To prevent nosocomial infections caused by even either Ebola virus or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), healthcare workers must wear the appropriate protective clothing which can inhibit contact transmission of these pathogens. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the performance of protective clothing for penetration resistance against infectious agents. In Japan, some standard methods were established to evaluate the penetration resistance of protective clothing fabric materials under applied pressure. However, these methods only roughly classified the penetration resistance of fabrics, and the detection sensitivity of the methods and the penetration amount with respect to the relationship between blood and the pathogen have not been studied in detail. Moreover, no standard method using bacteria for evaluation is known. Here, to evaluate penetration resistance of protective clothing materials under applied pressure, the detection sensitivity and the leak amount were investigated by using synthetic blood containing bacteriophage phi-X174 or S. aureus. And the volume of leaked synthetic blood and the amount of test microbe penetration were simultaneously quantified. Our results showed that the penetration detection sensitivity achieved using a test microbial culture was higher than that achieved using synthetic blood at invisible leak level pressures. This finding suggested that there is a potential risk of pathogen penetration even when visual leak of contaminated blood through the protective clothing was not observed. Moreover, at visible leak level pressures, it was found that the amount of test microbe penetration varied at least ten-fold among protective clothing materials classified into the same class of penetration resistance. Analysis of the penetration amount revealed a significant correlation between the volume of penetrated synthetic blood and the amount of test microbe penetration, indicating that the leaked volume of synthetic blood could be considered as a latent indicator for infection risk, that the amount of exposure to contaminated blood corresponds to the risk of infection. Our study helped us ascertain, with high sensitivity, the differences among fabric materials with respect to their protective performance, which may facilitate effective selection of protective clothing depending on the risk assessment.

An identified class of antifreeze, a xylomannan-based thermal hysteresis (TH)-producing glycolipid, has been discovered from diverse taxa, including plants, insects, and amphibians. We isolated xylomannan from the mycelium and fruit body of the basidiomycete Flammulina velutipes using successive hot extraction with water, 2% and 25% aqueous KOH, and gel filtration chromatography. The xylomannan from the fruit body had a recrystallization inhibiting (RI) activity (RI=0.44) at 0.5 mg/mL. The dried weight yield of the fruit body (7.7×10^-2%, w/w) was higher than that of the mycelium. Although the purified xylomannan from both soures were composed of mannose and xylose in a 2 : 1 molar ratio, the molecular weight of the xylomannan from the mycelium and fruit body was 320,000 and 240,000, respectively. The RI activity of mycelial xylomannan was higher than that from the fruit body (RI=0.57) at 45 µg/mL. Although this RI activity was able to remain constant after exposure to various conditions, we confirmed that the decrease of RI activity was stimulated by the decrease of molecular weight that was caused by heating during the alkaline condition. The survival rate of the CHO cells at -20℃ for two days increased to 97% due to the addition of 20 µg/mL of purified xylomannan. This was the first report to indicate that xylomannan from the mycelium of Flammulina velutipes had a high level of ice recrystallization inhibiting activity like antifreeze proteins from plants and had rhe potential to become a new material for cell storage.

Filamentous fungi were isolated from the indoor environment of a soft drink manufacturing plant and ordinary residences. The isolated strains were identified based on morphological observation and the nucleotide sequences of the region near the D2 region of the 26S rDNA. Three genera (Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Cladosporium) accounted for 48.1% of the fungal strains detected in the manufacturing plant and 75.3% in residences. A DNA array for identification of 15 genera and 26 species of filamentous fungi that were most frequently isolated from the manufacturing plant was developed. Genus- and species-specific probes with 13- to 20-mer were designed on the basis of the nucleotide sequences in the D2 region. The probes were affixed to a microscope slide after modifying an amino group at the 5’or 3’end. To prevent erroneous identification, 2 or 3 probes were designed for each of the target genera and species. The developed DNA array method correctly identified 9 genera (Alternaria, Aureobasidium, Cladosporium, Curvularia, Exophiala, Fusarium, Penicillium, Phoma, and Trichoderma) and 26 species belonging to 6 genera (Aspergillus, Neosartorya, Byssochlamys, Talaromyces, Paecilomyces, and Purpureocillium) in the strains isolated from the indoor environment. Identification results obtained by this DNA array method of fungi isolated from the manufacturing plant were consistent with those by the conventional method.

Antifungal bacteria (AB) in root rot fungus (RRF)-contaminated sweet potato farms were isolated, and seven strains were initially chosen as antagonistic candidates. An antagonistic test by using the mycelial disk placement method revealed that one AB strain by itself could inhibit the RRF growth. This AB strain was identified as Bacillus polyfermenticus based on phylogeny of 16S ribosomal RNA genes. Two AB strains (Bacillus aerophilus) displayed high levels of antifungal activity when paired with photosynthetic bacterial strain A (a purple nonsulfur photosynthetic bacterium Rhodopseudomonas faecalis). The results suggest the possible use of the isolates as agents for the biological control of the RRF infection of agricultural products in fields of cultivation.

The roles of catalase and trehalose in Saccharomyces cerevisiae subject to hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) treatment were examined by measuring the catalase activity and intracellular trehalose levels in mutants lacking catalase or trehalose synthetase. Intracellular trehalose was elevated but the survival rate after H₂O₂ treatment remained low in mutants with deletion of the Catalase T gene. On the other hand, deletion of the trehalose synthetase gene increased the catalase activity in mutated yeast to levels higher than those in the wild-type strain, and these mutants exhibited some degree of tolerance to H₂O₂ treatment. These results suggest that Catalase T is critical in the yeast response to oxidative damage caused by H₂O₂ treatment, but trehalose also plays a role in protection against H₂O₂ treatment.

Structure analysis was performed on the antibiotic-resistance-gene region of conjugative plasmids of four fish farm bacteria.

The kanamycin resistance gene, IS26, and tetracycline resistance gene (tetA(D)) were flanked by two IS26s in opposite orientation in Citrobacter sp. TA3 and TA6, and Alteromonas sp. TA55 from fish farm A. IS26-Inner was disrupted with ISRSB101. The chloramphenicol resistance gene, IS26 and tetA (D) were flanked by two IS26s in direct orientation in Salmonella sp. TC67 from farm C. Structures of tetA (D) and IS26 were identical among the four bacteria, but there was no insertion within the IS26-Inner of Salmonella sp. TC67. Horizontal gene transfer between the strains of two different genera in fish farm A was suggested by the structure homologies of mobile genetic elements and antibiotic resistance genes.

Our previous study revealed that the photo-irradiation of rose bengal, erythrosine, and phloxine, xanthene photosensitizers, used as dental plaque disclosing agents, could exert bactericidal action on planktonic Streptococcus mutans via the singlet oxygen. In the present study, the photo-irradiation induced bactericidal activity of the three xanthene compounds against the experimental biofilm of S. mutans was investigated in combination with acid electrolyzed water (AcEW) and alkaline electrolyzed water (AlEW). As a result, only the photo-irradiated rose bengal in AlEW showed prominent bactericidal activity with a >3-log reduction of the viable bacterial count. Since our previous study showed that the affinity of rose bengal to bacterial cells was superior to that of erythrosine and phloxine, it was speculated that AlEW damaged the extracellular matrix of the experimental biofilm, which would let the rose bengal easily be bound to the bacterial cells. From these results, it is strongly suggested that rose bengal is a suitable photosensitizer for use as a plaque disclosing agent in photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy to treat dental plaque.