scholarly journals Normal intestinal flora of wild Nile crocodiles (Crocodylus niloticus) in the Okavango Delta, Botswana

Author(s):  
C.J. Lovely ◽  
A.J. Leslie

Bacterial and fungal cultures were performed from cloacal swabs collected from 29 wild Nile crocodiles, captured in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. Sixteen species of bacteria and 6 fungal species were cultured. Individual crocodiles yielded 1-4 bacterial species, and 0-2 fungal species. The most commonly isolated bacteria were Microbacterium, Enterococcus faecalis, Aeromonas hydrophila, and Escherichia coli. No salmonellae were cultured. The most commonly occurring fungus was Cladosporium. Several of the bacterial and fungal species isolated have been implicated in cases of septicaemia in crocodilians. Knowledge of the normal intestinal flora will contribute towards the development of a crocodile-specific probiotic for use in farmed crocodiles.

2010 ◽  
Vol 76 (14) ◽  
pp. 4655-4663 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean M. Lee ◽  
Aaron Wyse ◽  
Aaron Lesher ◽  
Mary Lou Everett ◽  
Linda Lou ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Although mice associated with a single bacterial species have been used to provide a simple model for analysis of host-bacteria relationships, bacteria have been shown to display adaptability when grown in a variety of novel environments. In this study, changes associated with the host-bacterium relationship in mice monoassociated with Escherichia coli K-12 over a period of 1,031 days were evaluated. After 80 days, phenotypic diversification of E. coli was observed, with the colonizing bacteria having a broader distribution of growth rates in the laboratory than the parent E. coli. After 1,031 days, which included three generations of mice and an estimated 20,000 generations of E. coli, the initially homogeneous bacteria colonizing the mice had evolved to have widely different growth rates on agar, a potential decrease in tendency for spontaneous lysis in vivo, and an increased tendency for spontaneous lysis in vitro. Importantly, mice at the end of the experiment were colonized at an average density of bacteria that was more than 3-fold greater than mice colonized on day 80. Evaluation of selected isolates on day 1,031 revealed unique restriction endonuclease patterns and differences between isolates in expression of more than 10% of the proteins identified by two-dimensional electrophoresis, suggesting complex changes underlying the evolution of diversity during the experiment. These results suggest that monoassociated mice might be used as a tool for characterizing niches occupied by the intestinal flora and potentially as a method of targeting the evolution of bacteria for applications in biotechnology.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Haidong He ◽  
Yan Xie

Background. To investigate the effect of hemodialysis on microbiota in uremic patients. Objective. To investigate the effect of hemodialysis on microbiota in uremic patients. Methods. This study included 85 adult patients who have received hemodialysis since August 2014, and the treatment plan has not changed for more than 12 months. These patients were divided into hemodialysis group (group A), hemodialysis+hemodialysis filtration group (group B), and hemodialysis+hemodialysis filtration+blood perfusion group (group C). Twenty-four adult ESRD patients (CK group) were enrolled. Serum biochemical indexes were measured, glomerular filtration rate (EGFR) was estimated, dialysis adequacy (kt/V) was calculated, and fresh feces were collected. At the same time, the feces of 30 health workers were selected as the control. 16S rRNA sequence was used to determine the intestinal flora of all fecal specimens. First of all, we analyzed the difference of the whole flora distribution between dialysis and nondialysis ESRD patients; then, we selected the most representative content of bifidobacteria, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Escherichia coli, and Enterococcus faecalis to analyze the influence of different blood purification methods on the intestinal flora. Results. (1) The level of C-reactive protein (CRP) in dialysis patients was lower than that in nondialysis ESRD patients, and CRP in group C was lower than that in groups A and B. There was no significant difference in kt/V between group A, group B, and group C. There was no significant difference in EGFR between the four groups. (2) The species diversity of ESRD patients without dialysis (CK group) was significantly lower than that of ESRD patients with dialysis; there was no significant difference between group A and group B; the species diversity of group C was significantly higher than that of group A and group B. (3) Compared with the control group, the levels of bifidobacteria and Lactobacillus acidophilus in ESRD patients were significantly lower, while the levels of Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecalis were significantly higher. (4) The levels of bifidobacteria and Lactobacillus acidophilus in hemodialysis patients were significantly higher than those in nonblood purification treatment group, and the levels of Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecalis were significantly lower than those in nonblood purification treatment group. (5) The level of Lactobacillus acidophilus in group C was significantly higher than that in groups A and B, and the level of Escherichia coli was significantly lower than that in groups A and B. Conclusion. ESRD patients have microbiota disorder. Hemodialysis can improve microbiota disorder in uremic patients. Compared with ordinary hemodialysis, combined hemoperfusion dialysis can further improve microbiota disorder.


