The Journal of General and Applied Microbiology
Online ISSN : 1349-8037
Print ISSN : 0022-1260
ISSN-L : 0022-1260
Volume 52, Issue 3
Displaying 1-6 of 6 articles from this issue
Full Papers
  • Kumiko Arakawa, Masato Abe, Yoichi Noda, Hiroyuki Adachi, Koji Yoda
    2006 Volume 52 Issue 3 Pages 137-145
    Published: 2006
    Released on J-STAGE: September 06, 2006
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    There are two structural profiles in the yeast Golgi. The Golgi of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is composed of a number of vesicular compartments dispersed in the cytoplasm as recognized by a large number of Golgi marker proteins. In contrast, the Golgi of Pichia pastoris was reported to be organized in a small number of stacked cisternae located near the transitional endoplasmic reticulum (tER) sites by electron microscopy and immunofluorescent staining of a few marker proteins. The guanosine diphosphate (GDP)-mannose transporter (GMT) is an essential component in the yeast Golgi apparatus. We isolated an ortholog of the GMT gene of P. pastoris and visualized the gene product by epitope tagging to verify the structural characteristics of the Golgi. The tagged product in P. pastoris cell was observed in rod-like compartments in which Och1 mannosyltransferase was also found and the tER marker Sec12 and Sec13 proteins localized very close to them. The present results add further evidence of the restricted localization of the Golgi in P. pastoris cell.
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  • Hoon-Yong Lee, Jean-Charles Côté
    2006 Volume 52 Issue 3 Pages 147-158
    Published: 2006
    Released on J-STAGE: September 06, 2006
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Nucleotide sequence comparisons of three house-keeping genes, adenylate kinase (adk), shikimate dehydrogenase (aroE), and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (gdh), were used to infer the phylogeny of 33 γ-proteobacteria. Phylogenetic trees inferred from each gene, and from the concatenated sequences of all three genes, are, in general, similar to a 16S rRNA gene-inferred tree. Similar grouping of bacteria are revealed at the family, genus, species and strain levels in all five trees. The house-keeping genes, however, show a higher rate of nucleotide sequence substitutions. Consequently, they can possibly probe deeper branches of a phylogenetic tree than the 16S rRNA gene. However, because their nucleotide sequences are not as highly conserved among γ-proteobacteria, family- or genus-specific primers would need to be designed for the amplification of any of these three house-keeping genes. Since these genes are used in multilocus sequence typing, it is expected that the number of sequences publicly available for many taxa will increase over time proving them very useful either at complementing 16S rRNA-inferred phylogenies or for specific, targeted, phylogenetic analysis.
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  • Svetoslav Dimitrov Todorov, Martina Meincken, Leon Milner Theodore Dic ...
    2006 Volume 52 Issue 3 Pages 159-167
    Published: 2006
    Released on J-STAGE: September 06, 2006
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Bacteriocins ST194BZ and ST23LD, produced by Lactobacillus plantarum, inhibit Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Images obtained by atomic force microscopy showed clear signs of membrane damage of Lactobacillus sakei, accompanied by the leakage of DNA and β-galactosidase. Adsorption of the bacteriocins to cells was increased when cells were treated with buffers at pH values above neutral. An increase in bacteriocin ST194BZ adsorption to cells of Enterococcus sp. and L. sakei was observed with an increase in incubation temperatures, but at different rates for the two species. Treatment of the two species with various inorganic salts and solvents gave different results regarding the adsorption of the two bacteriocins. In general, pre-treatment of the two sensitive cells with Triton X-100, Triton X-114 and chloroform increased the adsorption of the two bacteriocins. Increased adsorption of bacteriocin ST23LD to L. sakei was recorded when the cells were pre-treated with Tris and NH4-citrate. Treatment of Enterococcus sp. and L. sakei with Na-EDTA and SDS decreased the adsorption of the two bacteriocins. Variable results were recorded with inorganic salts.
