Evaluation of the 'HG Group B ' loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay for accurate identification of .

This study evaluated the HiberGene Group B Streptococcus test, a CE-IVD-approved molecular assay for rapid detection of [Group B Streptococcus (GBS)] in human clinical specimens. Performance of the assay in terms of specificity, sensitivity and genotype inclusivity was investigated using an extended specificity panel of 113 human and animal GBS isolates, and eight isolates from other streptococcal species, from the isolate collection of the German National Reference Center for Streptococci. Broth cultures were tested according to the manufacturer's protocol, including lysis, heat denaturation and isothermal amplification.

Heterogeneity of penicillin-non-susceptible group B streptococci isolated from a single patient in Germany.

Objectives: Streptococcus agalactiae [group B streptococci (GBS)] have been considered uniformly susceptible to penicillin. However, increasing reports from Asia and North America are documenting penicillin-non-susceptible GBS (PRGBS) with mutations in pbp genes. Here we report, to the best of our knowledge, the first two PRGBS isolates recovered in Europe (AC-13238-1 and AC-13238-2), isolated from the same patient.

[Psychosis due to idiopathic basal ganglia calcification].

Idiopathic basal ganglia calcification is a rare neuropathological syndrome characterised by symmetrical and bilateral calcifications found primarily in the basal ganglia. Psychosis is describedas an acute presentation of idiopathic ganglia calcification. We describe the development of psychosis in a 48-year-old man, initially hospitalised on the neurology ward due to syncope.

Diallylthiosulfinate (Allicin), a Volatile Antimicrobial from Garlic (Allium sativum), Kills Human Lung Pathogenic Bacteria, Including MDR Strains, as a Vapor.

Garlic () has potent antimicrobial activity due to allicin (diallylthiosulfinate) synthesized by enzyme catalysis in damaged garlic tissues. Allicin gives crushed garlic its characteristic odor and its volatility makes it potentially useful for combating lung infections. Allicin was synthesized (>98% pure) by oxidation of diallyl disulfide by H₂O₂ using formic acid as a catalyst and the growth inhibitory effect of allicin vapor and allicin in solution to clinical isolates of lung pathogenic bacteria from the genera , , and , including multi-drug resistant (MDR) strains, was demonstrated.

Fluoroquinolone resistance in Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates in Germany from 2004-2005 to 2014-2015.

Streptococcus pneumoniae is a major cause of bacterial pneumonia, sepsis and meningitis worldwide. Prevalence of levofloxacin-resistant S. pneumoniae isolates in Germany and associated mutations in the quinolone resistance determining regions (QRDRs), as well as serotype distribution and multi locus sequence types (MLST) are shown.

Pneumococci in the African meningitis belt: meningitis incidence and carriage prevalence in children and adults.

Background: The development of optimal vaccination strategies for pneumococcal conjugate vaccines requires serotype-specific data on disease incidence and carriage prevalence. This information is lacking for the African meningitis belt.

Methods: We conducted hospital-based surveillance of acute bacterial meningitis in an urban and rural population of Burkina Faso during 2007-09.

Serotyping pneumococcal meningitis cases in the African meningitis belt by use of multiplex PCR with cerebrospinal fluid.

We reformulated a multiplex PCR algorithm for serotyping of pneumococcal meningitis directly on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Compared to established methods on isolates, CSF-based PCR had at least 80% sensitivity and 100% specificity. In regional meningitis surveillance, CSF-based PCR increased the serotype information yield from 40% of cases (isolate testing) to 90%.

Turgor regulation in the osmosensitive cut mutant of Neurospora crassa.

The internal hydrostatic pressure (turgor) of fungal cells is maintained at 400-500 kPa. The turgor is regulated by changes in ion flux and by production of the osmotically active metabolite glycerol. In Neurospora crassa, there are at least two genetically distinct pathways that function in adaptation to hyperosmotic shock.

[Components of fermentation medium regulate bacteriocin synthesis by the recombinant strain Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis F-116].

The regulation of the synthesis of bacteriocin produced by the recombinant strain Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis F-116 has been studied. The synthesis is regulated by the components of the fermentation medium, the content of inorganic phosphate (KH2PO4), yeast autolysate (source of amine nitrogen), and changes in carbohydrates and amino acids.

Role of a mitogen-activated protein kinase cascade in ion flux-mediated turgor regulation in fungi.

Fungi normally maintain a high internal hydrostatic pressure (turgor) of about 500 kPa. In response to hyperosmotic shock, there are immediate electrical changes: a transient depolarization (1 to 2 min) followed by a sustained hyperpolarization (5 to 10 min) prior to turgor recovery (10 to 60 min). Using ion-selective vibrating probes, we established that the transient depolarization is due to Ca(2+) influx and the sustained hyperpolarization is due to H(+) efflux by activation of the plasma membrane H(+)-ATPase.

The role of tip-localized mitochondria in hyphal growth.

Hyphal tip-growing organisms have a high density of tip-localized mitochondria which maintain a membrane potential based on Rhodamine 123 fluorescence, but do not produce ATP based on the absence of significant oxygen consumption. Two possible roles of these mitochondria in tip growth were examined: Calcium sequestration and biogenesis, because tip-high cytoplasmic calcium gradients are a common feature of tip-growing organisms, and the volume expansion as the tip extends would require a continuous supply of additional mitochondria. Co-localization of calcium-sensitive fluorescent dye and mitochondria-specific fluorescent dyes showed that the tip-localized mitochondria do contain calcium, and therefore, may function in calcium clearance from the cytoplasm.

