Antibiotic Adjuvant 4-Hexylresorcinol Enhances the Efficiency of Antituberculosis Drugs.

We studied the possibility of using 4-hexylresorcinol to increase the efficiency of anti-mycobacterial chemotherapy. In an in vitro experiment, 4-hexylresorcinol increased the efficiency of rifampicin, kanamycin, and isoniazid against Mycobacterium smegmatis by 3-5 times. Experiments in sanitation of BALB/c mice infected with M.

Stress-Tolerant Dormant Bacterial Forms: Biological and Ultrastructural Properties of Moraxella catarrhalis and Kocuria rhizophila.

Dormant forms of causative agents of healthcare-acquired infections Moraxella catarrhalis and Kocuria rhizophila have been obtained. Dormant forms cells retained viability during long-term storage (≈10 CFU/ml after 2 months) under provocative conditions (lack of nutrient sources; temperature 20°C, oxygen access) were characterized by heat resistance, and acquired special ultrastructural organization typical of dormant forms (compacted nucleoid, thickened cell wall). They were also capable of forming alternative phenotypes (dominant and small colony variants) in a new cycle of germination in a fresh medium.

Ways of Long-Term Survival of Hydrocarbon-Oxidizing Bacteria in a New Biocomposite Material-Silanol-Humate Gel.

Immobilized bacterial cells are presently widely used in the development of bacterial preparations for the bioremediation of contaminated environmental objects. Oil hydrocarbons are among the most abundant pollutants. We have previously described a new biocomposite material containing hydrocarbon-oxidizing bacteria (HOB) embedded in silanol-humate gels (SHG) based on humates and aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES); high viable cell titer was maintained in this material for at least 12 months.

Microbial Biofilms at Meat-Processing Plant as Possible Places of Bacteria Survival.

Biofilm contamination in food production threatens food quality and safety, and causes bacterial infections. Study of food biofilms (BF) is of great importance. The taxonomic composition and structural organization of five foods BF taken in different workshops of a meat-processing plant (Moscow, RF) were studied.

Postfermentation of Fireweed and Apple Tree Leaf Herbal Teas.

Fungi spp. are the main biological agents that ferment the leaves of the tea bush to form a popular food product, postfermented tea. The fungus , stored in the collection of the Gause Institute of New Antibiotics under the number INA 01267, was isolated and identified from a briquette of Fujian Chinese tea.

Effect of 4-Hexylresorcinol on the Efficiency of Antibiotic Treatment of Experimental Sepsis Caused by Antibiotic-Resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae Strain in Mice.

High efficiency of a combined preparation including synergistic polymyxin B and 4-hexylresorcinol was shown for treatment of experimental sepsis caused by an antibiotic-resistant highly virulent hypermucoid Klebsiella pneumoniae strain KPM9Pm in mice. Complex therapy with polymyxin B (1 mg/kg) and 4-hexylresorcinol (30 mg/kg) led to cure in 80%; in 20% of these mice, no bacterial cells were found. After treatment with polymyxin B alone, only 50% animals survived and all of them contained bacterial cells.

Morphological peculiarities of the DNA-protein complexes in starved Escherichia coli cells.

One of the adaptive strategies for the constantly changing conditions of the environment utilized in bacterial cells involves the condensation of DNA in complex with the DNA-binding protein, Dps. With the use of electron microscopy and electron tomography, we observed several morphologically different types of DNA condensation in dormant Escherichia coli cells, namely: nanocrystalline, liquid crystalline, and the folded nucleosome-like. We confirmed the presence of both Dps and DNA in all of the ordered structures using EDX analysis.

The use of 4-Hexylresorcinol as antibiotic adjuvant.

Ever decreasing efficiency of antibiotic treatment due to growing antibiotic resistance of pathogenic bacteria is a critical issue in clinical practice. The two generally accepted major approaches to this problem are the search for new antibiotics and the development of antibiotic adjuvants to enhance the antimicrobial activity of known compounds. It was therefore the aim of the present study to test whether alkylresorcinols, a class of phenolic lipids, can be used as adjuvants to potentiate the effect of various classes of antibiotics.

The response of soil Arthrobacter agilis lush13 to changing conditions: Transition between vegetative and dormant state.