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  • Ziad Daoud, Carole Moubareck, Noha Hakime, Florence Doucet-Populaire
    2006 Volume 52 Issue 3 Pages 169-178
    Published: 2006
    Released on J-STAGE: September 06, 2006
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Our study aims to investigate and describe the epidemiology of the intestinal carriage of ESBL-PS in intensive care units of five Lebanese hospitals and to analyze the potential risk factors for the acquisition of these strains. At the same time, we intend to determine the patterns of susceptibility of these strains, exploring therefore the availability of alternative treatment. One thousand, four hundred forty-two fecal samples were collected between January 1, 2003 and March 31, 2003 from 378 patients admitted to the ICUs of five Lebanese tertiary care general hospitals located in different areas of Lebanon. ESBL production was detected by the double disk synergy test and antibiotic susceptibility of ESBL-producing strains as well as minimum inhibitory concentrations were determined. A paired case-control study was undertaken to identify risk factors for carriage of ESBL-PS. One hundred eighteen strains isolated from 72 subjects were identified as ESBL producers, including 95 (80.5%) E. coli, 16 (13.6%) Klebsiella pneumoniae, and 7 (5.6%) Enterobacter cloacae. A higher rate of multiple ESBL-PS carriage was described among these acquisition cases (21 double carriages and 3 triple carriages of ESBL-PS compared to only 1 double carriage of ESBL-PS at admission). In general, similar trends of susceptibility were observed in the different hospitals. As expected, the lowest MIC was observed with imipenem for all E. coli, Klebsiella, and Enterobacter isolates. Ciprofloxacin, followed by trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole seem to be associated with the lowest susceptibility. In vitro susceptibility to cefoxitin for all isolates was 74.6%; more resistance was associated to ceftazidime (90.7%) than to cefotaxime (69.7%). Our data agree with other national and international reports showing the increase in ESBL-PS carriage in ICU patients. They demonstrate the endemic character of this carriage in Lebanese hospitals and the important risk factors including immunosuppression and evidence of ESBL infection. The highly resistant profile of ESBL-PS to antimicrobial agents available for treatment reflects the severity of this issue. The significance of this study resides in the direct correlation between our results and the nationwide increase in multi-drug resistant bacteria and the continuous change in bacterial resistance epidemiology. Our data may have an important impact on infection control policies in hospitals and on treatment of infectious diseases.
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  • John Geraldine Sandana Mala, Balachandran Unni Nair, Rengarajulu Puvan ...
    2006 Volume 52 Issue 3 Pages 179-186
    Published: 2006
    Released on J-STAGE: September 06, 2006
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Chromium toxicity is of prime concern due to chrome tanning processes in the leather sector. Chrome tanning results in the discharge of toxic levels of chromium causing pollution hazards. Chromium levels of Cr(III) and Cr(VI) were high above permissible limits in chrome samples after chrome tanning. The potential of Aspergillus niger MTCC 2594 to accumulate chromium as well as its biosorption capacity is investigated in this study. Bioaccumulation of Cr(III) and Cr(VI) in the spent chrome liquor has resulted in a 75–78% reduction of the initial Cr content in 24–36 h. A. niger biomass is found to be very effective in the biosorption of Cr(III) and Cr(VI) in spent chrome liquor. Maximum adsorption of 83% for biosorption of Cr(III) at 48 h and 79% of Cr(VI) at 36 h in spent chrome liquor is observed. The biosorption characteristics fit well with Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms and the adsorption parameters are evaluated. The biosorption of Cr also follows Lagergren kinetics. A. niger biomass is effectively used for the biosorption of chromium with 79–83% Cr removal in 36–48 h.
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  • Mai Takahashi, Pattaraporn Yukphan, Yuzo Yamada, Ken-ichiro Suzuki, Ta ...
    2006 Volume 52 Issue 3 Pages 187-193
    Published: 2006
    Released on J-STAGE: September 06, 2006
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Forty-nine strains belonging to the genus Gluconobacter were re-examined with respect to their species identification based on the sequences of the 16S rDNA and 16S-23S rDNA internal transcribed spacer regions (ITS). A phylogenetic tree constructed from the 16S rDNA sequences indicated the presence of five clusters corresponding, respectively, to the major five species of the genus Gluconobacter, namely G. albidus, G. cerinus, G. frateurii, G. oxydans (type species), and G. thailandicus. The type strain of G. asaii, NBRC 3276T (T=type strain) was included in the G. cerinus cluster, which is consistent with the report that G. asaii is a junior subjective synonym of G. cerinus. Existence of the G. albidus, G. cerinus, G. frateurii, G. oxydans, and G. thailandicus clusters was also recognized by the ITS sequence analysis. Both sequence analyses revealed that the G. cerinus and G. frateurii clusters were heterogeneous. The G. cerinus cluster comprised three strains of G. cerinus and one strain of G. frateurii, while the G. frateurii cluster included ten strains of G. frateurii, three of G. cerinus, and eleven of G. oxydans. These results suggest that phenotypic differences among Gluconobacter species are ambiguous and the species definition must be re-evaluated. The 16S rDNA and ITS sequences determined in this study are valuable for the identification and phylogenetic analysis of Gluconobacter species.
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