Turgor regulation in hyphal organisms.

Turgor regulation in two saprophytic hyphal organisms was examined directly with the pressure probe technique. The ascomycete Neurospora crassa, a terrestrial fungi, regulates turgor after hyperosmotic treatments when growing in a minimal medium containing K(+), Mg(2+), Ca(2+), Cl(-), and sucrose. Turgor recovery by N.

Gadolinium effects on gigaseal formation and the adhesive properties of a fungal amoeboid cell, the slime mutant of Neurospora crassa.

Low gadolinium concentrations induce rapid gigaseal formation and cell adhesion to glass and plastic (polystyrene) substrates in the slime mutant of Neurospora crassa. Cellular adhesion is independent of an integrin-mediated mechanism, because pretreatment with the oligopeptide ARG-GLY-ASP-SER (RGDS) did not inhibit it, and there was no spatial correlation between integrin and adhesions. In contrast, concanavalin A and beta-galactosidase both inhibit adhesion, suggesting that adhesion is mediated by sugar moeities at the cell surface.

Oxygen flux magnitude and location along growing hyphae of Neurospora crassa.

Oxygen fluxes were mapped at the growing apices and along mycelial hyphal segments of the ascomycete Neurospora crassa. High spatial resolution was obtained using micro-oxygen probes (2-3 microm tip diameters) and the self-referencing technique to maximize the sensitivity of oxygen flux measurements. As expected, oxygen influx was inhibited by cyanide, although oxygen influx (and hyphal growth) resumed with the induction of an alternate oxidase activity.

Two divergent plasma membrane syntaxin-like SNAREs, nsyn1 and nsyn2, contribute to hyphal tip growth and other developmental processes in Neurospora crassa.

Highly polarized exocytosis of vesicles at hyphal apices is an essential requirement of tip growth. This requirement may be met by the localization and/or activation of an apical SNARE-based machinery. We have cloned nsyn1 and nsyn2, SNAREs predicted to function at the plasma membrane in Neurospora crassa.

Blue light modulation of ion transport in the slime mutant of Neurospora crassa.

Blue light is the primary entrainment signal for a number of developmental and morphological processes in the lower eucaryote Neurospora crassa. Blue light regulates photoactivation of carotenoid synthesis, conidiation, phototropism of perithecia and circadian rhythms. Changes in the electrical properties of the plasma membrane are one of the fastest responses to blue light irradiation.

Analysis of the kefA2 mutation suggests that KefA is a cation-specific channel involved in osmotic adaptation in Escherichia coli.

Mechanosensitive channels play an essential role in the regulation of turgor pressure in bacteria. In Escherichia coli, there are multiple mechanosensitive channels that have been characterized genetically: MscL, YggB and KefA. In this report, we describe the cloning of the kefA gene, the organization of the KefA protein and the phenotype of a missense mutation, kefA, which affects the KefA mechanosensitive channel.

Protection of Escherichia coli cells against extreme turgor by activation of MscS and MscL mechanosensitive channels: identification of genes required for MscS activity.

Mechanosensitive channels are ubiquitous amongst bacterial cells and have been proposed to have major roles in the adaptation to osmotic stress, in particular in the management of transitions from high to low osmolarity environments. Electrophysiological measurements have identified multiple channels in Escherichia coli cells. One gene, mscL, encoding a large conductance channel has previously been described, but null mutants were without well-defined phenotypes.

Interrelationships between cytoplasmic Ca2+ peaks, pollen hydration and plasma membrane conductances during compatible and incompatible pollinations of Brassica napus papillae.

We have investigated Ca(2+)-involving cell signaling, plasma membrane potentials and conductances and callose formation during early stages of pollination of papillae of Brassica napus. Using fluorescence imaging of calcium green-1, we found that application of a range of pollen types and controls all rapidly produced small localized peaks in papillar cytoplasmic [Ca2+]. This response was more frequent in compatible than incompatible interactions and was correlated with subsequent hydration of the applied pollen grains, indicating that it may be a differential prerequisite of the compatible signaling pathway leading to successful pollinations.

The roles of Ca2+ and plasma membrane ion channels in hyphal tip growth of Neurospora crassa.

Growing hyphae of the ascomycete fungus Neurospora crassa contained a tip-high gradient of cytoplasmic Ca2+, which was absent in non-growing hyphae and was insensitive to Gd3+ in the medium. Patch clamp recordings in the cell-attached mode, from the plasma membrane of these hyphae, showed two types of channel activities; spontaneous and stretch activated. The spontaneous channels were identified as inward K+ channels based on inhibition by tetraethylammonium.

Cytoskeletal regulation of ion channel distribution in the tip-growing organism Saprolegnia ferax.

Growing hyphal tips of the oomycete Saprolegnia ferax possess a tip-high gradient of stretch-activated ion channels permeable to calcium. These mechanosensitive channels appear to play a direct role in the polarized tip growth process. Treatment of S.