Four cases of human infection with Achromobacter anitratus.
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Four cases of human infection with Achromobacter anitratus, one of which was fatal, are described. They all occurred at one hospital within a period of two months. The bacteriology, antibiotic sensitivity, and pathogenicity of the organisms are discussed. One of the strains was found to differ from the other three. (+info)
Repression of Staphylococcus aureus by food bacteria. I. Effect of environmental factors on inhibition.
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The effects of environmental factors on the inhibition of an enterotoxin-producing strain of Staphylococcus aureus by food bacteria were investigated. Type of medium and temperature of incubation were important factors in determining the amount of inhibition. The pH range of maximal inhibition was found to be 7.4 to 6.2. Availability of oxygen was not a factor. As the ratios of inhibitor to staphylococcus were increased from 1:1 to 10:1 and 100:1, the amount of inhibition was markedly increased. Inhibition occurred in custard, where it increased with increasing ratios of effector to staphylococcus. The repression of the staphylococcus in all media usually was sufficient to be of practical significance. (+info)
Repression of Staphylococcus aureus by food bacteria. II. Causes of inhibition.
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Two food bacteria, Serratia marcescens and Pseudomonas sp. CS-1, inhibited an enterotoxigenic strain of Staphylococcus aureus, apparently by out-competing it for nutrients. Five others, Bacillus cereus, Proteus vulgaris, Escherichia coli H-52, Aerobacter aerogenes, and Achromobacter sp., inhibited by means of antibiotic substances which were Seitz-filterable, dialyzable, and stable at 90 C for 10 min. Inhibition was not caused by changes in pH, oxidation-reduction potential, or production of peroxide or fatty acids. The concentrated antibiotic material from E. coli H-52 contained amino acids but not peptides and was especially effective against staphylococci and micrococci. (+info)
Bacterial oxidation of dipicolinic acid. II. Identification of alpha-ketoglutaric acid and 3-hydroxydipicolinic acid and some properties of cell-free extracts.
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Kobayashi, Yasuo (University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan) and Kei Arima. Bacterial oxidation of dipicolinic acid. II. Identification of alpha-ketoglutaric acid and 3-hydroxydipicolinic acid and some properties of cell-free extracts. J. Bacteriol. 84:765-771. 1962-When a dipicolinic acid (DPA)-decomposing bacterium, Achromobacter strain 1-2, was incubated at 30 C with shaking in a DPA solution containing 10(-3)m arsenite, a keto acid was accumulated. The 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazone of this acid was synthesized and identified as alpha-ketoglutaric acid by paper chromatography, visible absorption spectrum, infrared analysis, elemental analysis, and mixed melting point. During this incubation, oxalic acid equivalent to the consumed dipicolinic acid was produced. A fluorescent material was also isolated from culture fluid and identified as 3-hydroxydipicolinic acid by paper chromatography and the ultraviolet absorption spectrum. Further, cell-free extracts were prepared by sonic oscillation. Ferrous ion and a reduced di- or triphosphopyridine nucleotide-generating system were proven to be required for enzymic oxidation of DPA. And 3-hydroxydipicolinic acid was also oxidized by this preparation. From the results obtained, a possible metabolic pathway of dipicolinic acid was proposed. (+info)
CORRELATION OF SPECIATION WITH LYTIC RESPONSES OF THE ACHROMOBACTER.
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Surdy, Theodore E. (Purdue University, Lafayette, Ind.) and S. E. Hartsell. Correlation of speciation with lytic responses of the Achromobacter. J. Bacteriol. 85:1011-1016. 1963.-Lysozymic lysis of six species of Achromobacter was investigated. Three of the six species were lysed with 33, 50, or 100 mug/ml of lysozyme; if higher concentrations of lysozyme were used, precipitation of cells occurred. "Insensitive" cells could be sensitized by the addition of potassium hydroxide, n-butanol, steapsin, or urea, as demonstrated by the subsequent addition of lysozyme. Not all species were sensitive to these agents in the same degree; hence, a spectrum was obtained after the use of the pretreating agents and lysozyme. Optimal clearing of suspensions was observed when cells were suspended in pH 6.6 physiological saline or 0.15 m phosphate buffer and incubated at 45 C. Heat treatment (75 C for 10 min) or freezing (-32 C) and thawing (room temp, 25 C) for one cycle did not increase the sensitivity of the cells to lysozyme. Injury to the cells was evident by the increased amount of lysis noted after pretreatment with potassium hydroxide. When cells were frozen and thawed for three cycles, four of the six species were sensitive to the action of lysozyme. Isolated cell walls elicited a similar lytic pattern to that of whole cells. Individuality of the lytic response of the species (from most sensitive to least sensitive-A. aquamarinus, A. butyri, A. viscosus, A. parvulus, A. guttatus, A. hartlebii) produced a separation scheme. Exhaustive tests proved it to be stable and reliable for these species. The organisms were identified, with the use of the separation scheme, by a person initially unfamiliar with the scheme or the culture. (+info)
BACTERIOLOGY OF SPOILAGE OF FISH MUSCLE. I. STERILE PRESS JUICE AS A SUITABLE EXPERIMENTAL MEDIUM.
