Journal Of Microbiology Research Articles

Update on novel validly published and included bacterial taxa derived from human clinical specimens and taxonomic revisions published in 2023.

Taxonomy is a systematic practice in which microorganisms are granted names to facilitate and standardize multi-disciplinary communication. We summarize novel bacterial taxa derived from human clinical material that were published in peer-reviewed literature and/or included by the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology during calendar year 2023, as well as taxonomic revisions that have been published/included by the same entity. While the majority of newly discovered facultative and anaerobic organisms were derived from microbiome surveillance, noteworthy novel taxa in the realm of pathogenicity potential include those related to Aerococcus spp., several Corynebacterium spp., Exercitatus varius gen. nov., sp. nov., and Mycoplasma phocimorsus sp. nov. With respect to nomenclature revision, the Bacillus and Clostridium genera continue to be visited annually. Creation of novel anaerobic Gram-negative bacillus genera Hallella, Hoylesella, Leyella, Segatella, and Xylanibacter impacted several Bacteroides spp. and Prevotella spp. Additional studies are necessary to ascertain the clinical significance of several of these microbes.

Development of learning objectives to support undergraduate virology curriculum guidelines.

It has become increasingly important for microbiology educators to help students learn critical concepts of the discipline. This is particularly true in virology, where current challenges include increasing rates of vaccine hesitancy, misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic, and controversy surrounding research on pathogens with pandemic potential. Having students learn virology can attract more people to the field and increase the number of people who can engage in meaningful discourse about issues relating to the discipline. However, the limited number of virologists who teach undergraduates, combined with the fact that many institutions lack stand-alone virology courses, results in virology often being taught as a limited number of lectures within an undergraduate microbiology course (if it is covered at all), which may or may not be taught by an individual trained as a virologist. To provide a framework to teach virology to undergraduate students, a team of virology educators, with support from the American Society for Virology (ASV), developed curriculum guidelines for use in a stand-alone undergraduate virology course or a virology section within another course (D. B. Kushner et al., J Virol 96:e01305-22, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1128/jvi.01305-22). These guidelines are available at the ASV website (https://asv.org/curriculum-guidelines/). To assist educators in implementing these guidelines, we created examples of measurable learning objectives. This perspective provides details about the virology curriculum guidelines and learning objectives and accompanies the perspective by Boury et al. in this issue of the Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education (25:e00126-24, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.00126-24) about the recent revision of the microbiology curriculum guidelines overseen by the American Society for Microbiology.

A Novel Approach Based on Real-Time PCR with High-Resolution Melting Analysis for the Simultaneous Identification of Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus argenteus.

Staphylococcus (S.) aureus is a pathogenic bacterium able to cause several diseases in humans and animals as well as foodborne intoxications. S. argenteus, being phenotypically and genotypically related to S. aureus, is part of the so-called S. aureus complex and recently recognized as an emerging pathogen able to cause, like S. aureus, several diseases both in humans and animals, and foodborne poisoning outbreaks. However, it has been reported that the widely used conventional PCR of Brakstad et al. [Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 30(7), 1654-1660, (1992)] targeting the thermostable nuclease gene may provide false-positive S. aureus, as it is able to amplify also S. argenteus. Here, we developed a novel two-step approach that, following the PCR of Brakstad et al. (1992), discriminates S. aureus from S. argenteus by a real-time PCR with high-resolution melting analysis (rt-PCR-HRM). In particular, targeting a polymorphic 137 bp region of the sodA gene, our developed rt-PCR-HRM method clearly discriminated S. aureus from S. argenteus, showing a remarkable difference in their amplification product melting temperatures (approximately 1.3 °C) as well as distinct melting curve shapes. The good sensitivity, reproducibility, user friendliness, and cost effectiveness of the developed method are advantageous attributes that will allow not only its easy employment to correctly identify misidentified isolates present in various collections of S. aureus, but also expand the still lacking knowledge on the prevalence and distribution of S. argenteus.

Issue Information: Journal of Basic Microbiology. 9/2024

Issue Information: Journal of Basic Microbiology. 9/2024

Issue Information: Journal of Basic Microbiology. 8/2024

Issue Information: Journal of Basic Microbiology. 8/2024

Issue Information: Journal of Basic Microbiology. 7/2024

Issue Information: Journal of Basic Microbiology. 7/2024

Issue Information: Journal of Basic Microbiology. 6/2024

Issue Information: Journal of Basic Microbiology. 6/2024

Issue Information: Journal of Basic Microbiology. 5/2024

Issue Information: Journal of Basic Microbiology. 5/2024

Issue Information: Journal of Basic Microbiology. 4/2024

Issue Information: Journal of Basic Microbiology. 4/2024

Proposals to revise the Statutes of the International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes.

The International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes serves to administer the rules of prokaryotic nomenclature via the International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes, ensures the publication of the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, and works to represent the interests of the microbiological disciplines regarding prokaryotic nomenclature. The functions and mechanisms of operation of the International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes (ICSP) are defined in its Statutes, which were last revised in 2019. As members of the 2020-2023 and the 2023-2026 ICSP Executive Board and the Judicial Commission, we propose here some further revisions to help improve the clarity and functionality of the Statutes.

