The rapid identification of the potentially toxigenic Corynebacterium species, C. diphtheriae, C. ulcerans and C. pseudotuberculosis is essential for diagnosis and treatment of diphtheria and diphtheria-like diseases. We used matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDIT-OF MS) in comparison with classical microbiological and molecular methods on 116 Coryn...

All diseases that result in turbinate atrophy in swine are called atrophic rhinitis (AR);however,not all cases of AR are economicallysignificant.Economic losses are attributed to reduced weight gain and feed efficiencyand the cost of treatment and prevention. There are two recognized forms of AR, which include the progressive form caused by toxigenic Pasteurella multocida and the nonprogressive...

Contamination of peanuts with mycotoxins, particularly aflatoxins, is a worldwide problem that affects both food safety and agricultural economies. Most countries have adopted regulations that limit the quantity of aflatoxins in food and feed to 20 microg kg(-1) or less; however, environmental conditions in most of the world where peanuts are produced and stored often make it difficult or impos...

BACKGROUND Patients with suspected Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) often receive empirical therapy prior to collection of stool specimens for diagnostic testing. The likelihood that such empirical therapy might result in false-negative CDI test results is unknown. METHODS We conducted a prospective study of CDI patients to determine the time to conversion of CDI test results, including ...

Aspergillus flavus is one of the major producers of aflatoxin and can contaminate wide range of agricultural commodities either in field or in storage. 15 presumptive Aspergillus flavus has been isolated from 30 feed and grain samples. All the isolates were morphologically similar to Aspergillus flavus type strains. All the isolates were found to be aflatoxigenic. DNA sequencing of 5.8 s rDNA c...

Fusarium verticillioides, F. proliferatum, and F. meridionale were identified as the predominant fungi among 116 Fusarium isolates causing maize ear and kernel rot, a destructive disease in Chongqing areas, China. The toxigenic capability and genotype were determined by molecular amplification and toxin assay. The results showed that the key toxigenic gene FUM1 was detected in 47 F. verticillio...

PURPOSE Helicobacter pylori infection by virulent strains is associated with gastric adenocarcinoma. We aimed to determine whether infection with virulent H. pylori preceded precancerous gastric hypochlorhydria and atrophy in gastric cancer relatives and quantify the extent of virulence factor evolution. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN H. pylori strains from 51 Scottish gastric cancer relatives were char...

In order to study the prevalence of enteric pathogens capable of causing infection and disease in the rural communities of Nkonkobe, bacterial isolates were collected from several surface water and groundwater sources used by the community for their daily water needs. By making use of selective culture media and the 20E API kit, presumptive Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp. and Vibrio cholerae ...

application of atoxigenic strains of aspergillus flavus to reduce aflatoxin levels is the most successful strategy applied in some agricultural crops. the role of ammonium hydroxide for preliminary screening of the competitiveness of atoxigenic a. flavus isolates to interfere with aflatoxin production by highly toxigenic isolates were evaluated. out of 270 a. flavus isolates, 17 were detected a...

Iota toxin is produced by Clostridium perfringens type E. This toxin causes antibiotic-associated enterotoxemia in lambs and calves. Iota toxin is a binary toxin that has two components including Ia (the enzyme component) and Ib (the binding component). Ib binds to the surface receptor of target cells and translocate Ia into the cytosol of cells. The aim of this study was to clone toxigenic epi...