African Journal of Virology Research

African Journal of Virology Research ISSN 2756-3413 Vol. 16 (2), pp. 001-008, February, 2022. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Antimicrobial susceptibility of Escherichia coli and other coliforms isolated from urine of asymptomatic students in Bayelsa State, Nigeria

Yakubu B. Ngwai¹*, Mark O. Akpotu², Ruth E. Obidake², Adebukola A. Sounyo², Adebola Onanuga² and Samuel O. Origbo²

¹Microbiology Unit, Department of Biological Sciences, Nasarawa State University, P. M. B. 1022, Keffi, Nasarawa State, Nigeria.

²Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, P. M. B. 071, Yenagoa, Nigeria.

Accepted 8 April, 2021

Abstract

This study investigated the isolation rate and antimicrobial susceptibility of Escherichia coli and other coliforms from asymptomatic male and female students of Niger Delta University in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. E. coli and other coliforms from midstream clean-catch urine samples of asymptomatic male and female students were isolated and tested for their susceptibility to commonly used antimicrobial agents using the disk diffusion protocol described by the Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI). Of the few subjects that harbored E. coli, more were males. Zone sizes for both isolate groups from males were higher than those from females. E. coli were more susceptible to the antimicrobials than the non - E. coli (unclassified coliform) isolates for both subjects, although the overall susceptibility of both isolate groups was poor. Gentamicin was the most active (64.5% for E. coli and 33.3% for unclassified coliforms) while tetracycline was the least (22.7% for E. coli and 0% for unclassified coliforms). The most common resistance phenotypes were “ATCtGSNa” (for E. coli ) and “ATCtGSNaNC” (for unclassified coliforms); “ATCtGSNaNC” was observed in both isolate groups. Multiple antibiotic resistances were observed significantly in both E. coli (83.9%) and the unclassified coliforms (100%). As against 9.7% of the E. coli isolates, 40% of the unclassified coliforms were resistant to all the antimicrobials. MAR indices were very high (all above 0.2) in both isolate groups. Although asymptomatic male students of Niger Delta University harbored more E. coli than the female students, isolates from the female students pose greater risk of antimicrobial resistance owing to their lower susceptibility to antimicrobials compared with those from their male counterparts. The prior exposure of all the isolates to antibiotics as suggested by their high MAR indices provides justification for continuous monitoring of bacterial susceptibility to antibiotics before prescription in order to ensure adequate treatment of infections arising from urinary pathogens and reduction in the spread of bacteria resistant strain.

Key words: Escherichia coli, urine, asymptomatic, antimicrobial susceptibility.

African Journal of Virology Research ISSN 2756-3413 Vol. 16 (1), pp. 001-007, January, 2022. © International Scholars Journals

Review

Eco-friendly role of biodegradation against agricultural pesticides hazards

Khalid Nawaz¹, Khalid Hussain¹, Nazia Choudary¹, Abdul Majeed¹, Umbrin Ilyas¹, Abdul Ghani², Feng Lin^3, Kazim Ali⁴, Shahid Afghan⁴, Ghulam Raza⁵, Muhammad Ismail Lashari⁶

¹Department of Botany, University of Gujrat (UOG), Gujrat-Pakistan.

²Department of Biological Sciences, University of Sargodha (UOS)-Sargodha, Pakistan.

³Crop Biotechnology, Shenyang Agricultural University, Liaoning-China.

⁴Shakarganj Sugar Research Institute (SSRI), Jhang-Pakistan.

⁵Nuclear Institute of Agriculture (NIA), Tandojam, (Sindh)-Pakistan.

⁶Agricultural Research Institute (ARI), Tandojam, (Sindh)-Pakistan.

