This study evaluated the ability of the Rapid NFT system (API System SA, Montalieu-Vercieu, France) to accurately identify 262 clinically isolated, gram-negative, nonfermentative rods without additional tests. Identifications were classified as correct; low discrimination, with a spectrum of two or more possibilities (additional tests necessary for accurate identification); and incorrect. Corre...

Azithromycin and clarithromycin were paired with other antibiotics to test synergistic activity against 300 multidrug-resistant pathogens isolated from cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. Clarithromycin-tobramycin was most active against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and inhibited 58% of strains. Azithromycin-trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, azithromycin-ceftazidime, and azithromycin-doxycycline or azithromy...

Curing of the hydrogenase-specifying megaplasmid pHG indigenous to strains of the facultative lithoautotrophic bacterium Alcaligenes eutrophus was correlated with a loss of denitrifying ability (Nitd). The retransfer of plasmid pHG1 reconstituted the Nitd phenotype. Plasmid-free mutants were still capable of converting some nitrate to nitrite, but they did not metabolize nitrite under anaerobic...

Genes coding for phosphoribulokinase (PRK), a key enzyme of the Calvin cycle, were localized in the genome of the chemoautotroph Alcaligenes eutrophus. The NH2-terminal sequence of the PRK subunit was determined. With a synthetic oligodeoxynucleotide probe complementary to a portion of this sequence, hybridization analysis revealed PRK genes to be located on both the chromosome and the megaplas...

To understand the composition and structure of denitrifying communities in the oxygen-deficient zone off the Pacific coast of Mexico, the molecular diversity of nir genes from sediments obtained at four stations was examined by using a PCR-based cloning approach. A total of 50 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) for nirK and 82 OTUs for nirS were obtained from all samples. Forty-four of the nirS...

separated by an intervening stretch of DNA, variable in length depending on the particular species of origin (Curtis & Hazelkorn, 1983; Shinozaki & Sugiura, 1983). The gene from S,.rzc~c.lioc.oc~r~us PCC30 1 (Reichelt & Delaney, 1983) has been cloned into the ampr region of PLa2311 (Remaut ct al., 1981) with expression controlled by the strong temperature-sensitive leftward promoter (PI ) of ba...

This paper reports on the optimization of conditions for the overproduction and isolation of two recombinant copper metalloproteins, originally encoded on the chromosome of the dentrifying soil bacterium Alcaligenes xylosoxidans, in the heterologous host Escherichia coli. The trimeric enzyme nitrite reductase (NiR) contains both type-1 and type-2 Cu centres, whilst its putative redox partner, a...

The extraction of the exopolymeric matrix is a prerequisite to properly assessing the composition of the biofilm. Several extraction methods have already been developed, however, no universal method has yet been adopted because the compromise between high yields of extraction and minimum cell lysis is difficult to establish. In fact, most of the extraction methods promote leakage of intracellul...