Rapid Identification of Pseudomonas fluorescens Harboring Thermostable Alkaline Protease by Real-time Loop-mediated Isothermal Amplification

Thermostable alkaline protease (TAP) harbored by Pseudomonas fluorescens decomposes protein in milk and dairy products, leading to milk and dairy product spoilage during storage. Thus, a specific, sensitive, rapid, and simple method is required to detect TAP-harboring P. fluorescens. Two sets of primers targeting the aprX and gyrB genes of P. fluorescens were designed. The detection system and conditions were optimized, and a real-time loop mediated isothermal amplification (real-time LAMP) method was developed for the simultaneous detection of TAP-harboring P. fluorescens in two separate reaction tubes. The phylogenetic tree targeting aprX showed that P. fluorescens and P. lurida clustered on the same branch. The phylogenetic tree targeting gyrB showed that P. fluorescens clustered on the same branch with 95% confidence value, whereas P. lurida clustered on different branches. DNA of 16 strains of P. fluorescens and 34 strains of non-P. fluorescens was detected by real-time LAMP. TAP-harboring P. fluorescens can only be identified when the real-time LAMP detection results of both aprX and gyrB are positive. The dissociation temperatures of aprX and gyrB in the real-time LAMP amplified products were approximately 90.0 °C and 88.0 °C, respectively. The detection limits of the real-time LAMP targeting aprX and gyrB were 4.9 CFU/reaction in pure culture and 2.2 CFU/reaction in skimmed milk. The coefficient of variation of the repeatability test was less than 2%, indicating that the established real-time LAMP of P. fluorescens targeting gyrB and aprX has good stability and repeatability. Two-hundred raw milk samples were tested for the presence of TAP-harboring P. fluorescens by real-time LAMP in 3 h, and the coincidence rate of the results with those obtained using the traditional method, which takes at least 5-7 d, was 100%. Real-time LAMP will be a practical and effective method for accurate and rapid identification of TAP-harboring P. fluorescens in raw milk.

Multipotential Alkaline Protease From a Novel Pyxidicoccus sp. 252: Ecofriendly Replacement to Various Chemical Processes

A newly isolated alkaline protease-producing myxobacterium was isolated from soil. The strain was identified as Pyxidicoccus sp. S252 on the basis of 16S rRNA sequence analysis. The extracellular alkaline proteases produced by isolate S252 (PyCP) was optimally active in the pH range of 11.0–12.0 and temperature range of 40–50°C The zymogram of PyCP showed six caseinolytic protease bands. The proteases were stable in the pH range of 8.0–10.0 and temperature range of 40–50°C. The activity of PyCP was enhanced in the presence of Na+, Mg2+, Cu2+, Tween-20, and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) (hydrogen peroxide), whereas in Triton X-100, glycerol, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), and Co2+, it was stable. PyCP showed a potential in various applications. The addition of PyCP in the commercial detergent enhanced the wash performance of the detergent by efficiently removing the stains of tomato ketchup and coffee. PyCP efficiently hydrolyzed the gelatin layer on X-ray film to release the embedded silver. PyCP also showed potent dehairing of goat skin and also efficiently deproteinized sea shell waste indicating its application in chitin extraction. Thus, the results of the present study indicate that Pyxidicoccus sp. S252 proteases have the potential to be used as an ecofriendly replacement of chemicals in several industrial processes.

Phenotypic and genetic analysis of virulence factors in multidrug- sensitive and multidrug-resistant clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

This study aimed to correlate the pattern of antimicrobial susceptibility, phenotypic production of virulence factors, the occurrence of virulence factors genes and the clonal profile of clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa of a tertiary hospital in Recife-PE. The 30 clinical isolates (15 multidrug-sensitive (MDS) and 15 multidrug-resistant (MDR)) were analyzed using phenotypic methods to detect virulence factors (alkaline protease, hemolysin, phospholipase C, lipase, and pigments). The detection of the aprA, lasA, lasB, plcH, and toxA genes was performed through specific PCRs, and the clonal profile was assessed using ERIC-PCR. The results revealed cephalosporins being the class eliciting the highest percentage of resistance; the MDR isolates were all resistant. Among the MDS isolates, all were sensitive to carbapenems and quinolones. The MDR isolates produced less virulence factors such as pyocyanin and lipase, and exhibited lower expression of toxA and lasA genes, whereas the MDS isolates produced less hemolysin and phospholipase C. There was no difference between the groups for alkaline protease production and aprA gene expression. All the isolates produced pyocyanin and expressed lasB and plcH genes. A great genetic diversity was found, and it was possible to observe 28 genetic profiles. Clones were present among the MDR isolates. The occurrence of virulence factors in almost all the isolates studied suggests their high level of pathogenicity, demonstrating that this pathogen is capable of accumulating numerous virulence factors, and in some cases, is associated with multidrug resistance, which makes it difficult to treat these infections.