Optimal Fast Integral Decontamination of Aerosols and Fast Disinfection of Contaminated Surfaces.

Aerosolized anthrax () spores are of extreme health concern and can remain airborne for hours and contaminate all kinds of surfaces, constituting reservoirs from which resuspension is easily produced. The assessment of decontamination techniques must therefore consider both air and surfaces. In the present study, several kinds of disinfecting fogs were experimentally tested against spores, which served as a surrogate for , both as aerosols released into the air and spread on porous and non-porous surfaces with different positions and orientations.

Prevalence, typing and antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella isolates from commercial shellfish in the North coast of Morocco.

Salmonellosis is one of the most common foodborne illnesses in the world. The irrational use of antibiotics in medicine and in animal nutrition has greatly favored the emergence and spread of resistant strains of non-typhoid Salmonella. This study aims the determination of the prevalence of Salmonella in bivalve mollusks in Northern Morocco, as well as the molecular typing and antibiotic susceptibility testing of the strains isolated from positive samples.

Eradication of Biofilm Viability: In Vitro Combination Therapy of Cationic Carbosilane Dendrons Derived from 4-Phenylbutyric Acid with AgNO and EDTA.

is a human pathogen of significant clinical relevance. This pathogen is resistant to different drugs, and most clinical antifungals are not effective against the prevention and treatment of infections. As with other microorganisms, it can produce biofilms that serve as a barrier against antifungal agents and other substances, contributing to infection in humans and environmental tolerance of this microorganism.

Insight on the Structure-to-Activity of Carbosilane Metallodendrimers in the Fight against Biofilms.

Biofilm formation is a critical health concern, involved in most human bacterial infections. Combatting this mechanism, which increases resistance to traditional antibiotics and host immune defences, requires novel therapeutic approaches. The remarkable biocide activity and the monodispersity of carbosilane metallodendrimers make them excellent platforms to evaluate the impact of different structural parameters on the biological activity.

In Vitro Activity of Carbosilane Cationic Dendritic Molecules on Prevention and Treatment of Albicans Biofilms.

spp. are one of the most common fungal pathogens. Biofilms formed by offer resistance mechanisms against most antifungal agents.

Ultrastructural Study of Trophozoites and Cysts Treated In Vitro with Cationic Carbosilane Dendrimers.

Cationic carbosilane dendrimers are branched molecules with antimicrobial properties. Their activity has been tested against , a causative agent of keratitis, a severe ocular disease in humans. trophozoites and cysts were exposed to different noncytotoxic cationic carbosilane dendrimers with proven antiamoebic activity.

Study of susceptibility to antibiotics and molecular characterization of high virulence Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from a rural hospital in Ethiopia.

We characterised 80 Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from human patients with SSTIs at a rural hospital in Ethiopia. Susceptibility to antibiotic of all strains was tested. The MLST method was used to type and a phylogenetic analysis was conducted employing the sequences of 7 housekeeping genes.

Antibacterial Effect of Carbosilane Metallodendrimers in Planktonic Cells of Gram-Positive and Gram-Negative Bacteria and Biofilm.

Antibiotic resistance is currently one of the main threats to public health security. Biofilm formation is a resistance mechanism that is responsible for most human bacterial infections and requires new and effective therapeutic approaches, such as those provided by nanotechnology. In this work, the antibacterial effect of carbosilane metallodendrimers with different metals (copper(II) and ruthenium(II)), ligands (chloride and nitrate) and generations (generation 0, 1 and 2) has been studied using planktonic Gram-positive () and Gram-negative () bacteria.

Carbosilane Dendron-Peptide Nanoconjugates as Antimicrobial Agents.

Over the last decades, multidrug-resistant bacteria have emerged and spread, increasing the number of bacteria, against which commonly used antibiotics are no longer effective. It has become a serious public health problem whose solution requires medical research in order to explore novel effective antimicrobial molecules. On the one hand, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are regarded as good alternatives because of their generally broad-spectrum activities, but sometimes they can be easily degraded by the organism or be toxic to animal cells.

Aspergillus tamarii keratitis in a contact lens wearer.

Keratitis produced by has been previously described associated to an ocular injury. We report a case in a contact lens wearer with a history of previous bilateral myopic LASIK ablation, bilateral intracorneal rings and vitrectomy and scleral buckling in his left eye. The fungus could be quickly identified combining phenotype, microscopy and mass spectrometry.