2008 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. MBI.S762 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yair Motro ◽  
David S. Dunn ◽  
Tom La ◽  
Nyree D. Phillips ◽  
David J. Hampson ◽  
...  

Anaerobic intestinal spirochaetes of the genus Brachyspira include both pathogenic and commensal species. The two best-studied members are the pathogenic species B. hyodysenteriae (the aetiological agent of swine dysentery) and B. pilosicoli (a cause of intestinal spirochaetosis in humans and other species). Analysis of near-complete genome sequences of these two species identified a highly conserved 26 kilobase (kb) region that was shared, against a background of otherwise very little sequence conservation between the two species. PCR amplification was used to identify sets of contiguous genes from this region in the related Brachyspira species B. intermedia, B. innocens, B. murdochii, B. alvinipulli, and B. aalborgi, and demonstrated the presence of at least part of this region in species from throughout the genus. Comparative genomic analysis with other sequenced bacterial species revealed that none of the completely sequenced spirochaete species from different genera contained this conserved cluster of coding sequences. In contrast, Enterococcus faecalis and Escherichia coli contained high gene cluster conservation across the 26 kb region, against an expected background of little sequence conservation between these phylogenetically distinct species. The conserved region in B. hyodysenteriae contained five genes predicted to be associated with amino acid transport and metabolism, four with energy production and conversion, two with nucleotide transport and metabolism, one with ion transport and metabolism, and four with poorly characterised or uncertain function, including an ankyrin repeat unit at the 5’ end. The most likely explanation for the presence of this 26 kb region in the Brachyspira species and in two unrelated enteric bacterial species is that the region has been involved in horizontal gene transfer.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 2180
Author(s):  
Alessandro Coppola ◽  
Vincenzo La Vaccara ◽  
Tommaso Farolfi ◽  
Michele Fiore ◽  
Chiara Cascone ◽  
...  

Background: Bacterobilia is associated with postoperative morbidity after pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD), mostly due to infectious complications. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of bacteria species isolated from intraoperative biliary cultures, and related complications after PD. Methods: An ANOVA test was used to assess the prevalence of isolated bacterial species and postoperative complications. The odds ratio was computed to evaluate the association between biliary cultures and each complication, Endoscopic Retrograde CholangioPancreatography (ERCP) and each complication, ERCP and biliary cultures, Delayed Gastric Emptying (DGE) and Postoperative Pancreatic Fistula (POPF). Results: Positive biliary cultures were found in 162/244 (66%) PDs. Different prevalences of polymicrobial biliary culture were detected in patients with postoperative complications. In SSIs, a significant prevalence of biliary culture positive for E. coli, Klebsiella pneumoniæ and Enterococcus fæcalis (p < 0.001) was detected. Prevalences of polymicrobial biliary cultures with Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniæ, Enterococcus fæcalis and Enterococcus fæcium were significantly associated with POPF (p < 0.001). Biliary culture positive for Escherichia coli, Enterococcus fæcalis and Enterococcus fæcium showed a higher prevalence of intra-abdominal collection and DGE (p < 0.001). Notably, Escherichia coli was significantly associated with DGE as a unique complication (OR = 2.94 (1.30–6.70); p < 0.01). Conclusions: Specific prevalences of polymicrobial bacterobilia are associated with major complications, while monomicrobial Escherichia coli bacterobilia is associated with DGE as a unique complication after PD.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga Lobos ◽  
Andrea Barrera ◽  
Carlos Padilla