Issue Information: Journal of Basic Microbiology. 2/2024

Issue Information: Journal of Basic Microbiology. 2/2024

Proposal of three novel insect-associated Commensalibacter species: Commensalibacter melissae sp. nov., Commensalibacter communis sp. nov. and Commensalibacter papalotli sp. nov.

A recent modification of the Note to Rule 25a of the International Code for Nomenclature of Bacteria is used a posteriori by the List Editors of the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology to justify the refusal to validate species protologues published in supplementary material prior to this formal decision. Authors are therefore forced to ask permission to reuse published data for the valid publication of such names. In the present letter we re-publish the species protologues of Commensalibacter melissae sp. nov., Commensalibacter communis sp. nov. and Commensalibacter papalotli sp. nov.

Publication of Healthcare Research – Current Scenario and Potential Solutions

Background and Aim: Making quick decisions on the eligibility of a research work to accept and publish appearsto be a daunting task for most of the society journals in India. The aims of this study was to compare the extentof scientific article handling services provided by the Indian and international journals, and to reiterate theimportance of publishing the results of high impact research work in the shortest possible time.Material and Methods: An observational analysis of 19 Indian and 19 international medical journals affiliatedto subject specific societies was done. The journals were analyzed for the “median time taken from submissionof manuscript to first decision”, availability of “online first” facility and “number of issues” published in a year.Microsoft Office 2007 was used to formulate the data and presented in a descriptive manner using numbers.Results: All the international journals analyzed in this study were offering median timelines to first decisionranging from 7 days to 42 days on their websites compared to only 57.9% (n=11/19) of the Indian journals. Thelongest duration to respond among Indian journals is being taken by the Indian Journal of Psychiatry (90 days),with the shortest timeline being offered by the Indian Journal of Microbiology (5 days). In contrast to internationaljournals, 52.6% (n=10/19) of Indian journals were only providing the service of “online first” actively on theirwebsites. Among the international journals, 78.9% (n=15/19) were publishing monthly issues compared to only26.3% (n=5/19) of Indian journals.Conclusions: Indian journals published by societies must thrive hard to accelerate the editorial process in a timebound manner and disseminate the results of impactful research work at the earliest by recruiting large numberof reviewers and skilled technical personnel. Delay in decisions and publications by the journals can hamper theconfidence and trust among research community to send good scientific work.

Issue Information: Journal of Basic Microbiology. 1/2024

Issue Information: Journal of Basic Microbiology. 1/2024

Incidence of Antibiotic Resistant Escherichia Coli In UTI Suspected Patients-A Single Centered Study

The evaluation of antimicrobial sensitivity patterns has a significant role in prescribing antimicrobial drugs to treat patients suffering from urinary tract infections (UTIs). This study assessed the etiology and antimicrobial susceptibility of the common uropathogens as those were detected in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This study was conducted following the culture and identification of pathogenic microorganisms from patients of all age groups and sexes. A total of 110 urine samples were collected from suspected UTI patients for culture and sensitivity as advised by the physicians. Female patients (76.4%) were dominant over male patients (23.6%) and patients were 0 to 90 years of age. From these samples, 25 Escherichia coli were isolated from culture-positive cases to determine antibiotic sensitivity patterns. Most of these isolates were resistant to Azithromycin (100%), Nalidixic Acid (80%), Cotrimoxazole (54%), Ciprofloxacin (44%) and Cefixime (44%). The present study emphasized the necessity of standard microbiological screening techniques to evaluate the etiological characteristics required to effectively treat UTI patients.
 Stamford Journal of Microbiology, 2023. Vol. 13, Issue 1, p. 21-24

Antibiogram Profiling of Clinical Isolates From Several Renowned Diagnostic Centers In Dhaka City, Bangladesh

Antibiotic resistance is a global concern that has emerged in recent years due to inappropriate and indiscriminate use of antibiotics. It is important to follow the changes in this antibiotic resistance for the sake of better treatment and patient management. The aim of this study was to collect clinical isolates from some renowned diagnostic centers and to determine their susceptibility patterns in different age and sex groups of patients. Clinical samples from a number of patients with various infectious symptoms were selected and microbiologically analyzed. Antibiotic resistance patterns for 15 different antibiotics Amikacin, Azithromycin, Ciprofloxacin, Ceftriaxone, Cefuroxime, Erythromycin, Cefoxitin, Gentamicin, Imipenem, Linezolid, Meropenem, Norfloxacin, Piperacillin, Penicillin and Vancomycin were evaluated by the Agar-disc-diffusion method. The highest resistance of the studied pathogens to antimicrobials was seen against Azithromycin (100%) and Penicillin (100%) whereas the isolates were highly sensitive to Norfloxacin, Vancomycin, Linezolid and Cefoxitin. Stamford Journal of Microbiology, 2023. Vol. 13, Issue 1, p. 11-14