This work was aimed at studying the response of soil non-spore-forming actinobacterial strain Arthrobacter agilis Lush 13 to changing natural conditions, such as nutrient availability and the presence of degradable and recalcitrant aliphatic and aromatic substrates. The A. agilis strain Lush13 was able to degrade octane, nonane, hexadecane, benzoate, phenol, and 2,3-, 2,4-, 2,5-, 2,6-dichlorophenols, but not grew on 3,4-dichlorophenol, 2,3,4-, 2,4,5-, 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (TCP), pentachlorophenol (PCP), 2-chlorobenzoate, 3-chlorobenzoate, 3,5-dichlorobenzoate, 2,4-dichlorobenzoate.

[Model of the Regulation of Activity of Immobilized Enzymes (Amylases) in Soil].

The preservation of activity of extracellular enzymes in soil is presently associated with their immobilization on organic or inorganic carriers. Enzyme immobilization results, however, in a significant decrease in enzymatic activity. In the present work, the mechanism responsible for promotion of the catalytic activity was revealed, as well as the favorable effect of low-molecular alkylhydrozybenzenes of the class of alkylresorcinols, which are common in soil organic matter, on stability of immobilized enzymes (exemplified by amylases) by their post-translational modification.

[Characterization of the Structure of the Prokaryotic Complex of Antarctic Permafrost by Molecular Genetic Techniques].

A prokaryotic mesophilic organotrophic community responsible for 10% of the total microbial number determined by epifluorescence microscopy was reactivated in the samples ofAntarctic permafrost retrieved from the environment favoring long-term preservation of microbial communities (7500 years). No culturable forms were obtained without resuscitation procedures (CFU = 0). Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Firmicutes were the dominant microbial groups in the complex.

[Role of Neuromediators in the Functioning of the Human Microbiota: "Business Talks" among Microorganisms and the Microbiota-Host Dialogue].

Current concepts concerning social behavior of the microorganisms inhabiting human gastrointestinal tract, as well as their role in the formation of integrated supracellular structures and in intercellular communication in the host-microbiota system are reviewed. Analysis of the literature data and the results obtained by the authors indicate an important role of neuromediators (biogenic amines, amino acids, peptides, and nitric oxide) in the intra- and interspecies microbial communication, as well as in the microbiota-host dialogue. The role of this dialogue for human health, its effect on human psyche and social behavior, and the possibility of construction of probiotic preparations with a goal-directed neurochemical effect are discussed.

[Effect of Stress on Emergence of Antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli Cells].

Effect of sublethal doses of physical and chemical stressors (heat shock for 2 h at 45 degrees C and addition of C12-alkylhydroxybenzene, a microbial alarmone) on development of resistance to the subsequent lethal antibiotic attack and the role of the time interval between these treatments were studied on a submerged batch culture of Escherichia coli 12. The interval sufficient for the development of stress response provides for development of temporary adaptive resistance to the antibiotic attack, resulting in increased number of surviving persister cells. The interval below the time required for the stress response potentiates cell death and results in a decreased number of persisters.

[Effect of Inherent Immunity Factors of Development of Antibiotic Tolerance and Survival of Bacterial Populations under Antibiotic Attack].

Effect of human inherent immunity factors of, a gene-encoded antibacterial peptide indolicidin (Ind) and a cytokine interleukin 1 (IL1) on formation of antibiotic-tolerant persister cells surviving in the presence of ciprofloxacin (Cpf, 100 μg/mL) and ampicillin (Amp, 100 μg/mL) in submerged bacterial cultures (Staphylococcus aureus FGA 209P, Escherichia coli K12, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1) was studied. While Ind in physiological concentrations (0.3 and 3.

[Surviving Forms in Antibiotic-Treated Pseudomonas aeruginosa].

Survival of bacterial populations treated with lethal doses of antibiotics is ensured by the presence of very small numbers of persister cells. Unlike antibiotic-resistant cells, antibiotic tolerance of persisters is not inheritable and reversible. The present work provides evidence supporting the hypothesis of transformation (maturation) of persisters of an opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa revealed by ciprofloxacin (CF) treatment (25-100 μg/mL) into dormant cystlike cells (CLC) and non-culturable cells (NC), as was described previously for a number.

[Microbial dormancy and prevention of healthcare-associated infections].

