Isolation and characterization of an early colonizing Rhizobium sp. R8 from a household toilet bowl.

The bacterial community structure was compared between the third days', one week', and three weeks' biofilm samples from the surface of a household toilet bowl. It was found that the PCR-DGGE band pattern of 16S rRNA gene was dramatically changed after the third day and was not further changed until three weeks. This result suggests that there are early and late colonizing bacterial groups. One of the early colonizers isolated from the third days' sample was Rhizobium sp. R8, a closest relative to Rhizobium giardinii, which exhibited the highest biofilm formation activity in an artificial urine condition. R8 produced extracellular polysaccharides containing galactose, glucose, and mannose at the molar ratio of 8:1:1, which were probably responsible for the biofilm formation. Its excelled biofilm formation and urease activities together with the lack of nodulation and nitrogen fixing genes in R8 suggest that this strain has been specifically adapted to urine condition in a toilet bowl.

Synergistic bactericidal effects of a sublethal concentration of didecyldimethylammonium chloride (DDAC) and low concentrations of nonionic surfactants against Staphylococcus aureus.

DDAC is an effective disinfectant used in the medical and food industries and the environmental field. However, skin irritation in humans occurs at high DDAC concentrations. In this study, we analyzed the combined effect of a low concentration (0.3 ppm) of DDAC and low concentrations (6, 8, and 10 ppm) of 37 products of nonionic surfactants on the bactericidal activity against S. aureus. No bactericidal activity was found at 0.3 ppm DDAC alone. Results showed that a combination of a low concentration of DDAC (0.3 ppm) and some nonionic surfactants tested (synergistic effect of five products ≥ 2.0) improved the bactericidal activity of DDAC. Synergistic effects of DDAC and some nonionic surfactants are desirable and were suggested to occur as follows. Test surfactants acted against the cell walls of S. aureus, which allowed DDAC to act easily on the lipid double membrane in the cell wall, thereby increasing the bactericidal activity of DDAC. In the present study, synergistic effects of a low concentration of DDAC and some nonionic surfactants were observed, a phenomenon that may be considerable value in future developments.

The use of multi-element stable isotope analysis to monitor the origin of chondroitin sulfates.

Continuous-flow isotope ratio mass spectrometry (CF-IRMS) of deuterium, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur has been used to analyse samples of pure chondroitin sulfates from known animal sources (shark, squid, salmon, pig and bovine). There is a need to control the origin of this dietary supplement, which is extracted from several types of animals: for traditional, ethical, or economic reasons, a given source of natural products of animal origin can be preferred to another, and can therefore have a different price. Twenty-three samples collected in Europe and Asia were analysed by IRMS. The results, especially the isotopic deviations of sulphur, oxygen and deuterium, show a significant discrimination between marine and terrestrial origins of this compound which will provide a convenient and efficient way to control the declared sources in the market. The differences observed between origins are further discussed.