Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) is an economically significant pathogen of poultry species. Among the table egg sector of the poultry industry, live attenuated strains of MG are commonly used to limit production losses associated with MG-induced disease. These vaccines, however, may be problematic to broiler- and turkey-related industries because of associated virulence; therefore, an understandi...

A mobile screen (0.5 x 0.4 m) producing ultra-clean exponential LAF (air-flow central zone 0.6 m/s and peripheral zone 0.4 m/s) was investigated as an addition to conventional turbulent/mixing operating room ventilation. The evaluation was performed during strictly standardized sham operations reflecting conditions during major surgery. The study consisted of a pilot experiment designed to give...

Selected microbial parameters were monitored in sediments from a pristine and an oil-field salt marsh. Although numbers of hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria and fungi were significantly greater in the oil field, the values did not show a strong correlation with levels of hydrocarbons (r = 0.43 and r = 0.49, respectively). However, a high correlation was noted between ratios of hydrocarbonoclastic an...

Quantitative lytA PCR is often performed using in-house standards. We hypothesised equivalence when measuring a standard suspension of Streptococcus pneumoniae by colony-forming-units (CFU) or genome-copies. Median (IQR) ratio of CFU/genome-copies was 0.19 (0.1-1.2). Genome-copies were less variable than CFU, but the discrepancy between the methods highlights challenges with absolute quantifica...

Five of six strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa had at least fourfold increase in resistance to carbenicillin after they reverted from carbenicillin-induced spheroplasts to rod forms. The most susceptible laboratory strain showed the greatest increase in resistance. There was a marked inoculum effect on the minimal inhibitory concentration of carbenicillin when high inocula (107 colony-forming un...

The effect of temperature and moisture on the elimination capacity (EC), CO(2) production and spore emission by Fusarium solani was studied in biofilters packed with vermiculite and fed with n- pentane. Three temperatures (15, 25 and 35°C) were tested and the highest average EC (64 g m(-3) h(-1)) and lower emission of spores (2.0 × 10(3) CFU m(-3) air) were obtained at 25°C. The effect of moist...

The present study describes a bacteriophage (M(Sa)) active against Staphylococcus aureus, including methicillin-resistant staphylococcal strains. When inoculated into mice simultaneously with S. aureus A170 (10(8) CFU/mouse), phage (10(9) PFU) rescued 97% of the mice; when applied to nonlethal (5 x 10(6) CFU/mouse) 10-day infections, the phage also fully cleared the bacteria. The phage M(Sa), d...

During the past 50 years, in vitro measurement of DNA polymerase activity has become an essential molecular biology tool. Traditional methods used to measure DNA polymerase activity in vitro are undesirable due to the usage of radionucleotides. Fluorescence-based DNA polymerase assays have been developed; however, they also suffer from various limitations. Herein we present a rapid, highly sens...

Rhodococcus equi is an important pathogen in foals; however, its incidence in African indigenous animals is poorly understood. Fecal samples (92 from nine indigenous species) and 43 soil samples were collected from two Zambian National Parks. The presence of R. equi was investigated and 533 isolates were tested for the presence of 15- to 17-kDa antigens (VapA) and a 20-kDa antigen (VapB) by imm...

A rapid, simple, and inexpensive method for quantitation of viable mycoplasmas is described. Serial dilutions were made in sterile microtiter plates with standard microtiter equipment. The results were multiplied by a factor of 2.38 to obtain colony-forming units comparable to those obtained with the laborious glass pipette-tube dilution method.