Journal of Applied Microbiology

AIM: This study elucidates the in vitro bactericidal effectiveness of poly-phage cocktail combinations of 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 individual coliphages against a cocktail of 20 AMR E. coli. METHODS & RESULTS: Different polyphage cocktails viz., 45 two-phage combinations, 28 four-phage combinations, 15 six-phage combinations, 6 eight-phage combinations and one ten-phage combination were formulated using a pool of ten coliphages that were isolated from two different geographical locations (East and West coasts of India)...

AIMS: To solve the shortcomings of poor solubility, easy volatilization and decomposition, propolis essential oil microemulsion (PEOME) was prepared. The antibacterial, anti-biofilm activities and action mechanism of PEOME against Streptococcus mutans was analyzed. METHODS: PEOME was prepared using anhydrous ethanol and Tween-80 as the cosurfactant and surfactant respectively. The antibacterial activity of PEOME against Streptococcus mutans was evaluated using the agar disk-diffusion method and broth microdilution method...

AIMS: Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most common pathogens associated with mastitis in dairy herds worldwide. This study evaluated the profile of virulence and antimicrobial resistance genes of spa type t605 methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus isolated from subclinical bovine mastitis in São Paulo, Brazil. METHODS AND RESULTS: Fifty-seven S. aureus strains were screened by conventional PCR for 49 virulence genes. The most prevalent virulence genes detected were icaD (94...

AIMS: To establish a dual-function CRISPR-Cas12a system combined genome editing and transcriptional repression for multiplex metabolic engineering of Pseudomonas mutabilis. MATERIALS AND RESULTS: This CRISPR-Cas12a system consisted of two plasmids that enabled single gene deletion, replacement, and inactivation with efficiency higher than 90% for most targets within 5 days. With the guidance of truncated crRNA containing 16 bp spacer sequences, a catalytically active Cas12a could be employed to repress the expression of the reporter gene eGFP up to 66...

AIM: This study was aimed to determine antimicrobial and antiviral activity of a novel lanthipeptide from a Brevibacillus sp. for disinfectant application. METHODS AND RESULTS: The antimicrobial peptide (AMP) was produced by a bacterial strain AF8 identified as a member of the genus Brevibacillus representing a novel species. Whole genome sequence analysis using BAGEL identified a putative complete biosynthetic gene cluster involved in lanthipeptide synthesis. The deduced amino acid sequence of lanthipeptide named as brevicillin, showed > 30% similarity with epidermin...

AIMS: Here, regulatory effects of Xiaoyaosan polysaccharide on entire intestinal flora and butyrate-producing bacteria were investigated to reveal their pharmacological mechanism serving as bacterial-derived carbon sources for regulating intestinal microecology during the treatment of chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS)-induced depression in rats. METHODS AND RESULTS: The effects were measured by analyzing depression-like behavior, intestinal flora, butyrate-producing bacteria diversity, and fecal butyrate content...

AIM: Comprehensive evaluation of antibiotic susceptibility patterns in Lactiplantibacillus plantarum strains isolated from grape marc, based on genomic and phenotypic assessment. METHODS AND RESULTS: We assessed the antibiotic resistance-susceptibility patterns of twenty L. plantarum strains for sixteen antibiotics. Genomes of relevant strains were sequenced for in-silico assessment and comparative genomic analysis. Results showed high MIC values for spectinomycin, vancomycin and carbenicillin, indicating natural resistance to these antibiotics...

AIMS: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of steam heat for inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 when applied to materials common in mass transit installations. METHODS AND RESULTS: SARS CoV-2 (USA-WA1/2020) was resuspended in either cell culture media or synthetic saliva, inoculated (approximately 1 × 106 TCID50) onto porous and nonporous materials and subjected to steam inactivation efficacy tests as either wet or dried droplets. The inoculated test materials were exposed to steam heat ranging from 70-90°C...

AIMS: Clostridioides difficile infections (CDI) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients. A probiotic formulation (Bio-K+) comprised of Lactobacillus acidophilus CL1285,  Lacticaseibacillus casei LBC80R and  Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus CLR2 strains have been shown to  reduce the incidence of CDI and antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD). This research aims to therefore elucidate the mechanism of action of the three probiotic strained against C...

