Suppression of cytochrome P450 2E1 promoter activity by interferon-gamma and loss of response due to the -71G>T nucleotide polymorphism of the CYP2E1*7B allele.

The CYP2E1*7B allele is defined by two nucleotide sequence polymorphisms, -71G>T and -333T>A. The CYP2E1 promoter sequence flanking the -71G nucleotide is consistent with a gamma-interferon activated sequence. Inflammation and interferon (IFN)-gamma suppress expression of CYP2E1 in vivo; however, the exact mechanism is not known. The objectives of this study were to determine whether the CYP2E1 promoter is regulated by IFN-gamma and to examine the influence of the nucleotide substitutions on this function. Treatment of HepG2 cells with IFN-gamma, after transient transfection with a luciferase reporter gene bearing the native CYP2E1 (-71G) promoter sequence resulted, in a dose-dependent reduction of luciferase activity. In contrast, no suppression was observed in cells transfected with the *7B allele promoter (-333A and -71T) nor a CYP2E1 plasmid containing only the -71T polymorphism. These data indicate that IFN-gamma suppresses native CYP2E1 promoter activity and that the -71G is critical for this response.

Detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7 by multiplex PCR and their characterization by plasmid profiling, antimicrobial resistance, RAPD and PFGE analyses.

Twenty-five and three strains of Escherichia coli O157:H7 were identified from 25 tenderloin beef and three chicken meat burger samples, respectively. The bacteria were recovered using the immunomagnetic separation procedure followed by selective plating on sorbitol MacConkey agar and were identified as E. coli serotype O157:H7 with three primer pairs that amplified fragments of the SLT-I, SLT-II and H7 genes in PCR assays. Susceptibility testing to 14 antibiotics showed that all were resistant to two or more antibiotics tested. Although all 28 strains contained plasmid, there was very little variation in the plasmid sizes observed. The most common plasmid of 60 MDa was detected in all strains. We used DNA fingerprinting by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) to compare the 28 E. coli O157:H7 strains. At a similarity level of 90%, the results of PFGE after restriction with XbaI separated the E. coli O157:H7 strains into 28 single isolates, whereas RAPD using a single 10-mer oligonucleotides separated the E. coli O157:H7 strains into two clusters and 22 single isolates. These typing methods should aid in the epidemiological clarification of the E. coli O157:H7 in the study area.

Detection of Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus Spp. (VRE) from Poultry.

Twenty-eight isolates of E. faecalis and 5 isolates of E. hirae were isolated from chicken samples obtained from markets in Sri Serdang, Selangor. They were tested for susceptibility to vancomycin and other antimicrobial agents. All of the isolates showed multiple resistance to the antibiotic tested. All Enterococcus spp. were resistant (100%) to ceftaxidime, cephalothin, erythromycin, gentamicin, kanamycin, nalidixic acid and streptomycin. Resistance was also observed to norfloxacin (97%), tetracycline (91%), penicillin (85%), bacitracin (82%), chloramphenicol (61%) and the least resistance was to ampicillin (27%). High prevalence to vancomycin resistance was detected among the E. faecalis (27of 28) and E. hirae (4 of 5) isolates. The multiple antibiotic resistance index ranging between 0.64 to 1.0 showed that all strains tested originated from high-risk contamination. Plasmid profile analysis of Enterococcus spp. revealed plasmid DNA bands ranging in size from 1.3 to 35.8 megadalton but some isolates were plasmidless. No correlation could be made between plasmid patterns and antibiotic resistance.

Plasmid-mediated streptomycin resistance of listeria monocytogenes.

A strain of streptomycin-resistant Listeria monocytogenes LM35 isolated from imported frozen beef was examined in this study. In conjugation studies, the L. monocytogenes LM35 strain harbouring two plasmids of 54, 3.0, 2.8 and 2.7 kilobase was used as the donor and streptomycin-sensitive and plasmidless L. monocytogenes LM65 and LM100 strains as the recipients. Streptomycin resistance was transferred to L. monocytogenes LM65 and LM100 strains at frequencies of 3.3 × 10(-8) and 1.2 × 10(-9) per input donor cells, respectively. In both occasions, we also observed the concomitant transfer of the donor's 54 kilobase plasmid. These results suggest that streptomycin resistance in L. monocytogenes LM35 was mediated by the 54 kilobase plasmid.

Characterization of Burkholderia pseudomallei isolated in Thailand and Malaysia.

A total of 35 Burkholderia pseudomallei isolates from Thailand (16 clinical and eight soil isolates) and Malaysia (seven animal, two isolate each from clinical and soil) were investigated by their antimicrobial resistance, plasmid profiles and were typed by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA analysis. All isolates were found to be resistant to six or more of the 12 antimicrobial agents tested. Only two small plasmids of 1.8 and 2.4 megadalton were detected in two clinical isolates from Thailand. RAPD analysis with primer GEN2-60-09 resulted in the identification of 35 RAPD-types among the 35 isolates. The constructed dendrogram differentiated the 35 isolates into two main clusters and a single isolate. The wide genetic biodiversity among the 35 isolates indicate that RAPD-PCR can be a useful method to differentiate unrelated B. pseudomallei in epidemiological investigation.

