Molecular prophage typing of Staphylococcus aureus isolates from bovine mastitis.

Staphylococcus aureus is one of the major pathogens causing bovine mastitis and foodborne diseases associated with dairy products. To determine the genetic relationships between human and bovine or bovine isolates of S. aureus, various molecular methods have been used. Previously we developed an rpoB sequence typing (RSTing) method for molecular differentiation of S. aureus isolates and identification of RpoB-related antibiotic resistance. In this study, we performed spa typing and RSTing with 84 isolates from mastitic cows (22 farms, 72 cows, and 84 udders) and developed a molecular prophage typing (mPPTing) method for molecular epidemiological analysis of bovine mastitis. To compare the results, human isolates from patients (n = 14) and GenBank (n = 166) were used for real and in silico RSTing and mPPTing, respectively. Based on the results, RST10-2 and RST4-1 were the most common rpoB sequence types (RSTs) in cows and humans, respectively, and most isolates from cows and humans clearly differed. Antibiotic resistance-related RSTs were not detected in the cow isolates. A single dominant prophage type and gradual evolution through prophage acquisition were apparent in most of the tested farms. Thus, RSTing and mPPTing are informative, simple, and economic methods for molecular epidemiological analysis of S. aureus infections.

Genomic and probiotic characterization of SJP-SNU strain of Pichia kudriavzevii.

The yeast strain SJP-SNU was investigated as a probiotic and was characterized with respect to growth temperature, bile salt resistance, hydrogen sulfide reducing activity, intestinal survival ability and chicken embryo pathogenicity. In addition, we determined the complete genomic and mitochondrial sequences of SJP-SNU and conducted comparative genomics analyses. SJP-SNU grew rapidly at 37 °C and formed colonies on MacConkey agar containing bile salt. SJP-SNU reduced hydrogen sulfide produced by Salmonella serotype Enteritidis and, after being fed to 4-week-old chickens, could be isolated from cecal feces. SJP-SNU did not cause mortality in 10-day-old chicken embryos. From 13 initial contigs, 11 were finally assembled and represented 10 chromosomal sequences and 1 mitochondrial DNA sequence. Comparative genomic analyses revealed that SJP-SNU was a strain of Pichia kudriavzevii. Although SJP-SNU possesses pathogenicity-related genes, they showed very low amino acid sequence identities to those of Candida albicans. Furthermore, SJP-SNU possessed useful genes, such as phytases and cellulase. Thus, SJP-SNU is a useful yeast possessing the basic traits of a probiotic, and further studies to demonstrate its efficacy as a probiotic in the future may be warranted.

Comparison of complete rpoB gene sequence typing and multi-locus sequence typing for phylogenetic analysis of Staphylococcus aureus.

The present study determined the complete rpoB and seven partial house-keeping gene sequences of 29 human (20) and poultry (9) strains of Staphylococcus aureus, and conducted a phylogenetic analysis together with 39 strains in the GenBank and EMBL databases. On the basis of complete rpoB gene sequence (RS) typing , 28 different rpoB sequence types (RSTs) were identified; however, only 23 multilocus sequence types (STs) were identified by multi-locus sequence typing (MLST). RST 2-1 was a major RST covering 23.5% (16/68) of the analyzed strains followed by RST 4-1 (14.7%, 10/68). Out of 10 poultry strains including one in the database, 9 and 1 were classified into unique RSTs 3-1 and 6-3, respectively. According to the MLST, ST5 was a major sequence type covering 25.0% (17/68) of them, followed by STs 228 and 239 (for each ST, 11.8%, 8/68), and poultry strains were grouped into ST5 (9/10) and ST692 (1/10). The poultry ST5 strains were differentiated from human ST5 strains and rifampin resistance-related mutations were observed in some human S. aureus strains by RS typing. Thus, RS typing was more discriminative and informative than MLST, and it can be a simple and economic alternative to MLST for identification and phylogenetic analysis of S. aureus.

Multiplex nested RT-PCR for detecting avian influenza virus, infectious bronchitis virus and Newcastle disease virus.

In this study, multiplex nested RT-PCR (mnRT-PCR) was applied to simultaneous detect multiplex PCR with the higher sensitivity of nested PCR that is required for avian influenza, infectious bronchitis and Newcastle disease virus using two steps of amplification. For the first PCR, primers that were specific for each virus were newly designed from the nucleoprotein gene of AIV, the nucleocapsid protein gene of IBV and the fusion protein gene of NDV to amplify products of 665, 386 and 236 nucleotides, respectively. The multiplex PCR step provides mass amplification using common primers, which increased markedly the sensitivity of the test. Non-specific reactions were not observed when other viruses and bacteria were used for evaluating the mnRT-PCR. As a field application, 172 samples were tested by RT-PCR and mnRT-PCR. Among these samples, the concordance rates for mnRT-PCR and the single conventional RT-PCR showed 98.9% (kappa=0.98) and 98.8% (kappa=0.96) similarity for IBV and AIV, respectively. As a result, it is recommended the multiplex nested PCR as an effective tool for detecting and studying the molecular epidemiology of various mixed infections of one or more of these viruses in poultry.