AIMS: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of altered environmental conditions, specifically elevated temperature at various levels of expected relative humidity (RH), on the inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 when applied to U.S. Air Force aircraft materials. METHODS AND RESULTS: SARS CoV-2 (USA-WA1/2020) was spiked (approximately 1×105 TCID50) in either synthetic saliva or lung fluid, dried onto porous (e.g., Nylon strap) and nonporous materials (e...

Organosulfur compounds in fossil fuels have been a major concern in the process of achieving zero-sulfur fuel production. Biodesulfurization (BDS) is an environmentally friendly strategy for the removal of refractory organosulfur compounds from fossil fuels. Even though researchers are committed to engineering the desulfurization specific pathway for improving BDS efficiency, the industrial application of BDS is still difficult. Recently, sulfur metabolism of Rhodococcus has begun to attract attention due to its influences on BDS process...

As dysbiosis is a key factor associated with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), modulation of the intestinal microbiota could improve IBS symptoms and quality of life. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) could be one efficient way to restore bacterial composition in IBS patients. This review comprises 12 clinical trials published from 2017 to 2021. Inclusion criteria were the assessment of IBS symptoms using the IBS symptom severity score (IBS-SSS), quality of life measured by the lBS quality of life scale (IBS-QOL) and gut microbiota analysis...

The increasing burden of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) necessitates a novel approach to disinfect multi-drug resistant (MDR) pathogens. Conventional 254nm UVC light shows high germicidal efficacy against bacteria. However, it induces pyrimidine dimerization in exposed human skin with carcinogenic potential. Recent developments suggest 222nm UVC light can be used to disinfect bacteria and cause less harm to human DNA. This new technology can be used to disinfect healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and more specifically surgical site infections (SSIs)...

AIMS: The post-transcriptional regulator CsrA regulates many cellular processes, including stress responses in diverse bacteria. However, the role of CsrA in multidrug resistance and biocontrol activity in Lysobacter enzymogenes strain C3 (LeC3) remains unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this study, we demonstrated that deletion of the csrA gene resulted in initial slow growth of LeC3 and reduced its resistance to multiple antibiotics, including nalidixic acid (NAL), rifampicin (RIF), kanamycin (Km), and nitrofurantoin (NIT)...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

AIMS: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of fermented milk supernatants of autochthonous lactic acid bacteria including; Lactobacillus helveticus KMCH1 (ON561781), Lactococcus lactis KMCM3 (ON561782) and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum KMJC4 (ON615217) on human colon cancer (HT-29) and normal mouse fibroblast (L929) cells in vitro. METHODS AND RESULTS: Proteolytic activity, MTT test, evaluation of apoptosis induction and cell cycle arrest by Flow Cytometry were the assays performed in this study...

AIMS: In this study, Mrhst4, encoding a member of NAD+-dependent histone deacetylase (HDAC), was deleted to evaluate its regulation on the production of Monascus azaphilone pigments (MonAzPs) and mycotoxin as well as the developmental process in Monascus ruber. METHODS AND RESULTS: Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation was applied in this study to generate Mrhst4 null strain. Mrhst4-deleted strain did not display obvious differences in the sexual and asexual reproduction, colonial morphology and micro-morphology...

AIM: The objective of the work was to assess the effect of biostimulation with selected plant growth-promoting bacteria on growth and metabolite profile of Salicornia europaea. METHODS AND RESULTS: S. europaea seeds were inoculated with different combinations of plant growth-promoting bacteria Brevibacterium casei EB3, Pseudomonas oryzihabitans RL18 and Bacillus aryabhattai SP20. Plants germinated from inoculated seeds were grown either in laboratory conditions or in a saline crop field...

AIMS: This work aimed to characterize spore inner membrane (IM) properties and the mechanism of spore killing by wet heat and H2O2 with spores overexpressing the 2Duf protein, which is naturally encoded from a transposon found only in some Bacillus strains with much higher spore resistance than wild type spores. METHODS AND RESULTS: Killing of B. subtilis spores by wet heat or hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) was slower when 2Duf was present, and Ca-dipicolinic acid release was slower than killing...

AIMS: Development and validation of a real-time PCR test for high throughput routine screening of animal tissue for Mycobacterium bovis and other Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) members. METHODS AND RESULTS: A preliminary study compared the results of a combination of five tissue preparation/DNA extraction methods and nine PCR assays on a panel of 92 cattle tissue samples of known M. bovis culture status (55 positive and 37 negative). The combination of DNA extraction and PCR was found to be important in achieving optimal detection of M...