Healthcare-associated infections (HCAI) remain one of the most challenges of modern health care and assume increasing social and medical significance. The specific features of HCAI are frequent recurrences and inefficiency of antibiotic therapy, a reason for which is antibiotic resistance in microorganisms. The review discusses antibiotic resistance, a form of antibiotic tolerance (AT), and its role in the development of HCAI.

[Applicability of MALDI Mass Spectrometry for Diagnostics of Phase Variants in Bacterial Populations].

Efficiency of MALDI mass spectrometry for differentiation between phenotypic phase variants (in colony morphology and virulence/avirulence) was investigated.for saprotrophic and opportunistically pathogenic bacteria of five genera (Acinetobacter, Arthrobacter, Rhodococcus, Corynebacterium, and Escherichia). Analysis of MALDI spectra (on the SA and HCCA matrices) included: (1) determination of similarity of the protein spectra as a percentage of the common protein peaks to the total amount of proteins, which reflects the phylogenetic relationships of the objects and has been recommended for identification of closely related species; (2) comparison of intensities of the common peaks; and (3) the presence of specific peaks as determinative characteristics of the variants.

[Effect of alkylresorcinols on thermal denaturation and refolding of bacterial luciferase and synthesis of heat shock proteins revealed in the luminescent molecular and cellular test systems].

Molecular and cellular luminescent biotests were used to reveal the effects of five alkylresorcinol homologues (C7-, C9-, C11-, C12-, and C18-AR) on the thermally induced denaturation and refolding ofbac- terial luciferases, as well as on the synthesis of heat shock proteins. The ARs activities were found to depend on their fine structure and concentration. Direct heat-protective effect of short-chain C7- and C9-AR on the chromatographically pure Photobactrium leiognathii luciferase/oxidoreductase was shown within broad range of concentration (10(-6)-10(-3) M).

[Activation of formation of bacterial biofilms by azithromycin and prevention of this effect].

Growth of members of most of the studied genera of gram-positive (Dietzia, Kocuria, and Rhodo- coccus) and gram-negative bacteria (Pseudomonas and Chromobacterium) in biofilms exhibited higher resistance to an translation inhibitor, azithromycin compared to the growth of planktonic cultures of the same strains. Low concentrations of azithromycin were found to stimulate biofilm formation by the studied saprotrophic strains. The rate of synthesis of the polysaccharide matrix component exceeded the rate of cell growth, indicating implementation of the biofilm phenotype under these conditions.

[Changes in the phase variant spectra in the populations of lactic acid bacteria under antibiotic treatment].

Effect of the antibiotics kanamycin and ampicillin on growth and phase variation of the populations of four strains of lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus sp. M67AT, L. casei MB, Enterococcus faecium M, and E.

[The effects of alkylhydroxybenzenes on homoserine lactone-induced manifestations of quorum sensing in bacteria].

The effects of four alkylhydroxybenzene (AHB) homologs of different hydrocarbon chain lengths on synthesis of the pigment violacein induced by C6-homoserine lactone (HSL) and biofilm formation by Chromobacterium violaceum NCTC 13274 and on Escherichia coli pAL103 bioluminescence in the presence of C6-oxo-HSL were studied. It was shown that the inhibitory effect of alkylhydroxybenzenes on the growth of C. violaceum increased in the C5-AHB --> C12-AHB series in the absence of this activity in C1-AHB.

Drotaverine hydrochloride degradation using cyst-like dormant cells of Rhodococcus ruber.

This work has a focus on adaptive capabilities of the actinobacterium Rhodococcus ruber IEGM 326 to cope with drotaverine hydrochloride (DH), a known pharmaceutical pollutant. Cultivation of R. ruber in a nitrogen-limited medium with incubation at the ambient temperature resulted in the formation of cyst-like dormant cells (CLDCs).

[Effect of a dormant state on the xenobiotic-degrading strain Pseudomonas fluorescens 26K].

The changes in physiological and biochemical properties of Pseudomonas fluorescens 26K, a degrader of chlorinated aromatic compounds, were revealed after the persistence in a dormant state as cyst-like cells (CLC). The CLC maintained the ability to form colonies after long-term storage possessed enhanced resistance to damaging agents (heat and drying), and specific ultrastructural organization. In populations grown from CLC on solid media, we observed the appearance ofphenotypic variants, which differed from the dominant type in the shape, consistency, and pigmentation of the colonies.