Accepted 23 December, 2021

Abstract

This review aims to elaborate the potential applications of various biological agents in decontamination of agricultural soils, which have been polluted with continuous and higher doses of pesticides through process of biodegradation. Biodegradation is an eco friendly, cost effective, highly efficient approach and can be considered as a superior alternative to physical and chemical methods which are not only technically laborious and costly; also are not sufficient to completely degrade organic toxins. Development of experimental conditions in which all congruent biological agents are applied concurrently may be a promising strategy to enhance biodegradation and subsequently biodegradation. Much work remains to be done in carrying out field studies based on laboratory- scale results/experiments using plant-associated endophytic and rhizospheric bacteria to degrade a wide range of toxic organic compounds of concern in environmental soil before commercially viable systems.

Key words: Biodegradation, pesticides, fungi, bacteria, phytodegradation.

African Journal of Virology Research ISSN 2756-3413 Vol. 15 (4), pp. 001-008, April, 2021. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Immunogenicity of different cellular fractions of Vibrio parahaemolyticus strains grown under sub-lethal heat and osmotic stress

Mariana Carmen Chifiriuc¹*, Gratiela Pircalabioru¹, Veronica Laz r¹, Beatrice Gîlea¹, Lumini a Dasc lu¹, Gerard Enache¹ and Coralia Bleotu²

¹Microbiology Immunology Department, Faculty of Biology, University of Bucharest, Ale. Portocalelor 1-3, 60101, Bucharest, Romania.

²Institute of Virology Stefan S. Nicolau,Mihai Bravu 285, 030304, Bucharest, Romania.

Accepted 09 January, 2021

Abstract

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is an estuarine bacterium widely distributed in natural aquatic environments and also a well-known food-borne pathogen, and like other enteropathogenic bacteria, it survives both in its natural environment and in its host. The transition from one state to another requires a high capacity to adapt to different physico-chemical parameters, process which increases the synthesis of specific proteins, including heat-shock proteins (HSPs). In order to investigate the immunogenicity of heat shock proteins from different cellular fractions of V. parahaemolyticus grown under sub-lethal heat and osmotic shock, we analyzed the response of holoxenic mice to V. parahaemolyticus cellular fractions injected intraperitoneally by examining the anti-HSP antibodies response to stressful conditions and the immune protection installed after several immunizations. The supernatant and total cellular extract of heat or simultaneously heat and osmotically-stressed bacterial cultures induced the early occurrence of anti-HSP antibodies (after 4 immunizations), while after 8 immunizations, the anti-HSP antibodies were present in the majority of the tested batches, the most immunogenic fraction proving to be the heat-stressed culture supernatants.

Key words: Vibrio parahaemolyticus, heat shock proteins, heat shock response, mice immunization.

African Journal of Virology Research ISSN 2756-3413 Vol. 15 (4), pp. 001-008, April, 2021. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Effect of prebiotic oligosaccharides on growth of Lactobacillus strains used as a probiotic for chickens

M. Saminathan¹, C. C. Sieo^1,2, R. Kalavathy³, N. Abdullah^1,4 and Y. W. Ho¹*

¹Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

²Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

³Faculty of Pharmacy, Universiti Teknologi Mara, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.

⁴Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

Accepted 14 January, 2021

Abstract

In the present study, the effect of 10 commercially available oligosaccharides on the growth of 11 Lactobacillus strains, which were isolated from the gastrointestinal tract of chickens and have been used as a multistrain probiotic for chickens, was evaluated in vitro. The utilization of oligosaccharides was highly variable among the 11 Lactobacillus strains and considerable strains differences (P < 0.05) were observed. Isomaltooligosaccharides (IMO) supported good growth for all the 11 Lactobacillus strains, followed by galactooligosaccharides (GOS), gentiooligosaccharides (GTO) and fructooligosaccharides (FOS). Oligosaccharides such as Raftilose L60, Raftilose P95, Raftiline LS, and mannanoligosaccharides (MOS) were poorly utilized by all the Lactobacillus strains. Growth kinetics study also showed variations in the specific growth rates and growth patterns of four representative Lactobacillus species on four selected oligosaccharides. The highest specific growth rate was demonstrated by Lactobacillus salivarius I 24 on FOS. The results showed that the ability of the 11 probiotic Lactobacillus strains to utilize oligosaccharides could be both strain and substrate specific, which demonstrates the importance of selecting suitable prebiotic oligosaccharides for the preparation of synbiotics.

