Aim: Assessment of In vitro and In vivo Control of Fungal Cobweb Disease of Pleurotus ostreatus (Jacq), using organic materials.
Study Design: This study was designed to control the disease by using plant materials as organic control agent; both In vitro and in vivo.
Methodology: In Pleurotus ostreatus. In the In vitro test; food poison method was used while the in vivo test was undertaken by inoculation of fully colonized substrate bags of Pleurotus ostreatus infected with cobweb disease with crude extracts of Piper guineense and lime juice as treatment stock.
Results: The results indicated P. guineense inhibition of the growth of the pathogen at 22mm while lime juice did not show any impact on the growth of the pathogen. Additionally, P. guineense inhibited the growth of the pathogen in fully colonized but infected substrates bags of P. ostreatus invivo; such that the treated samples grew and developed the fruiting bodies of the mushroom, 3 days after treatment; whereas the one treated with lime juice developed the cobweb disease.
Conclusion: The study showed that effectiveness of P. guineense extract on the pathogen was possibly due to the bioactive chemicals such as phenols, tannins, flavonoid etc which concentration in the plant material occurred in surplus. These may have interfered with the molecular targets of the pathogen and caused it to loose cellular integrity and leakage of cell content. Alternatively, the study revealed that lime juice was ineffective; possibly because of the solvent used for it's preparation which could not enhance the release of the essential bioactive chemicals in lime juice for anti fungals. Consequently, this study recommends the use of P. guineense to mushroom farmers against fungal cobweb disease of oyster mushrooms.
Aim: Proteases are proteolytic enzymes that have a wide range of applications in the industrial sectors. This study investigated the production and optimization of protease by protease-producing fungi, (Aspergillus niger and A. terreus) using skim milk casein as substrate.
Materials and Methods:Aspergillus terreus and A. niger obtained from the Department of Plant Science and Biotechnology, University of Jos, Nigeria were screened for extracellular protease on skim milk agar medium. Optimization studies across different parameters: temperatures (30-80oC), pH (3-10), substrate Concentration (0.25-2 %), and incubation period (6 days) using submerged fermentation were done for maximum protease activity.
Results: The maximum temperature of protease activity was 50oC (116.5 IU/ml) for Aspergillus niger and 40oC (121.86 IU/ml) for Aspergillus terreus. The Optimum pH for protease activity was pH 9 (106.85 IU/ml) for Aspergillus niger and pH 8 (107.90 IU/ml) for Aspergillus terreus. Optimum protease activity (29.36 IU/ml) at an incubation period of 48 hours was recorded for Aspergillus niger and 72 hours (182.2 IU/ml) for Aspergillus terreus. At 2% substrate concentration a maximum activity of 87.21 IU/ml and 76.5 IU/ml was recorded for Aspergillus niger and A. terreus, respectively.
Conclusion: The test fungi Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus terreus exhibited maximum hydrolytic potential for protease production which has a vast application in different industries.
Enterobacteriaceae are ubiquitous commensal bacteria of humans that have become major causative agents of hospital infections. The objective of the study was to characterized the extended-spectrum beta-lactam resistance genes from multi-drug uropathogenic clinical strains in Côte d'Ivoire. Bacterial strains isolated from various biological products were collected from January 2011 to June 2016 at the Observatoire de la résistance des micro-organismes aux anti-infectieux en Côte d'ivoire (ORMICI). Two hundred and sixty six (266) enterobacterial strains were collected during this study. Antibacterial susceptibility and the presence of bla genes were determined by the solid-state diffusion method and by PCR, respectively. The presence of ESBL was confirmed by the double disc synergy test method and Sequencing was performed. Of the strains collected, the most isolated were Escherichia coli 53 (39.25%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae 36 (26.66%). Antibiotic resistance of more than 50% was observed for gentamicin, norfloxacin, third generation cephalosporins and tobramicin in E coli. Only imipenem had a low resistance rate of 5.6%. However, apart from norfloxacin, the Klebsiella pneumoniae strains tested expressed resistance to aztreonam and second generation cephalosporins in excess of 50%. The rate of resistance to aztreonam and cefotaxin was statistically different between E. coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae strains (p-value ₌ 0,008 and p-value ₌ 0,032 respectively). The genes blaCTX-M, blaSHV, blaTEM,qnr B and a class I integron were detected. After sequencing, the SHV-1, SHV-28, SHV-187 and CTX-M15 variants were detected. Although these results are of low proportions, this may be considered critical for the future, hence the need for a better antibiotic surveillance strategy in Abidjan.
House mice, Mus musculus, are classified as one of the most widespread mammals in the world. They harbor and spread many zoonotic pathogens, such as viruses (hantavirus), bacteria (Leptospira interrogans), protozoa (Toxoplasma gondii) and helminths (Hymenolepis spp.). In view of the real public health problems caused by mouse urine in the contamination of domestic foods, this study proposed to contribute to food safety by assessing the sanitary risk of the urinary microbiome of domestic mice. Bacteria were isolated and identified on CHROMAgarTM Orientation, Chromo E. coli O157H7 culture media and biochemical tests from urine samples collected from house mice in the city of Daloa. A total of 28 urine samples were tested and three bacterial genera Enterococcus, Stapphylococcus and Escherichia were identified with overall frequencies of occurrence of 60.7 %, 42.9 % and 35.7 % respectively. No significant differences were observed between these frequencies. Within the E. coli strain lineage, the potentially human pathogenic E. coli O157:H7 serotype was detected with an overall frequency of 50 %. The presence of E. coli O157:H7 in the urinary tract of house mice therefore represent a health risk for the surrounding population. This study therefore recommends through its results, the implementation of good hygiene practices for food safety, which can reduce the risks of transmission of microbial agents.
Introduction: The Rubella virus has a worldwide occurrence and congenital Rubella syndromes are widely recognized as an emerging infection in several parts of the world. Miscarriage, perinatal mortality, and stillbirth can develop in pregnancy during the first trimester. The most frequent techniques for laboratory diagnosis of Rubella virus infection are IgM and IgG-based serological detection methods. Such emerging viral and bacterial pathogen emphasizes the development of fast diagnostic devices; there is a need for enhanced and quicker methods.
Materials and Methods: Search for peptide vaccine with specific T and B-cell epitopes was identified through bioinformatics-based approaches. These were identified utilizing available Rubella virus E1 glycoprotein sequence databases. The outer-membrane glycoprotein, E1 is a target protein for the prediction of best antigens.
Results: Using BepiPred2 program, the potential B-cell epitope PFCNTPHGQLEVQVPPDPGDwith high conservation among E1 glycoprotein of rubella virus and the maximum surface exposed residues was identified. Using IEDB, NetMHCpan, and NetCTL programs, T-cell epitope RPVALPRAL was identified. Predicted epitopes were found to have promiscuous class-I major histocompatibility complex binding affinity to major histocompatibility complex super types, antigenicity scores, and high proteasomal cleavage. The three-dimensional modeled structures were created using I-TASSER online server for highlighting the predicted T- and B- cell epitopes.
Conclusion: The predicted T and B cell epitope could be used for the development of immunoglobulin assay and vaccine candidate peptide.
