We present a phylogenetic analysis of nine strains of symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria isolated from nodules of tagasaste (Chamaecytisus proliferus) and other endemic woody legumes of the Canary Islands, Spain. These and several reference strains were characterized genotypically at different levels of taxonomic resolution by computer-assisted analysis of 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) PCR-restricti...

Breast cancer is the most prevalent malignancy in women throughout the world. Similar to other cancers, a strong relationship between breast cancer and environmental factors such as infectious agents has been reported. Toxoplasma gondii is a protozoan parasite which may play a role in cancer induction. The present study aimed to investigate a possible association between a history of T. gondii ...

The present report assesses the association between clonal groupings, disease, and the virulence fingerprint of 76 South African Helicobacter pylori cagA(+) strains isolated from 57 Cape-colored subjects. Two methods, repetitive extragenic palindromic (REP)-PCR and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD)-PCR, were used to generate DNA fingerprints, and computer-assisted analysis was used to der...

Mutans streptococci (MS) are key organisms associated with the etiology of dental caries. Using probabilities that were tested by oversampling, we designed this study to determine the minimal number of MS isolates from an individual required to evaluate diversity of genotypes. MS isolates were genotyped by repetitive extragenic palindromic-polymerase chain-reaction (rep-PCR). Analysis of 20 iso...

Each year, large volumes of ornamental and food plant propagative stock are imported into the North America; occasionally, Ralstonia solanacearum is found systemically infecting this plant material. In this study, 107 new R. solanacearum strains were collected over a 10-year period from imported propagative stock and compared with 32 previously characterized R. solanacearum strains using repeti...

Anaplasma marginale genomic DNA was tested for the presence of repetitive extragenic palindromic (REP) and enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC)-like sequences in order to evaluate the genetic diversity of multiple A. marginale isolates. A. marginale isolates were obtained from cattle of six different states of Brazil, from the US and an Anaplasma centrale strain was obtained f...