Studies on the drug resistance profile of Enterococcus faecium distributed from poultry retailers to hospitals.

The multidrug resistant Enterococcus faecium (MEF) strains originating from farm animals are proliferating at a substantial pace to impact downstream food chains and could reach hospitals. This study was conducted to elucidate the drug susceptibility profile of MEF strains collected from poultry products in Ann Arbor, MI area and clinical settings from Michigan State Lab and Moffitt Cancer Center (MCC) in Florida. Presumptive positive Enterococcus isolates at species level were identified by Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight (MALDI-TOF) analysis.

Klebsiella michiganensis sp. nov., a new bacterium isolated from a tooth brush holder.

Isolate W14(T) recovered from a household tooth brush holder was found to be gram-negative, a facultative anaerobic, non-motile, capsulated, and a non-endospore-forming straight rod. Based on phylogenetic analysis with 16S rRNA gene sequence, isolate W14(T) was affiliated to the genus Klebsiella. The closest phylogenetic relative was K.

Are we aware of microbial hotspots in our household?

Household microorganisms are found in unexpected places. Therefore, the authors conducted a study to investigate the microbial hotspots and reveal the misconceptions regarding the most contaminated objects in the household. In the authors' study, 26 daily use objects in 22 households were sampled to determine the levels of heterotrophic plate count (HPC), coliforms, E.

Microbial siderophores: a mini review.

Iron is one of the major limiting factors and essential nutrients of microbial life. Since in nature it is not readily available in the preferred form, microorganisms produce small high affinity chelating molecules called siderophores for its acquisition. Microorganisms produce a wide variety of siderophores controlled at the molecular level by different genes to accumulate, mobilize and transport iron for metabolism.

The microbiology of metalworking fluids.

Metalworking fluids (MWFs) are complex mixtures of chemicals and are indispensable materials in industry. They are used as cooling and lubricating agents in different machining process such as grinding, milling, and cutting. The quality of MWFs is affected by physical, chemical, and microbial contaminates.

Development and validation of a real-time TaqMan assay for the detection and enumeration of Pseudomonas fluorescens ATCC 13525 used as a challenge organism in testing of food equipments.

Unlabelled: Pseudomonas fluorescens ATCC 13525 is used as the challenge organism to evaluate the efficacy of the clean-in-place (CIP) process of food equipment (automatic ice-maker) as per NSF/ANSI Standard 12. Traditional culturing methodology is presently used to determine the concentration of the challenge organism, which takes 48 h to confirm the cell density. Storage of the challenge preparation in the refrigerator might alter the cell density as P.

Rapid detection of rRNA group I pseudomonads in contaminated metalworking fluids and biofilm formation by fluorescent in situ hybridization.

Metalworking fluids (MWFs), used in different machining operations, are highly prone to microbial degradation. Microbial communities present in MWFs lead to biofilm formation in the MWF systems, which act as a continuous source of contamination. Species of rRNA group I Pseudomonas dominate in contaminated MWFs.

DNA vaccines: a mini review.

DNA vaccines are a major breakthrough in the field of vaccination with several advantages over traditional vaccines. Unlike traditional vaccines, DNA vaccines stimulate both arms of the immune system offering long lasting immunity. DNA vaccines not only have the potential to fight against infectious diseases such as influenza and hepatitis but they can also be used to prevent autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis.

Evaluation of molecular techniques for identification and enumeration of Raoultella terrigena ATCC 33257 in water purifier efficacy testing.

Raoultella terrigena ATCC 33257, a representative of the coliform group, is commonly used as a challenge organism in water purifier efficacy testing. In addition to being time consuming, traditional culturing techniques and metabolic identification systems (including automated systems) also fail to accurately differentiate this organism from its closely related neighbors belonging to the Enterobacteriaceae group. Molecular-based techniques, such as real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC)-PCR fingerprinting, are preferred methods of detection because of their accuracy, reproducibility, specificity, and sensitivity, along with shorter turnaround time.

Quantitative real-time PCR and fluorescence in situ hybridization approaches for enumerating Brevundimonas diminuta in drinking water.

Brevundimonas diminuta is a small Gram-negative bacterium used for validation of membranes and filters used in the pharmaceutical and drinking water treatment industries. Current assays are time consuming, nonselective, and may be subject to interference by competing indigenous microorganisms. The focus of this study is to develop rapid and specific enumeration methodologies for B.

Development of a real-time TaqMan assay to detect mendocina sublineage Pseudomonas species in contaminated metalworking fluids.

A TaqMan quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay was developed for the detection and enumeration of three Pseudomonas species belonging to the mendocina sublineage (P. oleovorans, P. pseudoalcaligenes, and P.

Selective enumeration strategies for Brevundimonas diminuta from drinking water.

Brevundimonas diminuta is used as a control organism for validating the efficiency of water filtration systems. Since these protocols use nonselective growth media, heterotrophic plate count bacteria (HPCs) indigenous to the water distribution system may interfere with B. diminuta enumeration, thus leading to inaccurate assessment of the filter's microbial reduction capability.