What's on a prophage: analysis of Salmonella spp. prophages identifies a diverse range of cargo with multiple virulence- and metabolism-associated functions.

The gain of mobile elements, such as prophages, can introduce cargo to the recipient bacterium that could facilitate its persistence in or expansion to a new environment, such as a host. While previous studies have focused on identifying and characterizing the genetic diversity of prophages, analyses characterizing the cargo that prophages carry have not been extensively explored. We characterized prophage regions from 303 Salmonella spp. genomes (representing 254 unique serovars) to assess the distribution of prophages in diverse Salmonella. On average, prophages accounted for 3.7% (0.1%-8.8%) of the total genomic content of each isolate. Prophage regions annotated as Gifsy 1 and Salmon Fels 1 were the most commonly identified intact prophages, suggesting that they are common throughout the Salmonella genus. Among 21,687 total coding sequences (CDSs) from intact prophage regions in subsp. enterica genomes, 7.5% (median; range: 1.1%-47.6%) were categorized as having a function not related to prophage integration or phage structure, some of which could potentially provide a functional attribute to the host Salmonella cell. These predicted functions could be broadly categorized into CDSs involved in: (i) modification of cell surface structures (i.e., glycosyltransferases); (ii) modulation of host responses (e.g., SodC/SodA, SopE, ArtAB, and typhoid toxin); (iii) conferring resistance to heavy metals and antimicrobials; (iv) metabolism of carbohydrates, amino acids, and nucleotides; and (v) DNA replication, repair, and regulation. Overall, our systematic analysis of prophage cargo highlights a broader role for prophage cargo in influencing the metabolic, virulence, and resistance characteristics of Salmonella. IMPORTANCE: Lysogenic bacteriophages (phages) can integrate their genome into a bacterial host's genome, potentially introducing genetic elements that can affect the fitness of the host bacterium. The functions of prophage-encoded genes are important to understand as these genes could be mobilized and transferred to a new host. Using a large genomic dataset representing >300 isolates from all known subspecies and species of Salmonella, our study contributes important new findings on the distribution of prophages and the types of cargo that diverse Salmonella prophages carry. We identified a number of coding sequences (CDSs) annotated as having cell surface-modifying attributes, suggesting that prophages may have played an important role in shaping Salmonella's diverse surface antigen repertoire. Furthermore, our characterization of prophages suggests that they play a broader role in facilitating the acquisition and transfer of CDSs associated with metabolism, DNA replication and repair, virulence factors, and to a lesser extent, antimicrobial resistance.

Developing an oral healthcare assessment strategy to enhance patient care.

The promotion of oral healthcare is an integral part of nursing care. However, research has shown that staff in hospitals and community care settings often lack oral healthcare skills. This article details a quality improvement project in which a scoping exercise was undertaken in one NHS trust to assess whether ward-based oral healthcare provision was adequate. The scoping exercise identified that there was a need to address the lack of oral healthcare provision in the trust. Subsequently, a multidisciplinary working group developed an oral healthcare assessment tool and rolled this out across the trust. The authors also provided online training for nurses in the trust to assist them in using the new tool. At the same time, an audit of the oral healthcare products used in the trust, and their appropriateness, was undertaken.

The role of health professionals in health promotion: a case study of medical imaging technologists and alcohol.

This study aimed to determine the knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of medical imaging technologists (MITs) in Western Australia regarding alcohol. The WA population of 220 MIT members of the Australian Institute of Radiography was surveyed by mail in 2004. Specific questions were devised and piloted covering knowledge of alcohol, alcoholic content and drink size, and related personal behaviour. Responses were obtained from 91 MITs. Overall, they had a good knowledge of key facts related to alcohol. However, this did not always translate into appropriate attitudes and behaviour related to dealing with alcohol abuse. While statistically significant differences were not found according to sex, age group or location (metropolitan or rural), some trends were apparent. This study has found that MITs are not currently as equipped as they should be to be part of the health promotion model of education.