Key words: Probiotic, prebiotic, synbiotic, Lactobacillus, oligosaccharides.

African Journal of Virology Research ISSN 2756-3413 Vol. 15 (3), pp. 001-006, March, 2021. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

High prevalence of CTX-M-type beta-lactamase in Escherichia coli isolates producing extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) and displaying antibiotic co-resistance

Hasan Nazik¹*, Betigül Öngen¹, Emel Erdo an Yildirim¹ and Fatih Ermi²

¹Department of Microbiology and Clinical Microbiology, Istanbul Medical Faculty, Istanbul University. Turkey.

²Department of Gastroenterohepatology, Istanbul Medical Faculty, Istanbul University, Turkey.

Accepted 17 January, 2021

Abstract

In the present study, we investigated the prevalence of CTX-M-type beta-lactamase in extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Escherichia coli isolated in our hospital as well as their antibiotic resistance and co-resistance rates. Two hundred nineteen E. coli isolated from clinical specimens between 2006 and 2007 were included. Antibiotic susceptibility test was performed using disc diffusion method and ESBL production was determined using a double-disc synergy test. The presence of CTX-M-type beta-lactamase genes was investigated through amplification using specific primers. The prevalence of CTX-M-type beta-lactamase was found 87% in E. coli isolates. The isolates displayed high rates of resistance to tested antibiotics: 87% to ampicillin-sulbactam (SAM), 77% to amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (AMC), 76% to co-trimoxazole (SXT), 70% to norfloxacin (NOR), 68% to ciprofloxacin (CIP), and 51% to gentamicin (GN). All isolates were found susceptible to imipenem (IPM), meropenem (MEM) and fosfomycin (FOS). Co-resistance was identified in 96% of isolates, and the most common two co-resistance phenotypes were AMC/SAM/GN/NOR/CIP/SXT (12%) and AMC/SAM/NOR/CIP/SXT (11%). CTX-M-type beta-lactamase was present in E. coli isolates at extremely high rates. The empiric therapy with SAM, AMC, SXT, NOR, CIP, and GN may not be adequately effective against certain isolates of E. coli due to high rate of resistance.

Key words: Escherichia coli, antibiotic resistance, co-resistance, extended spectrum beta-lactamase, CTX-M.

African Journal of Virology Research ISSN 2756-3413 Vol. 15 (3), pp. 001-010, March, 2021. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Identification of clusters in tissue samples in gene expression data with Principal Component Analysis based on relative variance matrix

Uzma Nawaz* and Asghar Ali

Department of Statistics, Bahauddin Zakariya University, 60800, Multan, Pakistan.

Accepted 09 January, 2021

Abstract

Principal Component Analysis (PCA) has been in use as a preprocessing step to clustering for long. We have focused on the clustering of tissue samples in gene expression data. Different clustering techniques and algorithm are available in literature on gene expression data but with the existing ambiguity on the number of clusters, apart from relying on biologically known groups. A consensus is needed to reach on the number of clusters in the wide variety of existing clustering techniques based on different similarity or dissimilarity metrics. The conventional usage of PCA for clustering is either by forcing the unit variance to each variable or the high magnitude of variance of an individual variable is allowed to dominate the entire results of PCA. We propose the use of relative variance covariance method in PCA, so as to give due consideration to the joint and individual variances in the dataset and identify clusters with principal component loadings. We emphasize empirically that the proposed approach of PCA is conclusively more informative than the available approaches to identify cluster structure in tissue samples (sample expression profiles). Clusters formed are valid with the existing results on the data set under study and with valid biological background.

Key words: Clustering methods, gene expression analysis, principal component analysis, the relative variance covariance matrix, principal component loadings.