A significant increase in the incidence of non-O157 verotoxigenic Escherichia coli (VTEC) infections have become a serious health issues, and this situation is worsening due to the dissemination of plasmid mediated multidrug-resistant microorganisms worldwide. This study aims to investigate the presence of plasmid-mediated verotoxin gene in non-O157 E. coli. Standard microbiological techniques identified a total of 137 E. coli isolates. The plasmid was detected by Perfectprep Plasmid Mini preparation kit. These isolates were subjected to disk diffusion assay, and plasmid curing with ethidium bromide treatment. The plasmid containing isolates were subjected to a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for investigating the presence of plasmid mediated verotoxin gene (VT1 and VT2) in non-O157 E. coli. Among the 137 E. coli isolates, 49 isolates were non-O157 E. coli while 29 (59.1%) isolates were verotoxin producing non-O157 serotypes and 26 non-O157 VTEC isolates possessed plasmids. Certain isolates harboured single sized plasmid while others had multiple plasmids with different size varied from 1.8kb to 7.6kb. A plasmid containing all (100%) the isolates was multidrug-resistant. Eight isolates changed their susceptibility patterns while three isolates were found to lose plasmid after post plasmid curing treatment and the rest of the isolates (15) remained constant. Different PCR sets characterized 3 plasmid-mediated verotoxins producing non-O157 E. coli. This current study demonstrated the occurrence of plasmid mediated verotoxin gene in non-O157 E. coli. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report in the global literature on plasmid-mediated verotoxin gene in non-O157 E. coli. Timely diagnosis and surveillance of VTEC infections should prioritize to stop or slow down the virulence gene for dissemination by plasmid-mediated gene transfer amongst the same bacteria or other species.
The study designed to determine the distribution of a major important food pathogens including Staphylococcus aureus , Listeria monocytogenes, E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella spp from raw beef and lamb meat by using multiplex pcr . A total of 90 raw beef and lamb meat samples were collected from different butcher's shops in Al-Karkh side of Baghdad city and analyzed for the presence of these types of bacteria and their susceptibilities to some antibiotics was investigated ,the results showed that the prevalence of S. aureus (5.6%), L. monocytogenes (3%), E. coli O157:H7 (7.8 %) and Salmonella spp (5.6%) from the total samples .The result of the susceptibility test showed that S. aureus isolates were susceptible to Amikacin (80%) ,while L.
... Show MoreBackground: The microbial production of substances that have the potency to suppress the growth of other microorganisms is probably one of the prevalent defense strategy developed in nature, microorganisms produce a variable bunch of microbial defense systems, which include antibiotics, metabolic by-products, lytic agents, bacteriocins and others. Objective: The purpose of the present study was to isolate and identify Enterococcus faecium isolates then detecting its ability of carrying the gene responsible for enterocin production in this species. Materials and methods: Out of 50 samples from different sources (food and clinical sources) were collected for the Enterococcus faecium isolation, and the isolated bacteria Enterococ
... Show More- coli K12 and B. subtilis 168 were investigated for their cadmium and mercury tolerance abilities. They were developed by UV mutagenesis technique to increase their tolerances either to cadmium or mercury, and their names then were designated depend on the name and concentration of metals. E. coli K12 Cd3R exhibited bioremediation amount of 6.5 mg Cd/g dry biomass cell. At the same time, its wild-type (E. coli K12 Cd3) was able to remove 5.2 mg Cd/g dry biomass cell in treatment of 17 mg Cd /L within 72 hours of incubation at 37 °C (pH=7) in vitro assays. The results show that E.coli K12 Hg 20 was able to remove 0.050 µg Hg/g dry biomass cell
Twenty-seven S. aureus isolates were obtained from patients referring various hospitals in Baghdad. Only 17 isolates produced DNase. SNase was extracted and purified from Saphylococcus aureus 3 isolate since it produces the largest zone of clearance on DNase agar. Nevertheless, only those phenotypically-producer of DNase harboured nuc gene. Present study revealed that the crude enzyme had a specific activity of 50.66 unit/mg; while it reached 241 unit/mg after ion exchange chromatography using carboxymethyl cellulose column. SDS-PAGE showed a single sharp band with an approximately 16.8 kDa molecular weight. A matter indicates that the enzyme is consistently pure. Results proved that SNase was able to significantly (P< 0.05) reduce th
... Show MoreThis study is an investigation of the drugs effect on some pathogenic Acanthamoeba isolated from Iraqi waters, where the problem of environmental adaptation that characterizes this organism in addition to being a reservoir for many pathogenic microorganisms that take shelter in it to escape disinfectants and medicines is sometimes difficult to treat it with traditional treatments. Twenty water samples were collected from different water regions in Iraq, namely the Dokan Lake, Tigris River, Euphrates River and Najaf Sea, 5 samples from each source. Acanthamoeba was isolated from water samples on NNA and PYG media, using an inverted microscope with an electron microscope to determine their phenotypic features. PCR and
... Show MoreObjectives. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of nonnutritive sucking habits on the presence of oral Escherichia coli. Methods. One hundred and twenty children aged 3–5 years old were enrolled in the present case-control study, as follows: 60 children with continuous pacifier and thumb sucking habits (study group) and 60 children without any sucking habits (control group). The children in the two groups were matched in terms of age and gender. Information was gathered from the parents concerning their children using a special sheet. Sterile swabs were taken from both groups and cultured on agar plates. Then, they were subjected to further biochemical tests to identify E. coli species. The mean of the E. coli count was determ
... Show MoreThe present study was conducted to investigate the resistance of fluoroquinolones (FQs) and the effects of mutations in the resistance gene in clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa isolated from different sources in Al-Hussein Hospital, Al-Samawah city, Iraq. The basic mechanism of the resistant of fluoroquinolones in P. aeruginosa is via mutations occurring in the basic bacterial gyrA gene encoding-subunit A of DNA gyrase . Forty clinical isolates from various sourced (burn 7 (17.5 %), wound 7 (17.5 %), ear 2 (5 %), operation room 12 (30 %), urine 3 (7.5 %), and industrial dialysis center 9 (22.5 %)) were isolated based on bacteriological methods confirmed by 16s rRNA gene using PCR technique. A se
... Show MoreA total of (25) stool samples were collected from children and adults (2- 4) years old suffering from diarrhea to isolate E. coli strains that produce heat-stable enterotoxin a (STa), and after performing microscopic examination, cultural characterization and biochemical identification only (11) isolates showed positive E. coli. STa activity was estimated by using suckling mouse assay (SMA) and from these (11) isolates only (5) showed STa activity and the one with the highest STa activity was selected for large scale production of STa, which was followed by partial purification using ion-exchange chromatography (normal phase) using DEAE sephadex A-50 column. After purification and determination of protein concentration by using the standard
... Show MoreSeven [35%] and five [25%] Serratia marcescens isolates were obtained out of 20 samples of lettuce and 20 samples of spinach, respectively, taken from different locations in a farm in Baghdad city. The isolate that produced chitinase in higher level was chosen to purify chitinase through several stages of purification including: ammonium sulfate precipitation, DEAE- sephadex ion exchange chromatograpgy and sephadex G-200 gel filtration with 89.5- fold purification and 30% recovery. The purified chitinase was characterized and the molecular weight of enzyme was 59000 daltons by using gel filtration chromatography. The optimum pH and temperature of the purified chitinase were 6.0 and 50°
... Show MoreThe research aim was to observe the distribution pattern of