Fecal Microbial Transplantation for the Treatment of Persistent Multidrug-Resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae Infection in a Critically Ill Patient.

Dysbiosis of the microbiome is a common finding in critically ill patients, who receive broad-spectrum antibiotics and various forms of organ support. Multidrug-resistant (MDR) organisms are a growing threat in all areas of medicine, but most markedly in the critically ill, where there is both loss of host defences and widespread use of broad spectrum antibiotics. We present a case of a critically ill patient with persistent MDR Klebsiella pneumoniae infection, successfully treated with fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), using stool of a rigorously-screened, healthy donor. FMT for Clostridium difficile colitis has been well described in the literature and is an established therapy for recurrent infections with Clostridium difficile. The use of FMT for other multidrug-resistant organisms is less frequently described, particularly in the context of critically ill patients. In our case, we have culture-documented clearance of the MDR Klebsiella pneumoniae form a patient of FMT.

Our gut microbiota: a long walk to homeostasis.

The microbiome of the human gastrointestinal tract (GIT) consists of billions of bacteria, fungi and viruses, of which bacteria play the most important role in nutrition, immune development, production of vitamins and maintaining a well-balanced (homeostatic) microbial population. Many papers have been published on the microbiota in the human GIT, but little is known about the first group of bacteria that colonises an infant. The intestinal tract of an unborn is, despite general belief, not sterile, but contains bacteria that have been transferred from the mother. This opens a new research field and may change our understanding about the role bacteria play in early life, the selection of strains with probiotic properties and the treatment of diseases related to bacterial infections. Differences in bacterial populations isolated from meconia may provide answers to the prevention of certain forms of diabetes. More research is now focusing on the effect that a genetically diverse group, versus a much simpler microbial population, may have on the development of a homeostatic gut microbiome. The effect different bacterial species have on the gut-associated lymphoid tissue and cascade of immune responses has been well researched, but we still fail in identifying the ideal group of intestinal bacteria and if we do, it will certainly not be possible to maintain homeostasis with so many challenges the gut faces. Changes in diet, antibiotics, food preservatives and stress are some of the factors we would like to control, but more than often fail to do so. The physiology and genetics of the GIT changes with age and so the microbiome. This review summarises factors involved in the regulation of a gut microbiome.

First Report of the Isolation of the Symbiotic Bacterium Photorhabdus luminescens subsp. laumondii Associated with Heterorhabditis safricana from South Africa.

Photorhabdus luminescens subsp. laumondii is closely associated with the entomopathogenic nematode Heterorhabditis bacteriophora and has, to date, not been isolated from other nematode species. This study is the first report of P. luminescens subsp. laumondii from two South African isolates of entomopathogenic nematodes, Heterorhabditis safricana SF281 and H. bacteriophora SF351. Both symbiotic bacterial strains are phenotypically closely related to P. luminescens subsp. laumondii previously isolated and described from H. bacteriophora. The genetic relatedness between P. luminescens subsp. laumondii strains SF281B and SF351B was confirmed by comparing 16S rDNA, recA, gyrB and gltX sequences with sequences of P. luminescens subsp. laumondii, including the type strain (TT01T) and strain E21.

First Report of Soybean Sudden Death Syndrome Caused by Fusarium virguliforme in South Africa.

Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) is an important crop in many countries and production is currently increasing (from 311,450 ha in 2010 to 516,500 ha in 2013) in South Africa. On 27 February 2013 in the Lydenburg/Badfontein area, Mpumalanga Province, on a no-till commercial farm planted to soybean cultivar PAN 737 (Roundup Ready, maturity group 7) under irrigation for a second consecutive season, leaf symptoms typical of soybean sudden death syndrome were observed and reported by a farmer (3). The symptoms developed at the R6 growth stage (near physiological maturity) of the soybean plants. Leaf symptoms were interveinal chlorotic blotches that became necrotic while the veins remained green. These symptoms appeared throughout the plant but were most severe on the top leaves. Some of the severely affected leaflets dropped off with the petioles remaining attached to the plant. The vascular tissue in the upper taproot and lower stem turned gray-brown, but the pith remained white. Roots of the affected plants had decayed lateral roots. Surface disinfested root pieces with rot symptoms and spores directly from blue sporodochia on the rotten root were plated on potato dextrose agar amended with novostreptomycin 0.04 g/L (PDA+). Slow growing Fusarium isolates with blue to purple masses of sporodochia were consistently obtained from diseased plants. Cultures were single-spored and plated on PDA+. Growth rate of cultures on PDA+ was on average 6 to 9 mm after 5 days at 20°C. The morphology of the isolates fit the description of Fusarium virguliforme in Aoki et al. (1). Sequence analyses of the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and partial translation elongation factor (EF-1a) gene of the recovered eight isolates revealed that these isolates matched 99.6% with F. virguliforme O'Donnell & T. Aoki (Accession Nos. KF648835 to KF648850), one of the soybean sudden death syndrome causing species found in North and South America (1). All isolates are identical in each loci except that three isolates had one nucleotide deletion and two insertions at the EF-1a loci. The isolates are deposited at the national culture collection in Pretoria (PPRI13434 to PPRI13441). A glasshouse bioassay was conducted to test the pathogenicity of eight single-spored isolates by inoculating pasteurized planting medium (1:1:1 ratio of sand, perlite, and soil) with a layer of infested sand-bran medium (2) to each pot (13 cm in diameter) and covered with 2 cm of planting medium (4) after planting 20 seeds of soybean cultivar PAN 737. There were three pots per isolate randomized in a complete block design trial. All the South African F. virguliforme isolates tested induced leaf and root rot symptoms of sudden death syndrome on the soybean seedlings under glasshouse conditions after 4 weeks of inoculation. The fungus was re-isolated on PDA+ from diseased roots of the soybean seedlings to fulfill Koch's postulates. This is the first record of F. virguliforme in South Africa, and as an important component of soilborne diseases of soybean it may pose a major threat to the South African soybean industry. References: (1) T. Aoki et al. Mycoscience 46:162, 2005. (2) S. C. Lamprecht et al. Plant Dis. 95:1153, 2011. (3) J. C. Rupe and G. L. Hartman. Compendium of Soybean Diseases, 4th ed. G. L. Hartman et al., eds. American Phytopathological Society, St. Paul, MN, 1999. (4) M. M. Scandiani et al. Trop. Plant Pathol. 36:133, 2011.

Cloro y dióxido de cloro: evaluación como preoxidantes alguicidas en potabilización de agua

Demuestra que el dióxido de cloro es mejor preoxidante alguicida y que es mas económico que el cloro. Evalua la resistencia de algunas algas, entre ellas la Cosmarium Leave variante distentum y quadricauda. Indica que los resultados corresponden a un estudio realizado en Sudáfrica

Cloro y dióxido de cloro: evaluación como preoxidantes alguicidas en potabilización de agua

Demuestra que el dióxido de cloro es mejor preoxidante alguicida y que es mas económico que el cloro. Evalua la resistencia de algunas algas, entre ellas la Cosmarium Leave variante distentum y quadricauda. Indica que los resultados corresponden a un estudio realizado en Sudáfrica

Lysosomal disruption during the development of endotoxic shock in the baboon.

Lysosomal disruption with release of lysosomal enzymes has been described in shock. Our study was designed to demonstrate the release of lysosomal enzymes in the liver and lung in addition to determining circulating serum lysosomal enzyme values. Terapeutic means of reducing or inhibiting lysosomal disruption were also investigated. Five groups of baboons were investigated: Group A: (control group) - no endotoxin or treatment administered. Group B: (endotoxin only) - liver and lung tissues showed an increase in free lysosomal enzymes, and a similar increase in curculating serum lysosomal enzymes was demonstrated. Group C: (chloroguine treatment (lysosomal stabiliser) following endotoxin administration) - the liver and lung tissues showed a smaller increase in free lysosomal enzymes and a corresponding lesser increase in circulating serum lysosomal enzymes was demonstrated. Group D: (dexamethasone treatment (lysosomal membrane stabiliser) following endotoxin administration) - the rise in lysosomal tissue and serum enzyme values was less than that in group B. Group E: (combination of chloroquine and dexamethasone treatment following endotoxin administration) - the rise in lysosomal tissue and serum values was less than that demonstrated in group B. The survival of the animals in the various groups correlated well with the lysosomal enzyme tissue and serum values, as did the monitored haemodynamic, hoematological and other parameters.