The objective was to analyse the antibacterial ability of members of the intestinal microbiota of <em>Oncorhynchus mykiss</em> specimens on several bacterial target strains that contaminate food and cause disease in humans. Bacterial colonies from an intestinal portion of the 20 specimens of <em>O. mykiss</em> were obtained in different culture media. Several of the colonies showed antibacterial action on different target strains. The bacterial species with the highest antagonistic capacity were <em>Hafnia alvei</em> and <em>Lactococcus lactis</em> and the more susceptible target strains were <em>Aeromonas hydrophila</em>, <em>Listeria monocytogenes</em> and <em>Escherichia coli</em>. Moreover, it was shown that all the antibacterial substances were susceptible to the action of various proteolytic enzymes. The detection of substances of a proteinaceous nature, possibly bacteriocins produced by bacteria of the intestinal microbiota of <em>O. mykiss</em>, allows further study of these products to establish biotechnological developments in the area of health protection and food biopreservation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 262-274
Author(s):  
E. Benyagoub ◽  
N. Nabbou ◽  
S. Boukhalkhel ◽  
I. Dehini

The medicinal value of the plants is due to their chemical components that bring a definite physiological action on the human body to prevent the diseases. In this work, we investigated the antimicrobial activity of leaves’ extracts of Quercus robur L., collected from the Algerian upper highlands, on ten bacterial strains and one fungal strain known to be pathogenic. First, we performed a qualitative phytochemical analysis, and second, antimicrobial activity tests performed by agar diffusion method (disc and well) with the determination of MIC by broth macro-dilution method. Given the results, it appears that obtained macerates of Quercus robur L. were rich in bioactive phytoconstituents such as alkaloids, anthraquinones, saponins, tannins, and other components. The yield of aqueous and methanolic macerates of leaves was 8.5 ± 1.41 and 22.4 ± 4.36%, respectively. The bacterial resistance was relatively important to several antibiotics, namely, ampicillin, amoxicillin + clavulanic acid for strains of Escherichia coli and Salmonella sp. However, Staphylococcus aureus strains were resistant to fusidic acid, penicillin, and oxacillin; while Enterococcus faecalis was resistant to fusidic acid, penicillin, oxacillin, and ticarcillin. The antibacterial activity of the macerates toward tested microbial strains showed that the aqueous and methanolic macerates of the leaves were proportional to the tested concentration and active not only against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria but also on the fungal species Candida albicans. The estimated MIC for Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis, and Staphylococcus aureus was in the order of 10 mg/mL, which seems more effective than toward Salmonella sp., Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Candida albicans which were in the order of 30 mg/mL. These preliminary results confirm that the part of the studied plant had a very good antimicrobial activity that was proportional to the serial concentrations of the tested extracts.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (29) ◽  
pp. 2681-2691
Author(s):  
Athina Geronikaki ◽  
Victor Kartsev ◽  
Phaedra Eleftheriou ◽  
Anthi Petrou ◽  
Jasmina Glamočlija ◽  
...  

Background: Although a great number of the targets of antimicrobial therapy have been achieved, it remains among the first fields of pharmaceutical research, mainly because of the development of resistant strains. Docking analysis may be an important tool in the research for the development of more effective agents against specific drug targets or multi-target agents 1-3. Methods: In the present study, based on docking analysis, ten tetrahydrothiazolo[2,3-a]isoindole derivatives were chosen for the evaluation of the antimicrobial activity. Results: All compounds showed antibacterial activity against eight Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial species being, in some cases, more potent than ampicillin and streptomycin against all species. The most sensitive bacteria appeared to be S. aureus and En. Cloacae, while M. flavus, E. coli and P. aeruginosa were the most resistant ones. The compounds were also tested for their antifungal activity against eight fungal species. All compounds exhibited good antifungal activity better than reference drugs bifonazole (1.4 – 41 folds) and ketoconazole (1.1 – 406 folds) against all fungal species. In order to elucidate the mechanism of action, docking studies on different antimicrobial targets were performed. Conclusion: According to docking analysis, the antifungal activity can be explained by the inhibition of the CYP51 enzyme for most compounds with a better correlation of the results obtained for the P.v.c. strain (linear regression between estimated binding Energy and log(1/MIC) with R 2 =0.867 and p=0.000091 or R 2 = 0.924, p= 0.000036, when compound 3 is excluded.


