Vibrio parahaemolyticus was discovered by Tsunesaburo Fujino after a shirasu food poisoning outbreak in 1950, but at that time the isolate was named Pasteurella parahaemolytica, not Vibrio. Although the isolate resembled Vibrio, some properties did not correspond with those of Vibrio. For example, the curved cell form of the cell was one of the important taxonomical indicators of the genus, but the isolate was straight in form. After 5 years, Iwao Takikawa isolated a similar bacterium from a food poisoning case and found the halophilic property of the isolate. He named the isolate Pseudomonas enteritis.
  In 1960, due to the progress of taxonomy, various scientific indices were adjusted, and Davis and Parks defined the taxonomical position of the genus Vibrio, and Fujino et al. and Sakazaki et al. reexamined the above isolates and confirmed that those were the same species in the genus Vibrio and proposed the new scientific name Vibrio parahaemolyticus.
  Last year was the 60th year since the discovery of the bacterium, and the discoverer was the first president of our organization, the Society for Antibacterial and Antifungal Agents, Japan. Some recollections including the correlation between the Kanagawa phenomenon and human pathogenicity, the major pathogenic factor TDH (thermostable direct hemolysin) and its related hemolysin (TRH: TDH related hemolysin) are also summarized.

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  Scolecobasidium, generally found in outdoor samples, were isolated from detergent-rich indoor environments. The isolates from bathrooms and washing machines, because of their exposure to detergents, might be genetically and biologically distinct from outdoor isolates. In this study, 11 Scolecobasidium isolates from detergent-rich indoor environments were examined to find the genetic and biological differences between the indoor and outdoor isolates. One isolate from a wall of a soap factory, showing similar conidia morphology with S. constricta, was phylogenetically distinct from the other Scolecobasidium spp. The 10 isolates from washing machines and bathrooms were identified as S. humicola, but these were classified into 2 groups that differed from the reference strain of S. humicola from leaves. All 11 isolates and the 4 reference strains of S. constricta and S. humicola grew on the medium containing sodium oleate and polyoxyethylene-(9)-lauryl ether, but the reference strains of the other Scolecobasidium spp. grew only on the medium containing sodium oleate. The results showed that S. humicola and S. constricta could utilize both surfactants generally included in soaps or synthetic detergents as nutrients. A further implication is that the genetic variation found in the S. humicola isolates from detergent-rich indoor environments can occur as a result of adaptation to such an environment.

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  The antimicrobial activity, hydrophobicity and toxicity of tri(n-alkyl)sulfoniums (TASs) and tris{4-(n-alkylphenyl)}sulfoniums (TAPSs), and their relationships were investigated. The antimicrobial activity against the tested strains tended to increase with the increase in the sulfonium ClogP between 7 and approximately 12 and beyond that decreased with the increase in the ClogP in both sulfoniums. The antimicrobial activities of the most TAPSs were higher than those of the TASs at similar ClogP values. The mutagenicity of the TASs and the TAPSs was judged to be negative. The acute oral toxicity decreased with the increase in the ClogP in the both sulfoniums. The skin irritation/corrosion increased with the increase in the ClogP between approximately 7 and 12, and beyond that decreased or similar with the increase in the ClogP in both sulfoniums. It is noted that the acute toxicity and the skin irritation/corrosion of the TAPSs were clearly higher than those of the TASs at a similar ClogP. In comparing the sulfoniums to representative quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs), the antimicrobial activities of the some sulfoniums were higher than those of QACs and the toxicity was lower. Therefore, some sulfoniums could be utilized in many fields instead of the presently and widely-used QACs.

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  To establish rapid methods to detect Shiga toxin (Stx)-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) in ground beef samples by using an immunochromatography kit, results of 8-h enrichment in various types of broth with shaking were compared. In pure culture, Stx was detected in the culture of trypticase soy broth (TSB) at 42°C and modified EC broth (mEC) at 36°C from all or most serogroups of O26, O111, O128, O157 and OUT. Ground beef samples inoculated with each serogroup were enriched in TSB at 42°C, mEC at 36°C and mEC with novobiocin (NmEC) at 42°C. Although all conditions led to the successful recovery of each serogroup by the plating method, enrichment in NmEC was relatively superior to the other conditions in the detection of Stx by an immunochromatography kit. These results indicated that the growth of STEC and the release of Stx from cells were different in pure cultures and in culture with ground beef. In addition, polymyxin B treatment for 10 min at 37°C and homogenizing with glass beads enhanced the detection of Stx. From the results, it was suggested that an immunochromatography kit in a combination with enrichment in NmEC at 42°C for 8 h, and treatment with polymyxin B or homogenizing would be a rapid method to detect STEC contamination in ground beef.

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  We investigated the bactericidal effects and cytotoxicity of an ortho-phthalaldehyde product in comparison with those of its predecessor glutaraldehyde products. Bactericidal effects ware examined on Mycobacterium terrae, a standard organism used for investigating the bactericidal effect of high-level disinfectants. Cytotoxicity as determined by the MTT assay was examined by using four cell lines. The colony forming test, a method to examine residual toxicity, and the evaporation test, a newly developed method to examine the toxicity of the evaporated ingredients, were performed. Test solutions were 2.25% and 3.5% glutaraldehyde (GA) products and a 0.55% ortho-phthalaldehyde (OPA) product, and glutaraldehyde itself. All the disinfectants showed sufficient bactericidal effects on M. terrae. Meanwhile, the OPA product was less toxic than GA products and GA itself to all the cell lines tested. The colony forming test showed that GA products and GA itself exerted residual cytotoxicity more potently than did the OPA product. The evaporation test showed that GA products and GA itself exerted cytotoxicity via evaporation more potently than did the OPA product. In conclusion, OPA appears to be less cytotoxic than GA even though bactericidal effects were comparable. This may be due to the lower concentration of the active ingredient (ortho-phthalaldehyde) in the OPA product .

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  In August, 2010, strain HYMO-6 was isolated from a sample of hot spring water in Aomori, Japan. The 16S rDNA sequences (1,496bp) of this strain (accession number: AB597175) had a similarity of less than 96.6% to other Legionella species, prompting us to hypothesize that this strain might be a novel species belonging to the genus Legionella. However, in March of 2011, it was became clear that the HYMO-6 strain (=JCM 17450 =KCTC 23560 =DSM 24727) was Legionella nagasakiensis CDC-1796-JAP-E^T (=ATCC BAA-1557^T =JCM 15315^T). When this strain was cultured on BCYEα agar at 36°C for 7 d, no long cells were observed. The dominant fatty acids of strain HYMO-6 were 16:1ω7c (32.4%), and the DNA G+C content was 42.0 mol%.

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