNA sequencing analysis showed that nine of these strains (named agrZ mutants) harbored mutations in mexZ, the product of which downregulates the expression of the mexXY operon. In addition, 8 of the 12 strains exhibited mutations in genes known to control transcription of the mexAB-oprM operon.

Role of the multidrug efflux system MexXY in the emergence of moderate resistance to aminoglycosides among Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from patients with cystic fibrosis.

This study investigates the role of active efflux system MexXY in the emergence of aminoglycoside (AG) resistance among cystic fibrosis (CF) isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Three genotypically related susceptible and resistant (S/R) bacterial pairs and three other AG-resistant CF strains were compared to four non-CF strains moderately resistant to AGs. As demonstrated by immunoblot experiments, pump MexY was strongly overproduced in all of the resistant bacteria.

MexXY-OprM efflux pump is necessary for a adaptive resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to aminoglycosides.

Exposure of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to aminoglycosides frequently selects for recalcitrant subpopulations exhibiting an unstable, "adaptive" resistance to these antibiotics. In this study, we investigated the implication in the phenomenon of MexXY-OprM, an active efflux system known to export aminoglycosides in P. aeruginosa.