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Whole Genome Sequence Analysis of Brucella spp. from Human, Livestock, and Wildlife in South Africa.
Koketso Desiree Mazwi, Kgaugelo Edward Lekota, Barbara Akofo Glover, Francis Babaman Kolo, Ayesha Hassim, Jenny Rossouw, Annelize Jonker, Justnya Maria Wojno, Giuseppe Profiti, Pier Luigi Martelli, Rita Casadio, Katiuscia Zilli, Anna Janowicz, Francesca Marotta, Giuliano Garofolo, Henriette van Heerden
J. Microbiol. 2024;62(9):759-773.   Published online July 22, 2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12275-024-00155-8
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AbstractAbstract
Brucellosis is an economically important zoonotic disease affecting humans, livestock, and wildlife health globally and especially in Africa. Brucella abortus and B. melitensis have been isolated from human, livestock (cattle and goat), and wildlife (sable) in South Africa (SA) but with little knowledge of the population genomic structure of this pathogen in SA. As whole genome sequencing can assist to differentiate and trace the origin of outbreaks of Brucella spp. strains, the whole genomes of retrospective isolates (n = 19) from previous studies were sequenced. Sequences were analysed using average nucleotide identity (ANI), pangenomics, and whole genome single nucleotide polymorphism (wgSNP) to trace the geographical origin of cases of brucellosis circulating in human, cattle, goats, and sable from different provinces in SA. Pangenomics analysis of B. melitensis (n = 69) and B. abortus (n = 56) was conducted with 19 strains that included B. abortus from cattle (n = 3) and B. melitensis from a human (n = 1), cattle (n = 1), goat (n = 1), Rev1 vaccine strain (n = 1), and sable (n = 12). Pangenomics analysis of B. melitensis genomes, highlighted shared genes, that include 10 hypothetical proteins and genes that encodes for acetyl-coenzyme A synthetase (acs), and acylamidase (aam) amongst the sable genomes. The wgSNP analysis confirmed the B. melitensis isolated from human was more closely related to the goat from the Western Cape Province from the same outbreak than the B. melitensis cattle sample from different cases in the Gauteng Province. The B. melitensis sable strains could be distinguished from the African lineage, constituting their own African sub-clade. The sequenced B. abortus strains clustered in the C2 lineage that is closely related to the isolates from Mozambique and Zimbabwe. This study identified genetically diverse Brucella spp. among various hosts in SA. This study expands the limited known knowledge regarding the presence of B. melitensis in livestock and humans in SA, further building a foundation for future research on the distribution of the Brucella spp. worldwide and its evolutionary background.
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov'ts
Strain Improvement of Candida tropicalis for the Production of Xylitol:Biochemical and Physiological Characterization of Wild-type and Mutant Strain CT-OMV5
Ravella Sreenivas Rao , Cherukuri Pavana Jyothi , Reddy Shetty Prakasham , Chaganti Subba Rao , Ponnupalli Nageshwara Sarma , Linga Venkateswar Rao
J. Microbiol. 2006;44(1):113-120.
DOI: https://doi.org/2328 [pii]
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AbstractAbstract
Candida tropicalis was treated with ultraviolet (UV) rays, and the mutants obtained were screened for xylitol production. One of the mutants, the UV1 produced 0.81g of xylitol per gram of xylose. This was further mutated with N-methyl-N’-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG), and the mutants obtained were screened for xylitol production. One of the mutants (CT-OMV5) produced 0.85g/g of xylitol from xylose. Xylitol production improved to 0.87 g/g of xylose with this strain when the production medium was supplemented with urea. The CT-OMV5 mutant strain differs by 12 tests when compared to the wild-type Candida tropicalis strain. The XR activity was higher in mutant CT-OMV5. The distinct difference between the mutant and wild-type strain is the presence of numerous chlamydospores in the mutant. In this investigation, we have demonstrated that mutagenesis was successful in generating a superior xylitol-producing strain, CT-OMV5, and uncovered distinctive biochemical and physiological characteristics of the wild-type and mutant strain, CT-OMV5.
Monitoring of Bacterial Community in a Coniferous Forest Soil After a Wildfire
Ok-Sun Kim , Jae-Jun Yoo , Dong-Hun Lee , Tae-Seok Ahn , Hong-Gyu Song
J. Microbiol. 2004;42(4):278-284.
DOI: https://doi.org/2110 [pii]
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AbstractAbstract
Changes in the soil bacterial community of a coniferous forest were analyzed to assess microbial responses to wildfire. Soil samples were collected from three different depths in lightly and severely burned areas, as well as a nearby unburned control area. Direct bacterial counts ranged from 3.3-22.6 x10^8 cells/(g . soil). In surface soil, direct bacterial counts of unburned soil exhibited a great degree of fluctuation. Those in lightly burned soil changed less, but no significant variation was observed in the severely burned soil. The fluctuations of direct bacterial count were less in the middle and deep soil layers. The structure of the bacterial community was analyzed via the fluorescent in situ hybridization method. The number of bacteria detected with the eubacteria-targeted probe out of the direct bacterial count varied from 30.3 to 84.7%, and these ratios were generally higher in the burned soils than in the unburned control soils. In the surface unburned soil, the ratios of [alpha]-, [beta]- and [gamma]-proteobacteria, Cytophaga-Flavobacterium group, and other eubacteria groups to total eubacteria were 9.9, 10.6, 15.5, 9.0, and 55.0%, respectively, and these ratios were relatively stable. The ratios of [alpha]-, [beta]- and [gamma]-proteobacteria, and Cytophaga-Flavobacterium group to total eubacteria increased immediately after the wildfire, and the other eubacterial proportions decreased in the surface and middle layer soils. By way of contrast, the composition of the 5 groups of eubacteria in the subsurface soil exhibited no significant fluctuations during the entire period. The total bacterial population and bacterial community structure disturbed by wildfire soon began to recover, and original levels seemed to be restored 3 months after the wildfire.

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