Integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs) are mobile genetic elements that play a key role in bacterial adaptation. Such elements are found in almost every bacterial genera and species, and often code for adaptive traits conferring selective advantages to their host. ICEs maintain by integrating into and replicating along with a replicon of the host genome. ICEs can propagate by conjugative t...

Integrative conjugative elements (ICEs) belonging to the SXT/R391 group of mobile drug resistance elements are predominantly found in enterobacterial pathogens of human and waterborne origin. A key feature of such elements is their ability to stably integrate into their host prfC gene, initially truncating the gene but restoring prfC function by generating a novel hybrid prfC gene upon integrat...

The Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT) on board Yohkoh revealed that the ejection of X-ray emitting plasmoid is sometimes observed in a solar flare. It was found that the ejected plasmoid is strongly accelerated during a peak in the hard X-ray (HXR) emission of the flare. In this paper, we present an examination of the GOES X 2.3 class flare that occurred at 14:51 UT on 2000 November 24. In the SXT ima...

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of β-lactamase-negative ampicillin-resistant (BLNAR) Haemophilus influenzae isolated from patients of a teaching hospital in Thailand. Eighty-eight isolates of H. influenzae were collected between September 2005 and March 2008. All isolates were identified and characterized for biotypes and capsular types. The β-lactamase production of...

As part of an ongoing surveillance program of antibiotic-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae in Sofia, Bulgaria, 120 penicillin-resistant strains (PRSP) (most of them recovered from children hospitalized with pneumococcal disease) were analyzed by microbiological and molecular methods. Several unique features of this collection are of particular interest. (i) Most isolates (112 of 120) were also...