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A sterile raw fish muscle press juice, diluted 1:4 with saline, has been prepared. This dilution greatly facilitated Seitz filtration and affected the spoilage properties of the medium only negligibly. At 5.5 C, the spoilage pattern of naturally contaminated diluted juice was almost identical to that of naturally contaminated fillets. This was shown by comparing the quantitative and qualitative aspects of the bacterial flora on the two substrates and by measuring the production of volatile reducing substances (VRS) and of trimethylamine (TMA). With the sterile raw muscle press juice, some preliminary data showed that individual members of the genera Achromobacter and Pseudomonas differ markedly in their spoilage capabilities: some grew but did not produce spoilage detectable either organoleptically or chemically; others gave rise to strong off odors and to high levels of VRS and TMA. (+info)
PATTERNS OF OXIDATIVE ASSIMILATION IN STRAINS OF PSEUDOMONAS AND ACHROMOBACTER.
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Tomlinson, Geraldine A. (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada) and J. J. R. Campbell. Patterns of oxidative assimilation in strains of Pseudomonas and Achromobacter. J. Bacteriol. 86:434-444. 1963.-Oxidative assimilation of glucose-U-C(14) in the absence of added nitrogen was studied by use of washed-cell suspensions of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, P. fluorescens, Achromobacter strain B81, and Achromobacter viscosus (Alcaligenes viscolactis). The suggestion that oxidative assimilation in these organisms is the reincorporation of endogenously produced ammonia by way of alpha-ketoglutarate is tenable. Each of the four organisms accumulated intermediate compounds which acted as pacemakers for the oxidation of glucose. This phenomenon, partly because it ensured the availability of additional ammonia, undoubtedly increased the degree of oxidative assimilation. Products accumulating in the supernatant fluids during glucose oxidation were alpha-ketoglutarate, pyruvate, gluconate, a low molecular weight carbohydrate, and dicarboxylic acids. No two bacteria formed the same products. Assimilation of radioactivity into the cells, which accounted for 12 to 26% of the available C(14), continued as long as an oxidizable substrate was present, and was paralleled by uptake of endogenously produced ammonia. During the early stages of glucose oxidation, compounds of the cold trichloroacetic acid-soluble pool constituted a major portion of the total radioactivity of the cells. The lipid fractions of P. aeruginosa and Achromobacter B81 were also of high relative activity during this time. The labeling of the nucleic acid fractions of all four bacteria increased with time, more radioactivity being found in fractions from the two Achromobacter species than in those from the pseudomonads. At the completion of the experiment, the largest percentage of incorporated radioactivity was present in the protein fractions. One of the organisms, Achromobacter B81, synthesized a high molecular weight carbohydrate material. (+info)
FOOD MICROORGANISMS INFLUENCING THE GROWTH OF STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS.
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Some 870 cultures of predominating micro-organisms were isolated from market samples of hamburger, fresh pork sausage, fresh fish fillets, stewing beef, frozen chicken pot pie, frozen corn, frozen peas, and pasteurized and raw milk, before and after storage at different temperatures. The isolates were screened for their ability to influence the growth of Staphylococcus aureus strain 196E by means of spot-plate tests on APT and nutrient agars at 25 C. The 438 cultures that influenced the growth of S. aureus were retested on spot plates at 15, 30, and 42 C. After elimination of replicates, the 143 remaining cultures were classified into species, genera, or groups, and 14 different cultures were tested for their influence on the growth of S. aureus in APT broth at 25 C. Over half of the effective cultures inhibited S. aureus and less than half were stimulatory. Pork sausage had the highest proportion of inhibitory cultures, and stewing beef had the lowest. APT agar was better than nutrient agar for screening, and incubation at 15 C gave more effector organisms than at 30 and 42 C. Most of the lactic acid bacteria were inhibitory, but other groups of bacteria contained more stimulatory cultures than inhibitory ones. The three Escherichia coli cultures were stimulatory, but most other Escherichia cultures were inhibitory. Aerobacter and Paracolobactrum isolates were mostly stimulatory. Cultures of other kinds of bacteria were more or less evenly distributed between inhibitory ones and stimulatory ones. Genera containing mostly inhibitory bacteria were Streptococcus, Leuconostoc, and Lactobacillus. Inhibitory species were E. freundii and E. intermedia. Tests with S. aureus in broth indicated that all cultures inhibitory according to spot plates were inhibitory in broth, but stimulation on spot plates did not always indicate the same phenomenon in broth. (+info)