Antibacterial and antifungal properties of dendronized silver and gold nanoparticles with cationic carbosilane dendrons.

Water soluble silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) capped with cationic carbosilane dendrons have been synthesized by direct reaction in water of dendrons, silver precursor and a reducing agent. These nanoparticles have been characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), ultraviolet spectroscopy (UV), elemental analysis, and zeta potential (ZP). The antibacterial and antifungal properties of the cationic dendrons and dendronized AgNPs and AuNPs with these dendrons have been evaluated against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial -including resistant strains- and yeast strains, respectively.

In vitro anti-Acanthamoeba synergistic effect of chlorhexidine and cationic carbosilane dendrimers against both trophozoite and cyst forms.

Acanthamoeba sp. are the causative agents of severe illnesses in humans such as Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) and granulomatous amoebic encephalitis (GAE). Medical therapy is not yet well established.

Synthesis, characterization and antibacterial behavior of water-soluble carbosilane dendrons containing ferrocene at the focal point.

A series of novel water-soluble ammonium-terminated carbosilane dendrons containing a ferrocene unit at the focal point were synthesized, in order to combine the unique redox activity of ferrocene and the precisely designed structure of the dendrons with the aim to evaluate them as a new class of potential organometallic-based antibacterial compounds. The synthetic route is based on the initial amination of ferrocenecarboxaldehyde with carbosilane dendrons that contain allyl groups on the surface followed by reduction of the in situ prepared imine product, and the subsequent functionalization of the periphery with terminal amine groups by hydrosilylation reactions. Systems quaternized with HCl are soluble and stable in water or other protic solvents.

Spiribacter curvatus sp. nov., a moderately halophilic bacterium isolated from a saltern.

A novel pink-pigmented bacterial strain, UAH-SP71T, was isolated from a saltern located in Santa Pola, Alicante (Spain) and the complete genome sequence was analysed and compared with that of Spiribacter salinus M19-40T, suggesting that the two strains constituted two separate species, with a 77.3% ANI value. In this paper, strain UAH-SP71T was investigated in a taxonomic study using a polyphasic approach.

Development of a new oxygen consumption rate assay in cultures of Acanthamoeba (Protozoa: Lobosea) and its application to evaluate viability and amoebicidal activity in vitro.

A new fluorometric method has been developed for measuring the oxygen consumption rate (OCR) of Acanthamoeba cultures in microplates and for screening molecules with amoebicidal activity against this microorganism. The use of a biofunctional matrix (containing an oxygen-sensitive fluorogenic probe) attached to the microplate wells allowed continuous measurement of OCR in the medium, hence assessment of amoebic growth. The new OCR method applied to cell viability yielded a linear relationship and monitoring was much quicker than with indirect viability assays previously used.

Evaluation of the activity of new cationic carbosilane dendrimers on trophozoites and cysts of Acanthamoeba polyphaga.

Dendrimers are repetitively branched molecules with a broad spectrum of applications, mainly for their antimicrobial properties and as nanocarriers for other molecules. Recently, our research group have synthesized and studied their activity against Acanthamoeba sp., causative agent of a severe ocular disease in humans: Acanthamoeba keratitis.

Characterization of a human-pathogenic Acanthamoeba griffini isolated from a contact lens-wearing keratitis patient in Spain.

Amoebae were isolated from contact lenses of a symptomatic lens wearer in Spain. Protozoa were characterized by studying their morphology, biology, protease activity and the 18S rRNA gene sequence. Morphology of the organism was observed by light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy.

Genomes of "Spiribacter", a streamlined, successful halophilic bacterium.

Background: Thalassosaline waters produced by the concentration of seawater are widespread and common extreme aquatic habitats. Their salinity varies from that of sea water (ca. 3.

In vitro comparative assessment of different viability assays in Acanthamoeba castellanii and Acanthamoeba polyphaga trophozoites.

The species of the genus Acanthamoeba are opportunistic protozoan parasites that cause different diseases in humans, such as amoebic keratitis and granulomatous encephalitis. The rise in the rate of Acanthamoeba keratitis, mainly due to the increase in contact lens wearers, turns the development of viability assays using a multi-well plate reader as a tool for screening new antiamoebic agents in vitro into an important goal. In our study, the viability assays PrestoBlue®, resazurin sodium salt, 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and CellTiter96® were tested for their suitability as time-saving alternatives to the classical manual or direct-counting method, assessing the effect of the antiamoebic agent chlorhexidine digluconate and temperature on Acanthamoeba castellanii (ATCC® 30234™) and Acanthamoeba polyphaga 2961.