Molecular prophage typing of avian pathogenic Escherichia coli.

Escherichia coli prophages confer virulence and resistance to physico-chemical, nutritional, and antibiotic stresses on their hosts, and they enhance the evolution of E. coli. Thus, studies on profiles of E. coli prophages are valuable to understand the population structure and evolution of E. coli pathogenicity. Large terminase genes participate in phage genome packaging and are one of the cornerstones for the identification of prophages. Thus, we designed primers to detect 16 types of large terminase genes and analyzed the genomes of 48 E. coli and Shigella reference strains for the prophage markers. We also investigated the distribution of the 16 prophage markers among 92 avian pathogenic E. coli (APEC) strains. APEC strains were classified into 61 prophage types (PPTs). Each strain was different from the reference strains as measured by the PPTs and from the frequency of each prophage marker. Investigation of the distribution of prophage-related serum resistance (bor), toxin (stx1 and cdtI), and T3SS effector (lom, espK, sopE, nleB, and ospG) genes revealed the presence of bor (44.1%), lom (95.5%) and cdtI (9.1%) in APEC strains with related prophages. Therefore, the molecular prophage typing method may be useful to understand population structure and evolution of E. coli pathogenicity, and further studies on the mobility of the prophages and the roles of virulence genes in APEC pathogenicity may be valuable.

Molecular serotyping of Salmonella enterica by complete rpoB gene sequencing.

Serotyping has been the gold standard for identifying Salmonella, but it requires large amounts of standard antisera. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) has been applied to identify Salmonella serovars, but the recombination of 4-7 housekeeping genes and multiple analytic steps diminish its applicability. In the present study, we determined the complete sequences of the RNA polymerase beta subunit gene (rpoB) and 7 housekeeping genes (aroC, dnaN, hemD, hisD, purE, sucA, and thrA) for 76 strains of 33 Salmonella enterica serovars and conducted phylogenetic analyses together with the corresponding gene sequences of 24 reference strains registered in the GenBank database. Based on the phylogenetic analyses, 100 strains from 40 serovars and 91 strains from 37 serovars were classified into 60 rpoB (RST) and 49 multilocus sequence types (ST), respectively. The nucleotide similarities were 98.8-100% and 96.9-100% for the complete rpoB gene and the seven concatenated housekeeping genes, respectively. The strains of 35 and 30 serovars formed serovar-specific branches or clusters in the rpoB and housekeeping gene phylogenetic trees, respectively. Therefore, complete rpoB gene sequencing and phylogenetic analysis may be a useful method for identifying Salmonella serovars that is a simpler, more cost-effective, and less time-consuming alternative or complementary method to MLST and conventional serotyping.

Transesophageal echocardiographic detection of thoracic aortic plaque could noninvasively predict significant obstructive coronary artery disease

OBJECTIVE: Previous pathologic and roentgenographic studies have suggested a relation between aortic plaque and coronary artery disease but have lacked clinical utility. The study was undertaken to elucidate whether atherosclerotic aortic plaque detected by transesophageal echocardiography can be a clinically useful marker for significant obstructive coronary artery disease. METHODS: Clinical and angiographic features and intraoperative transesophageal echocardiographic findings were prospectively analyzed in 131 consecutive patients (58 women and 73 men, aged 17 to 75 years [mean 54 +/- 12]) undergoing open heart surgery. Significant obstructive coronary artery disease was defined as > or = 50% stenosis of > or = 1 major branch. RESULTS: Seventy-six (58%) of 131 patients were found to have obstructive coronary artery disease. In 76 patients with significant coronary artery disease, 71 had thoracic aortic plaque. In contrast, aortic plaque existed in only 10 of the remaining 55 patients with normal or minimally abnormal coronary arteries. The presence of aortic plaque on transesophageal echocardiographic studies had a sensitivity of 93%, a specificity of 82% and positive and negative predictive values of 88% and 90%, respectively, for significant coronary artery disease. There was a significant relationship between the degree of aortic intimal changes and the severity of coronary artery disease (r = 0.74, P < 0.0001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis of patient age, sex, risk factors of cardiovascular disease and transesophageal, echocardiographic findings revealed that atherosclerotic aortic plaque was the most significant independent predictor of coronary artery disease. CONCLUSION: This study indicates that transesophageal echocardiographic detection of atherosclerotic plaque in the thoracic aorta is useful in the noninvasive prediction of the presence and severity of coronary artery disease.