BACKGROUND Petroleum reservoirs have long been known as the hosts of extremophilic microorganisms. Some of these microorganisms are known for their potential biotechnological applications, particularly production of extra and intracellular polymers and enzymes. OBJECTIVES Here, 14 petroleum liquid samples from southern Iranian oil reservoirs were screened for presence of biosurfactant-produci...

Phenol, p-cresol, and volatile fatty acids (VFA; acetic, propionic, isobutyric, butyric, isovaleric, and valeric acids) were used as odor indicators of swine waste. Aeration of the waste allowed the indigenous microorganisms to grow and degrade these malodorous substances. The time required for degradation of these substances varied according to the waste used, and it was not necessarily relate...

in the past two decade, the application of probiotics to the inhibition of pathogenic or microorganisms has recieved much interest. the aim of the present was to study the effect of bifidobacterium angulatum, bifidobacterium bifidum, lactobacillus acidophilus and lactobacillus casei on escherichia coli o157:h7 was evaluated during associated growth in milk. at first a quantity of 1. 5×108 e. co...

Background: The specific antibody response against Newcastle disease virus (NDV) in the blood serum of chickens hatched from eggs exposed to low dose gamma-radiation was studied. Materials and methods: Two groups of eggs of commercial meat chicken lines were irradiated with the dose of 0.30 Gy 60Co gamma-rays before incubation and on the 19th day of incubation, respectively. The same num...

The possibility that sulfate-reducing microorganisms contribute to U(VI) reduction in sedimentary environments was investigated. U(VI) was reduced to U(IV) when washed cells of sulfate-grown Desulfovibrio desulfuricans were suspended in a bicarbonate buffer with lactate or H2 as the electron donor. There was no U(VI) reduction in the absence of an electron donor or when the cells were killed by...

BACKGROUND The high numbers of heterotrophic microorganisms that have been cultured from dental unit waterlines (DUWs) have raised concern that this water may exceed suggested limits for heterotrophic plate counts (HPCs). The main purpose of this investigation was to examine HPC variability in DUWs and to examine in detail the effect of laboratory processing of water samples on HPC values. ME...

The goal of this study was to characterize the cellulose-degrading microorganisms in the guts of wood-inhabiting beetles. We enriched for cellulose-degrading microorganisms by inoculating Þlter paper in liquid growth medium with macerated guts from larvae and adults of the wood-boring longhorned beetle, Saperda vestita, and the phloeophagous bark beetles, Ips pini and Dendroctonus frontalis. Af...

The occurrence of extensive antibiotics resistant bacteria increased the demands for mining out new sources of antimicrobial agents. Actinomycetes, especially Streptomyces sp. have grasped considerable attention worldwide due to production of many useful bioactive metabolites. In the present study, a total of 52 actinomycetes were isolated from agricultural soil samples in Beni-Suef, Egypt. All...

After an initial period of unsuccessful work at solving a problem, a subject might either continue to work uninterruptedly or put the problem temporarily aside, returning to it later. The elusive laboratory phenomenon called "incubation" refers to superior performance for those subjects who return to the problem after a delay rather than working continuously on the problem. The forgetting-fixat...

The value of hypertonic media in the detection of bacteremia and fungemia is controversial, since prior clinical trials have yielded conflicting results with different media. Earlier, we showed that the addition of 10% sucrose to supplemented peptone broth at a 1:10 ratio of blood to broth yielded better recovery of Staphylococcus epidermidis, the Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and...