An rpoD gene sequence based evaluation of cultured Pseudomonas diversity on different growth media.

The last decade has shown an increased interest in the utilization of bacteria for applications ranging from bioremediation to wastewater purification and promotion of plant growth. In order to extend the current number of micro-organism mediated applications, a continued quest for new agents is required. This study focused on the genus Pseudomonas, which is known to harbour strains with a very diverse set of interesting properties.

Efficient cryopreservation protocol enables accessibility of a broad range of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria for the scientific community.

Long-term storage of the fastidious ammonia-oxidizing bacteria has proven difficult, which limits their public availability and results in a loss of cultured biodiversity. To enable their accessibility to the scientific community, an effective protocol for cryopreservation of ammonia-oxidizing cultures at -80 °C and in liquid nitrogen was developed. Long-term storage could be achieved using 5% DMSO as cryoprotectant, preferably in a cryoprotective preservation medium containing tenfold-diluted trypticase soy broth and 1% trehalose.

Comparative performance of different PCR assays for the identification of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli.

The sensitivity and specificity of 7 PCR assays described for the identification of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli were examined using alkaline cell lysates from a collection of 100 well characterized reference strains of C. jejuni, C. coli, Campylobacter lari and related Campylobacter, Helicobacter and Arcobacter species.

Alcaligenes aquatilis sp. nov., a novel bacterium from sediments of the Weser Estuary, Germany, and a salt marsh on Shem Creek in Charleston Harbor, USA.

Four nitrite-dissimilating strains, isolated from Weser Estuary sediments, were investigated using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that these strains belong to the 'Betaproteobacteria' and are related to the genus Alcaligenes. The highest level of sequence similarity (100 %) was found with strain M3A (=ATCC 700596), a dimethyl sulfide-producing marine isolate that was included in this study.

A novel strategy for the isolation and identification of environmental Burkholderia cepacia complex bacteria.

The purpose of this study was to develop a novel strategy for the isolation and identification of Burkholderia cepacia complex bacteria from the home environment of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. Water and soil samples were enriched in a broth containing 0.1% l-arabinose, 0.

Advenella incenata gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel member of the Alcaligenaceae, isolated from various clinical samples.

A polyphasic taxonomic study of 14 isolates recovered from various human and veterinary clinical samples was performed. Phenotypically these isolates shared several characteristics with members of the Alcaligenaceae and related genera. Random amplified polymorphic DNA fingerprinting and whole-cell protein analysis suggested the presence of multiple genomic groups, which was confirmed by DNA-DNA hybridization experiments.