Synergistic effect of essential oils and chlorhexidine against planktonic and biofilm-forming cells of .

() , is often associated with secondary infection of the skin and external auditory canal in dogs and cats. The treatment of infections is based on the local application of antifungals often combined with antiseptics. Due to increased resistance of yeast to commonly used antimycotics, especially in biofilm-forming cells, the use of natural substances, e.

Extracellular phospholipase production by Malassezia pachydermatis strains and its inhibition by selected antimycotics and plant essential oil components.

Extracellular phospholipase (EPL) plays an important role in the pathogenesis of the yeast Malassezia pachydermatis. Currently, the attention of researchers is focused on studying the virulence factors involved in this process and searching solutions to reduce their activity. One of the options is the use of natural remedies as anti-virulence agents.

Biofilm Formation in Medically Important Species.

Worldwide, the number of infections caused by biofilm-forming fungal pathogens is very high. In human medicine, there is an increasing proportion of immunocompromised patients with prolonged hospitalization, and patients with long-term inserted drains, cannulas, catheters, tubes, or other artificial devices, that exhibit a predisposition for colonization by biofilm-forming yeasts. A high percentage of mortality is due to candidemia caused by medically important species.

Resistance of Primary Photosynthesis to Photoinhibition in Antarctic Lichen : Photoprotective Mechanisms Activated during a Short Period of High Light Stress.

The Antarctic lichen, , in its hydrated state has several physiological mechanisms to cope with high light effects on the photosynthetic processes of its photobionts. We aim to investigate the changes in primary photochemical processes of photosystem II in response to a short-term photoinhibitory treatment. Several chlorophyll fluorescence techniques: (1) slow Kautsky kinetics supplemented with quenching mechanism analysis; (2) light response curves of photosynthetic electron transport (ETR); and (3) response curves of non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) were used in order to evaluate the phenomenon of photoinhibition of photosynthesis and its consequent recovery.

In Vitro Biofilm Formation by Isolates and Its Susceptibility to Azole Antifungals.

The yeast , an opportunistic pathogen that inhabits the skin of various domestic and wild animals, is capable of producing a biofilm that plays an important role in antifungal resistance. The aim of this research study was to find the intensity of biofilm production by strains isolated from the ear canal of healthy dogs, and to determine the susceptibility of planktonic, adhered and biofilm-forming cells to three azole antifungals-itraco-nazole, voriconazole and posaconazole-that are most commonly used to treat infections. Out of 52 isolates, 43 strains (82.

sp. nov., isolated from glacial habitats of maritime Antarctica.

Strains P8930 and 478 were isolated from Antarctic glaciers located on James Ross Island and King George Island, respectively. They comprised Gram-stain-negative short rod-shaped cells forming pink pigmented colonies and exhibited identical 16S rRNA gene sequences and highly similar MALDI TOF mass spectra, and hence were assigned as representatives of the same species. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences assigned both isolates to the genus and showed and to be their closest phylogenetic neighbours, with 97.

Comparison of antifungal activity of selected essential oils against .

Introduction: Fusaria are microscopic filamentous fungi which are spread in soil, in various organic substrates, and include more than 80 phytopathogenic species which are predominantly hosted by cereals, fruits and vegetables. Many of these species, under certain conditions, are capable of synthesizing secondary metabolites, mycotoxins. At present, various substances are used for their elimination and one of the solutions appears to be essential oils.

Antibiofilm activity of selected plant essential oils from the family against clinical isolates.

Introduction: The virulence of is conditioned by several virulence factors, one of which is the formation of biofilm which reduces the sensitivity of the yeast to conventional antimycotics. This study determines the antifungal and antibiofilm activity of five essential oils (EOs) of the family: , , , , and .

Material And Methods: In the preliminary research, the antifungal effect of eachof the EOs was tested in the concentration range of 200-0.

Photosynthetic performance of Antarctic lichen Dermatocarpon polyphyllizum when affected by desiccation and low temperatures.

Lichens are symbiotic organisms that are well adapted to desiccation/rehydration cycles. Over the last decades, the physiological background of their photosynthetic response-specifically activation of the protective mechanism during desiccation-has been studied at the level of photosystem II of the lichen photobiont by means of several biophysical methods. In our study, the effects of desiccation and low temperatures on chlorophyll fluorescence and spectral reflectance parameters were investigated in Antarctic chlorolichen Dermatocarpon polyphyllizum.

Diclofenac as an environmental threat: Impact on the photosynthetic processes of Lemna minor chloroplasts.

Mechanisms of pharmaceuticals action on biochemical and physiological processes in plants that determine plant growth and development are still mostly unknown. This study deals with the effects of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac (DCF) on photosynthesis as an essential anabolic process. Changes in primary and secondary photosynthetic processes were assessed in chloroplasts isolated from Lemna minor exposed to 1, 10, 100, and 1000 μM DCF.

Reprint of Efficient fungal UV-screening provides a remarkably high UV-B tolerance of photosystem II in lichen photobionts.

Lichen photobionts in situ have an extremely UV-B tolerant photosystem II efficiency (Fv/Fm). We have quantified the UV-B-screening offered by the mycobiont and the photobiont separately. The foliose lichens Nephroma arcticum and Umbilicaria spodochroa with 1: intact or 2: removed cortices were exposed to 0.

Efficient fungal UV-screening provides a remarkably high UV-B tolerance of photosystem II in lichen photobionts.

Lichen photobionts in situ have an extremely UV-B tolerant photosystem II efficiency (Fv/Fm). We have quantified the UV-B-screening offered by the mycobiont and the photobiont separately. The foliose lichens Nephroma arcticum and Umbilicaria spodochroa with 1: intact or 2: removed cortices were exposed to 0.

Flavobacterium chryseum sp. nov. and Flavobacterium psychroterrae sp. nov., novel environmental bacteria isolated from Antarctica.

A group of rod-shaped, aerobic, Gram-stain-negative, gliding bacteria producing flexirubin-type pigment was isolated from environmental samples collected in Antarctica in 2009-2014. Phylogenetic analysis of the almost complete 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed two separated branches belonging to the genus Flavobacterium. Group I (n=8), represented by strain CCM 8826, shared the highest sequence similarity to Flavobacterium collinsii 983-08 (98.

Species composition of Malassezia yeasts in dogs in Slovakia.

Malassezia (M.) pachydermatis is the lipophilic yeast, which is normally present on the skin and in the ear canal of dogs but under certain conditions it may cause dermatitis and otitis. There is less known about the occurrence of lipid-dependent Malassezia species in dogs.

A dip in the chlorophyll fluorescence induction at 0.2-2 s in Trebouxia-possessing lichens reflects a fast reoxidation of photosystem I. A comparison with higher plants.

An unusual dip (compared to higher plant behaviour under comparable light conditions) in chlorophyll fluorescence induction (FI) at about 0.2-2 s was observed for thalli of several lichen species having Trebouxia species (the most common symbiotic green algae) as their native photobionts and for Trebouxia species cultured separately in nutrient solution. This dip appears after the usual O(J)IP transient at a wide range of excitation light intensities (100-1800 micromol photons m(-2) s(-1)).