In vitro evaluation of the effectiveness of new water-stable cationic carbosilane dendrimers against Acanthamoeba castellanii UAH-T17c3 trophozoites.

Acanthamoeba is one of the most common free-living amoebas which is widespread in the environment and can infect humans, causing diseases such as keratitis and encephalitis. In this paper we examine for the first time the amebicidal activity of the family of cationic dendrimers nG-[Si{(CH(2))(3)N(+)(Me)(Et)(CH(2))(2)NMe(3) (+)}2I(-)]( x ) (where n denotes the generations: zero (n = 0, x = 1), first (n = 1, x = 4), and second (n = 2, x = 8); for simplicity, they were named as 0G-CNN2, 1G-CNN8, and 2G-CNN16, respectively) against Acanthamoeba castellanii UAH-T17c3 trophozoites. In order to test the amebicidal activity, we cultured the strain A.

Hyperbranched polymers versus dendrimers containing a carbosilane framework and terminal ammonium groups as antimicrobial agents.

A new family of amine- and ammonium-terminated hyperbranched polycarbosilanes (PCS) and dendrimers has been synthesized. The functionalization of a polycarbosilane matrix was carried out with peripheral allyl groups by two strategies in the case of PCS: 1) hydrosilylation of allyl amines with PCS containing terminal Si-H bonds, or 2) hydrosilylation of PCS-allyl with an aminosilane. Dendrimers with terminal amine groups were synthesized by hydrosilylation of allydimethylamine.

Post-translational processing of modular xylanases from Streptomyces is dependent on the carbohydrate-binding module.

Xylanases are very often modular enzymes composed of one or more catalytic domains and carbohydrate-binding modules (CBMs) connected by a flexible linker region. Usually, when these proteins are processed they lose their carbohydrate-binding capacity. Here, the role of the linker regions and cellulose- or xylan-binding domains in the processing of Xys1L from Streptomyces halstedii JM8 and Xyl30L from Streptomyces avermitilis UAH30 was studied.

Microbiological water quality and its relation to nitrogen and phosphorus at the Pareja limno-reservoir (Guadalajara, Spain).

Bordering on the edge of the Entrepeñas reservoir (Guadalajara, Spain), next to the village of Pareja, a small dam that allows a body of water to develop with a constant level has been built. Initiatives like this (which we have termed "limno-reservoirs") are innovative in Spain and around the world. Earlier reservoirs such as this one were constructed to create a habitat for birds, but the Pareja limno-reservoir is the first to promote socio-economic development.

Water-stable ammonium-terminated carbosilane dendrimers as efficient antibacterial agents.

A new family of amine- and ammonium-terminated carbosilane dendrimers of the type Gn-[Si(CH2)3N(Et)CH2CH2NMe2]x and Gn-{[Si(CH2)(3)N+R(Et)CH2CH2N+RMe2]x(X-)y} (where n = 1, 2 and 3; R = H, X = Cl; R = Me, X = I) respectively has been synthesized by hydrosilylation of N,N-dimethyl-N'-allyl-N'-ethyl-ethylenediamine, [(CH2=CH-CH2)(Et)N(CH2)2NMe2] with the corresponding hydride-terminated dendrimers and subsequent quaternization with HCl or MeI. Quaternized dendrimers are soluble and stable in water or other protic solvents for long time periods. The antibacterial properties of the quaternary ammonium functionalized dendrimers have been evaluated showing that they act as potent biocides in which the multivalency along with the biopermeability of the carbosilane dendritic skeleton play an important role in the antibactericidal activity of these compounds.

Halomonas ilicicola sp. nov., a moderately halophilic bacterium isolated from a saltern.

A Gram-negative, heterotrophic, aerobic, pale orange-pigmented, non-endospore-forming and motile bacterial strain, designated strain SP8(T), was isolated from a salty water sample from the solar salterns of Santa Pola, located on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. The strain grew optimally at 37 degrees C, pH 6.5 and in the presence of 10 % NaCl.