Clostridioides difficile is an emerging pathogen of One Health significance. Its highly variable genome contains mobile genetic elements (MGEs) such as transposons and prophages that influence its biology. Systematic deletion of each genetic element is required to determine their precise role in C. difficile biology and contribution to the wider mobilome. Here, Tn5397 (21 kb) and ϕ027 (56 kb) were deleted from C. difficile 630 and R20291, respectively, using allele replacement facilitated by CRISPR-Cas9. The 630 Tn5397 deletant transferred PaLoc at the same frequency (1 × 10⁻⁷

With the World Health Organization reporting over 30,000 deaths and 200,000 to 400,000 new cases annually, visceral leishmaniasis is a serious disease affecting some of the world's poorest people. As drug resistance continues to rise, there is a huge unmet need to improve treatment. Miltefosine remains one of the main treatments for leishmaniasis, yet its mode of action (MoA) is still unknown. Understanding the MoA of this drug and parasite response to treatment could help pave the way for new and more successful treatments for leishmaniasis. A novel method has been devised to study the metabolome and lipidome ofLeishmania donovaniaxenic amastigotes treated with miltefosi

A survey and revised checklist of the species belonging to the family of Compositae for the specimens which are collected and deposited previously at the herbarium of the Iraq Natural History Research Center and Museum, in addition to the current specimens collected for the period 2016-2021. A total of 85 species belonging to 49 genera and 16 tribes are revised with their synonyms, locality, and distributions, flowering and fruiting period.

One hundred isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa were obtained from patients admitted to Baghdad hospitals, Iraq during the period between May 2018 until July 2018. These isolates were distributed as 15 isolates from blood, 25 isolates from urinary tract infections, 10 isolates from sputum, 12 isolates from wounds, 15 isolates from ear infections, 15 isolates from bronchial wash of patients suffering from respiratory tract infections in addition to 8 isolates from cystic fibrosis patients. The isolates were initially identified by culturing on MacConkey agar, blood agar and P. aeruginosa agar then diagnosed by performing some morphological and biochemical tests. The second diagnosis was done by API 20E system followed by Vitek 2 compact syste

The risk of significant concern is resistance to antibiotics for public health. The alternative treatment of metallic nanoparticles (NPs), such as heavy metals, effects on antibiotic resistance bacteria with different types of antibiotics of - impossible to treat using noval eco-friendly synthesis technique nanoparticles copper oxide (CuO NPs) preparation from S. epidermidis showed remarkable antimicrobial activity against S.aureus Minimum inhibitory concentra range (16,32,64,256,512) µg/ml via well diffusion method in vitro, discover those concentrations effected in those bacteria and the best concentration is 64 µg/ml, characterization CuO NPs to prove this included atomic force microscope, UV, X-ray Diffraction and TEM, and ant

Clausena excavata (Lour.), locally known as “Kemantu hitam,” is a common plant in Malaysian folklore medicine. This study evaluated the antioxidant properties of the solvent extracts of C. excavata leaves and determined the acute toxicity of methanolic extract C. excavata (MECE) leaves in Sprague‐Dawley rats. Harvested leaves were dried and subjected to solvent extraction using petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol in succession. The antioxidant activity of each extract was determined using the ferric‐reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picryl dihydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity. The total pheno

     The spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria is a worldwide problem. Due to the importance of P. aeruginosa as a multidrug resistant bacterium, this study aimed, through molecular techniques, to detect point mutations in chromosomal genes responsible for the quinolones class of antibiotics resistance. A total of 52 isolates from burn infections were identified using specific primers for P. aeruginosa 16S rDNA. Ciprofloxacin minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) were estimated using the agar dilution assay. DNA sequences of the quinolone resistance-determining regions of gyrA and parC were determined for detecting the mutations found in these genes and the relations among the i

This study investigated the bioethanol production from green algae Chlorella vulgaris depending on its carbohydrate-enriched biomass. Four different phosphorous concentrations were employed to stimulate bioethanol production from Chlorella vulgaris. The impact of various phosphorous values on Chlorella vulgaris growth rate as well as primary product (carbohydrate) were evaluated. High performance liquid chromatography was utilized in this work. The stationary phase was identified as day 14, 12, 10 and 6 in treatments 6, 4, 2 and g/L, respectively. The findings suggest that the treatment without phosphorous addition had the highest record of carbohydrate content (22.64% dry weight) as well as the highest bioethanol yield (20.66% dry weight).