Rapid isolation and detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7 by use of rainbow agar O157 and PCR assay.

This study has evaluated the use of a commercially available Rainbow agar O157 and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays for the detection of Shiga-like toxin producing Escherichia coli and to serotype E. coli O157:H7 from raw meat. The Rainbow agar O157 was found to be selective and sensitive for the screening of the E. coli O157 from artificially and naturally contaminated meat samples. Shiga-like toxin producing E. coli were identified with two primer pairs that amplified fragments of the SLT-I (384 bp) and SLT-II (584 bp). E. coli O157:H7 was serotyped with a primer pair specified for the H7 flagellar gene, which amplify specific DNA fragments (625 bp) from all E. coli O157:H7 strains. The use of Rainbow agar O157 described allows for the presumptive isolation of E. coli O157 in 24 hours. Identification and confirmation of the presumptive isolates as E. coli O157:H7 by PCR assays require additional 6-8 hours. The above-mentioned screening and identification procedures should prove to be a very useful method since it allows for the specific detection of E. coli O157:H7.

Genotypic and phenotypic relationship in Burkholderia pseudomallei indicates colonization with closely related isolates.

Seven isolates of Burkholderia pseudomallei from cases of melioidosis in human (2 isolates) and animal (2 isolates), cat (one isolate) and from soil samples (2 isolates) were examined for in vitro sensitivity to 14 antimicrobial agents and for presence of plasmid DNA. Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis was used to type the isolates, using two arbitrary primers. All isolates were sensitive to chloramphenicol, kanamycin, carbenicillin, rifampicin, enrofloxacin, tetracycline and sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim. No plasmid was detected in all the isolates tested. RADP fingerprinting demonstrated genomic relationship between isolates, which provides an effective method to study the epidemiology of the isolates examined.

Interplasmidic recombination following irradiation of the radioresistant bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans.

Deinococcus radiodurans R1 and other members of the eubacterial family Deinococcaceae are extremely resistant to ionizing radiation and many other agents that damage DNA. For example, after irradiation, D. radiodurans can repair > 100 DNA double-strand breaks per chromosome without lethality or mutagenesis, while most other organisms can survive no more than 2 or 3 double-strand breaks. The unusual resistance of D. radiodurans is recA dependent, but the repair pathway(s) is not understood. Recently, we described how a plasmid present in D. radiodurans (plasmid copy number, approximately 6 per cell; chromosome copy number, approximately 4 per cell) during high-dose irradiation undergoes extreme damage like the chromosome and is retained by the cell without selection and fully repaired with the same efficiency as the chromosome. In the current work, we have investigated the repair of two similar plasmids within the same cell. These two plasmids were designed to provide both restriction fragment polymorphisms and a drug selection indicator of recombination. This study presents a novel system of analysis of in vivo damage and recombinational repair, exploiting the unique ability of D. radiodurans to survive extraordinarily high levels of DNA damage. We report that homologous recombination among plasmids following irradiation is extensive. For example, 2% of Tcs plasmids become Tcr as a result of productive recombination within a 929-bp region of the plasmids after repair. Our results suggest that each plasmid may participate in as many as 6.7 recombinational events during repair, a value that extrapolates to > 700 events per chromosome undergoing repair simultaneously. These results indicate that the study of plasmid recombination within D. radiodurans may serve as an accurate model system for simultaneously occurring repair in the chromosome.

Singapore: reversing the demographic transition to meet labour needs.

PIP: Post-independence population policy in Singapore from 1965 encouraged couples to bear a maximum of two children. From 1987, however, population policy has been in place which is designed to reverse the demographic transition to low birth rates. Instead of encouraging replacement fertility, the government is now urging couples to bear three or more children if they can afford it. The new policy even attempts to enhance the quality of the workforce by offering incentives to encourage larger families among the more educated Singaporeans. This paper explains why and how such a policy change has occurred. While there are many diverse explanations, the driving force behind the new policy has been economic. Major efforts by the government of Singapore to restructure its economy have underpinned the new measures to encourage larger families due to perceived labor demands in the future. The impact of Singapore's latest population policy needs to be evaluated. Economic restructuring in Singapore, population policies in Singapore from 1965, the impact of the new policies, the impact of former policy, knowledge and perceptions about the most recent policy, evaluating the response of the new policy, and the broader perspective are discussed.^ieng

Isolation of phage P2-186 intervarietal hybrids and 186 insertion mutants.

Intervarietal hybrids formed between coliphages P2 and 186 have been isolated and their preliminary genetic characterization described. Three insertion mutants of 186 have also been isolated.