BACKGROUND The Global Initiative defines COPD for chronic obstructive lung disease as an entirely preventable and treatable disease characterized by sputum production, bacterial colonisation, neutrophilic bronchial airway inflammation and poor health status. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that COPD will become the fourth-most common cause of death worldwide, just behind ischemic ...

The bacterial community structures in two sewage treatment plants with different processes and performance were investigated by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of nested polymerase chain reaction (nested PCR) amplified 16S rRNA gene fragments with group-specific primers. Samples of raw sewage and treated effluents were amplified using the whole-cell PCR method, and the activated ...

BACKGROUND Population analysis of viridans streptococci is important because these species are associated with dental caries, bacteremia, and subacute endocarditis, in addition to being important members of the human oral commensal microbiota. DESIGN In this study, we phylogenetically analyzed the rod shape-determining protein gene (rodA), which is associated with cellular morphology, cell di...

BACKGROUND Hereditary hyperferritinemia-cataract syndrome is an autosomic dominant disorder caused by heterogeneous mutations on the iron-responsive element (IRE) of ferritin L-chain mRNA. The mutations described to date were identified by direct sequencing of DNA from probands with hyperferritinemia often associated to bilateral cataracts. A direct genetic approach on a large population is use...

The diversity of the phytobenthonic community present in six acidophilic microbial mats from Río Tinto (Iberian Pyritic Belt, SW Spain) was analysed by optical microscopy and two molecular techniques, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and sequence analysis of 18S rDNA cloned gene fragments. Sixteen DNA isolation protocols as well as two commercial DNA extraction kits were tested an...

The genotypic diversity of antibiotic-producing Pseudomonas spp. provides an enormous resource for identifying strains that are highly rhizosphere competent and superior for biological control of plant diseases. In this study, a simple and rapid method was developed to determine the presence and genotypic diversity of 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol (DAPG)-producing Pseudomonas strains in rhizospher...

Rhizosphere microorganisms play an important role in soil carbon flow, through turnover of root exudates, but there is little information on which organisms are actively involved or on the influence of environmental conditions on active communities. In this study, a 13CO2 pulse labelling field experiment was performed in an upland grassland soil, followed by RNA-stable isotope probing (SIP) ana...

Modern consumers are interested in the use of non-chemical methods to control pathogens when heat sterilization is not an option. Such is the case with teewurst sausage, a raw spreadable sausage and a popular German commodity. Although Listeria was not found in teewurst, the optimal microbial growing conditions of teewurst coupled with the ubiquity of L. monocytogenes in nature, makes the possi...