In this study, Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles were synthesized by an easy and eco-friendly technique (green synthesis) using green tea leaves (Camillia sinensis), Nanoparticles were analyzed using structural and optical analysis, the X-ray pattern showed that Titanium Dioxide NPs had a tetragonal structure with (Face Centered Tetragonal) FCT crystal structure, the UV-visible recorded an absorbance peak near 350 nm and calculated energy band gap was 3.5 eV, all measurements were proved the purity and Nano size of prepared Nanoparticles. Biochemical parameters evaluation also mentioned in this research, these analyzes showed that Titanium Dioxide nanoparticles in particular dose (50 mg/kg) have the ability to reduce blood glucose

Leishmaniasis diseases constitute an important public health problem in both tropical and subtropical areas. The aim of this study is to evaluate the epidemiological situation of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in Babylon province, Iraq. The current work included the recording of 142 new cases of CL infection in Babylon province for the period from November 2019 to February 2020. Male infection was represented by 87 cases (61.27%), while females composed 55 samples (38.73%), with a significant difference (p<0.05) between the two groups. The age group of 5-14 years was found to have the highest recorded CL cases  (56; 39.44%), while the age group of less than one year had the lowest  cases  (1; 0.70%), with the differences

This study was concentrated for isolation and identification of 60 (35.2%) Proteus mirabilis isolates out of 170 urine samples from patients suffering from urinary tract infection  from different hospitals in Baghdad city during a period from September 2020 to January 2021. The isolates were cultivated on selective media and biochemical reactions were used to identify them confirmatory APi 20 E tests. The sixty selected isolates were tested for resistance against four antibiotics. The results shown that there were differences in the antibiotic resistance of isolates. High resistance to nalidixic acid and ampicillin were found among isolates as (75%) and (51%) respectively while the resistance of Proteus mirabili

تهدف الدراسة إلى تحديد فعالية النياسين A و الزيت الطيار لأكليل الجبل في الجسم الحي لفئران التجارب على بكتريا B. cereus المعزولة من اللحوم المعلبة في المختبر. أظهرت النتائج فعالية اكليل الجبل بتركيز (2000 ميكروغرام / مل) والنياسين A (350 ميكروغرام / مل) اذ بلغت  27 و 19 ملم قطر المنطقة المثبطة على التوالي بأستخدام طريقة الانتشا

Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic infection that triggers immune cells to produce cytokines and inflammatory mediators that are responsible for abnormal or aborted immune responses. This study highlights the evaluation of the Dectin-1 receptor and cytokine IL-37 in the serum of 80 patients who had miscarried in the first trimester and were infected with toxoplasmosis, as well as 40 pregnant women in the first trimester who had a successful pregnancy (control groups). The serum was first screened for the T. gondii IgM and IgG antibodies by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and then the serum levels of IL-37 and Dectin-1 were determined. The results showed that the serum level of Dectin-1 was significantly increased in anti-

Thirty swabes of medical implants were collected from Al-Yarmouk's hospital which were cultured on manitole agar to isolate Staphelococcus aureus . Only four samples gave positive results with this media. It was used ten types of antibiotics to test the sensitivity of this bacterium against them. All isolates of S. aureus were recorded as multidrug resistant and were considered as MRSA. One pledge alternative therapy is the utilize of certain pure bacterocin MIC (32.5 to 62.5 μg/ml) and it was compared with vancomycin (200-400 μg/ml) with average of (8 – 15) mm diameter of inhibition zones recpectively. The first reduction of biofilm formation ability has been proved in catheters when treatedby pure bacterocin. The test shows the highes

Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular protozoan parasite; it spreads via the circulatory system during infection and causes chronic infection in various organs. Toxoplasmosis affects nearly one third of people worldwide, especially immunocompromised people. This study aimed to determine the effect of toxoplasmosis on renal function in hemodialysis patients. Overall 300 patients referred to the Medical City, Al-Karama General Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq were enrolled from 2021 to 2022. All serum samples were tested for T. gondii immunoglobulins (IgG and IgM) antibodies, urea and creatinine levels. In patients undergoing hemodialysis, the results revealed a high positivity percentage for anti-Toxoplasma IgG. In hemodialysis patients infe

     Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is an endemic parasitic disease found in many provinces of Iraq. The immune system plays a crucial role in the development or healing of lesions through chemotactic cytokine activity. This study was aimed to detect the levels of two chemokine ligands (CCL2 and CCL5) in Iraqi patients suffering from dermal ulcers, caused by cutaneous leishmaniasis. It was measured in pre and post-treatment state of Pentostam (Pentavalent Antimony 100 mg). Blood serum concentrations of CCL2, CCL5 were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay among newly infected patients, two-trial treatment patients and three-trial treatment patients, in comparison with the control group. The result indicated a significant differ

