Proteomic profiling of clinical and environmental strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a ubiquitous bacterium, which is able to change its physiological characteristics in response to different habitats. Environmental strains are presumably less pathogenic than clinical strains and whether or not the clinical strains originate from the environment or through inter-host transmission remains poorly understood. To minimize the risk of infection, a better understanding of proteomic profiling of P.

Comparison of Clinical Isolates of Aeromonas from Singapore and Malaysia with Regard to Molecular Identification, Virulence, and Antimicrobial Profiles.

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the species distribution, genetic relatedness, virulence gene profiles, antimicrobial sensitivities, and resistance gene distribution of clinical Aeromonas strains from Singapore and Malaysia.

Methods: A total of 210 Aeromonas clinical isolates were investigated: 116 from Singapore General Hospital and 94 archived clinical isolates from University of Malaya Medical Center, Malaysia. The isolates were genetically identified based on the gcat gene screening and the partial sequences of the rpoD housekeeping gene.

Genetic variants of Orientia tsutsugamushi identified from scrub typhus cases in Malaysia.

We report herein the clinical presentation and diagnosis of scrub typhus in three patients attending a teaching hospital in Malaysia. Three genetic variants belonged to the Karp and Gilliam strains of O. tsutsugamushi were amplified from the acute blood samples of the patients by a nested polymerase chain reaction assay.

Enzymatic and molecular characterisation of leucine aminopeptidase of Burkholderia pseudomallei.

Background: Leucine aminopeptidase (LAP) has been known to be a housekeeping protease, DNA-binding protein and repressor or activator in the operon regulation of virulence-associated genes in several bacterial species. LAP activity was consistently detected in overnight cultures of Burkholderia pseudomallei, the causative agent of melioidosis and this enzyme was partially purified and characterised in this study. The intra- and inter-species nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequence variation of LAP encoding gene (pepA) was determined.

Systematic review and consensus guidelines for environmental sampling of Burkholderia pseudomallei.

Background: Burkholderia pseudomallei, a Tier 1 Select Agent and the cause of melioidosis, is a Gram-negative bacillus present in the environment in many tropical countries. Defining the global pattern of B. pseudomallei distribution underpins efforts to prevent infection, and is dependent upon robust environmental sampling methodology.

Prevalence and characterization of multidrug-resistant and extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli from pediatric wards of a Malaysian hospital.

The emergence of Escherichia coli resistant to extended-spectrum cephalosporins (ESCs) is of concern as ESC is often used to treat infections by Gram-negative bacteria. One-hundred and ten E. coli strains isolated in 2009-2010 from children warded in a Malaysian tertiary hospital were analyzed for their antibiograms, carriage of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) and AmpC genes, possible inclusion of the beta-lactamase genes on an integron platform, and their genetic relatedness.

Sequence polymorphism and PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of the flagellin gene of Burkholderia pseudomallei.

Four flagellin allelic types (I to IV) of Burkholderia pseudomallei were identified based on their sequence variation and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of the amplified flagellin gene. Flagellin allelic type I was the most predominantly (75.0%) found among the 100 clinical isolates of B.

Validation and comparison of an extrapolysaccharide (EPS)-based in-house ELISA and the PanBio melioidosis rapid cassette test-kits for serodiagnosis of melioidosis in a non-endemic area.

Detection of anti-Burkholderia pseudomallei antibodies in sera from melioidosis patients still represents a keystone in the confirmation of the clinical diagnosis, especially in non-endemic areas. An in-house assay was compared to lateral flow assays for the rapid detection of melioidosis-specific IgG or IgM. Employing 50 positive sera from patients and 200 negative sera from blood donors, sensitivity of the ELISA, the IgG and IgM assay were 84.