2001 ◽  
Vol 45 (12) ◽  
pp. 3524-3530 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph K. Naber ◽  
Michaela Hammer ◽  
Martina Kinzig-Schippers ◽  
Christian Sauber ◽  
Fritz Sörgel ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT In a randomized crossover study, 16 volunteers (8 men, 8 women) received single oral doses of 320 mg of gemifloxacin and 400 mg of ofloxacin on two separate occasions in the fasting state to assess the urinary excretion and urinary bactericidal titers (UBTs) at intervals for up to 144 h. Ofloxacin showed higher concentrations in urine compared with those of gemifloxacin. The median (range) cumulative excretion of gemifloxacin was 29.7% (8.4 to 48.7%) of the parent drug administered, and median (range) cumulative excretion of ofloxacin was 84.3% (46.5 to 95.2%) of the parent drug administered. The UBTs, i.e., the highest twofold dilutions (with antibiotic-free urine as the diluent) of urine that were still bactericidal, were determined for a reference strain and nine uropathogens for which the MICs of gemifloxacin and ofloxacin were as follows:Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, 0.016 and 0.06 μg/ml, respectively; Klebsiella pneumoniae, 0.03 and 0.06 μg/ml, respectively; Proteus mirabilis, 0.125 and 0.125 μg/ml, respectively; Escherichia coli, 0.06 and 0.5 μg/ml, respectively; Pseudomonas aeruginosa, 1 and 4 μg/ml, respectively; Staphylococcus aureus, 0.008 and 0.25 μg/ml, respectively; Enterococcus faecalis, 0.06 and 2 μg/ml, respectively;Staphylococcus aureus, 0.25 and 4 μg/ml, respectively;Enterococcus faecalis, 0.5 and 32 μg/ml, respectively; and Staphylococcus aureus, 2 and 32 μg/ml, respectively. Generally, the UBTs for gram-positive uropathogens were higher for gemifloxacin than for ofloxacin and the UBTs for gram-negative uropathogens were higher for ofloxacin than for gemifloxacin. According to the UBTs, ofloxacin-resistant uropathogens (MICs, ≥4 mg/liter) should also be considered gemifloxacin resistant. Although clinical trials have shown that gemifloxacin is effective for the treatment of uncomplicated urinary tract infections, whether an oral dosage of 320 mg of gemifloxacin once daily is also adequate for the treatment of complicated urinary tract infections has yet to be confirmed.


Pathogens ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 545
Author(s):  
Paramanandham Krishnamoorthy ◽  
Kuralayanapalya P. Suresh ◽  
Kavitha S. Jayamma ◽  
Bibek R. Shome ◽  
Sharanagouda S. Patil ◽  
...  

In this study, the major mastitis pathogen prevalence in the cattle and buffalo of the world was estimated by a meta-analysis. Staphylococcus (S) species, Streptococcus (St) species, and Escherichia coli (Ec) prevalence studies reported during 1979–2019 were collected using online databases, and offline resources. A meta-analysis of these data was done with the meta package in R-Software. The Staphylococcus aureus was the major mastitis pathogen, mostly causing subclinical mastitis, Ec causing clinical mastitis and St causing subclinical and clinical mastitis. The pooled prevalence estimates of S, St, and Ec were 28%, 12%, and 11% in the world from 156, 129, and 92 studies, respectively. The S, St, and Ec prevalences were high in Latin America (51%), Oceania (25%), and Oceania (28%), respectively. Higher S, St, and Ec prevalences were observed by molecular methods, signifying high sensitivity and usefulness for future studies. Among bacterial species, S. aureus (25%) followed by coagulase-negative Staphylococcus species (20%), Escherichia coli (11%), St. agalactiae (9%), St. uberis (9%) were the important pathogens present in the milk of the world. We hypothesize that there is a urgent need to reduce mastitis pathogen prevalence by ensuring scientific farm management practices, proper feeding, therapeutic interventions to augment profits in dairying, and improving animal and human health.


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