The main aim of this study was to molecular identification and determine the antagonistic impact of rhizosphere Trichoderma spp. against some phytopathogenic fungi, including (Magnaporthe grisea) pyricularia oryzae, Rhizoctonia solani and Macrophomina phasolina. Four Trichoderma isolates were isolated from rhizosphere soils of the different host plants in different locations of Egyptian governorates. The morphological characterization of isolated Trichoderma as well as using of (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2) ribosomal gene sequence acquisition and data analyses. By comparing the results of DNA sequences of ITS region, the fungi represented one isolate were positively identified as T. asperellum (1 isolate T1) and one as T. longibrachiatum (1 isolate T2)

This research was aimed to evaluate activity of Rosemary volatile oil and Nisin A in vivo and on B. cereus isolated from some canned meat products in vitro. The results showed that the activity of Rosemary volatile oil (2000 µg/ml) and Nisin A (350 µg\ml) attained to 27 and 19 mm inhibitory zone diameter respectively in well diffusion method. The viable plate count from samples of canned meat treated with effective concentration of Rosemary volatile oil and Nisin A were examined. The samples with Rosemary volatile oil was not showed any CFU/g after 9 days of preservation while sample with Nisin A and control observed 49 and 45 CFU/g respectively. In vivo experiment on mice, two weeks after oral dose of Rosemary volatile oil (2000

A case-control study was designed to find out the association between rs2234671 polymorphism of cxcr1 and rUTI in a sample of Iraqi women by polymerase chain reaction- sequence-specific primer (PCR-SSP) method. The current findings revealed that the genotype GC (OR= 7.86, 95% CI = 2.82-21.87, P= 7.7 × 10-5) and the C allele (OR= 3.93, 95% CI = 1.97 - 7.83, P = 9.8×10-5) are significantly associated with rUTI. However, the genotype GG played as a protective factor (OR= 0.12, 95% CI = 10.05 - 0.34, P = 4.0 ×10-5). Depending on these findings, the genotype GC is significantly associated with rUTI.

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) have gained much attention as biodegradable polymers, many efforts are being made to minimize the cost of PHAs by finding cheap carbon source depending on the type of microorganism and fermentation conditions. The aims of this study were to evaluate the effects of different glucose concentrations and other important conditions on the PHA production by Bacillus cereus isolated from soil. Polyhydroxyalkanoates PHAs accumulated by soil microorganisms were examined by screening the isolated bacteria using Sudan B Black and Nile Blue staining process. A Gram positive strain was identified using the 16s rRNA gene, deposited in the NCBI GenBank sequence database. Different growth conditions (favorite glucose concentrat

This work aimed to investigate the prevalence of pathogenic fungi and evaluate the antifungal activity of Trichoderma orientale FMR12486 crude extract against pathogenic fungi isolated from patients attending the National Center for Thoracic and Respiratory Diseases (having a history of tuberculosis) and consultant of Dermatology of Baghdad hospital, Iraq. A total of 80 clinical specimens were collected: 20 skin scrapings specimens and 60 sputum specimens. The results of direct examination by KOH 10% and culture showed that 11 (55%) cases from 20 skin specimens were positive for fungal infections, while in the sputum specimens, 28 (47%) cases from 60 were positive. Candida albicans represented the most common fungal infection isolat

Chronic liver disease (CLD) can potentially cause disruptions in the normal functioning of various endocrine organs responsible for producing hormones. As a result, individuals suffering from CLD may experience fluctuations or imbalances in the levels of certain hormones within their bodies. As well as they frequently have suppressed immune systems making them more vulnerable to parasite infections. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the association between Toxoplasma gondii infections and liver function by analyzing the interplay between these parasites and hormones. This study was conducted in Baghdad, Iraq from December 2021 to May 2022. One hundred and twenty male patients with Chronic liver disease (CLD) (ag

Carbon monoxide (CO) contamination represents a major global concern. This study aimed to detect the concentration of CO, emitted from various vehicles exhausters which are important contributors in deteriorating air quality. The data was collected throughout the heavy parking period at Al- Jadyria campus in Baghdad University. The vehicles were classified into two main groups according to the type of gasoline they are filled with; including premium leaded and leaded free gasoline (PLG and LFG respectively), as well as engine size, odometer, brand and model. Seven low duty vehicles for each engine size (<1.6 to >2.0) liter were selected randomly. A portable gas detector type (Altair® 4X) was used to measure exhausted emiss