Antimicrobial Photodynamic Therapy (Apdt), An Approach To Fightback Against Antibiotic Resistance: A Short Review

Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (APDT), a novel tool for combating the drug resistant microorganisms which is combined with modern technologies and tools. The versatile and wide range of available photosensitizers (PS) and different wavelength light combinations opened so many ways to kill potential disease-causing pathogens. The research is developing so fast with the help of photochemistry, photobiology and photophysics. This is the beginning of new era of another antimicrobial solutions compared to conventional antibiotics. Many articles have published regarding studies on APDT and its applications. This method has shown successful eliminations of pathogenic microorganisms in skin, dental and foot infections as well as tumor or cancer treatment. The findings shared the knowledge of safe and resistance free alternative treatment of antibiotics which has clinical importance globally. This review highlights the concept, history, mechanisms, applications and the advantages of APDT.
 Stamford Journal of Microbiology, 2023. Vol. 13, Issue 1, p. 30-37

Bioremediation of Hexavalent Chromium By Bacteria Isolated From Buriganga River, Dhaka City

Environmental pollution due to hexavalent chromium (Cr6+) is widespread because of the anthropogenic activities in various industrial processes, notably in leather tanning. Hexavalent chromium (Cr6+) is considered as highly toxic, carcinogenic, and mutagenic due to its high solubility in water, interaction with cellular proteins, and biological membrane permeability. Trivalent chromium (Cr3+), on the other hand, is less water-soluble, and relatively benign in nature. Thus, bioreduction of toxic Cr6+ to relatively non-toxic Cr3+ by microorganisms can be an inexpensive and eco-friendly option for chromium bioremediation. In this regard, the present study attempted to isolate chromium-reducing bacteria from Buriganga River in order to assess their capability for chromium bioremediation. Ten chromium-tolerating bacterial isolates were successfully identified. The results revealed that these isolates, particularly strains of Bacillus subtilis, exhibited a remarkable ability to remove up to 89% of hexavalent chromium from the contaminated medium within three days of incubation.
 Stamford Journal of Microbiology, 2023. Vol. 13, Issue 1, p. 25-29

Occurrence of Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae (Cre) Abhorring Bla Imp, Bla Kpc And Bla Oxa-48 Genes Recovered From Ready -To- Dispose Poultry Wastes In Osogbo, Osun State

The uncontrolled use of antimicrobials in animal husbandry such as poultry for prophylaxis reasons is to increase output for monetary gains which have led to several acquired community infections with high mortality and morbidity rates. This study is however aimed at investigating the occurrence, prevalence, and molecular detection of carbapenemase genes of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) bacteria isolated from poultry liters in Osogbo, Osun State Nigeria. Twenty ready-to-pack poultry waste samples were plated for the isolation of Enterobacteriaceae on MacConkey and Brilliance Escherichia coli agar. Disc diffusion method was employed for screening carbapenem resistant isolates while resistant genes were detected using carbapenem resistant gene primers. Forty-six Enterobacteriaeceae were isolated namely: Kluyvera ascorbate (28.3%), Klebsiella oxytoca (10.9%), Citrobacter koseri (8.7%), Klebsiella aereogenes, Raoultell (Klebsiella) planticola, Serratia nematodipila (6.5%), Trabulsiella laguamensis, Salmonella spp. (diarizonae), Proteus vulgaris, Citrobacter farmeri (4.3%), of which Edwardsiella tarda, Providencia rustigianii, Citrobacter freundii, Enterobacter cloacae, Cedecea lapagei, Serratia liquefaciens and Dickeyachry santhemi was (2.2%) respectively. 52.2% of the isolates were carbapenem resistant while 92% of the CRE had bla IMP genes. Only one CRE (Trabulsiella guamensis) was positive to bla KPC gene while four 16.6% of the isolates namely: Citrobacter koseri, Raoultell (Klebsiella) planticola, Serratia nematodipila, Citrobacter freundiu and Citrobacter koseri were positive to blaOXA-48 gene. Therefore, this study infers the high prevalence of CRE isolates in poultry litters as a public health concern for the indiscrimate use of carbapenem.
 Stamford Journal of Microbiology, 2023. Vol. 13, Issue 1, p. 15-20

Isolation of Indigenous Bacillus Spp. From Garden Soil To Decolorize Synthetic Textile Dyes

Textile and clothing industries are major contributor to the economic growth in Bangladesh. Establishment of a number of such industries are imparting huge amount of industrial waste containing different types of chemicals including dyes. Pollutants generated from textile industries creates a huge burden on the environment. Textile industries discharge effluents containing various harmful chemicals including synthetic dyes that are very stable and a threat to living organisms. Bacillus spp. are remarkable bacteria which demonstrated potential to produce diverse kinds of metabolites for different uses. This study focuses on the potential use of Bacillus spp. isolated from the garden soil of Stamford University Bangladesh for decolorization of BemacronBlue RS (BB) and BemacronRed RS 01 (BR) dyes. Four Bacillus isolates were screened out from garden soil and named as 1B, 3A, 2C and 4B. Isolates were subjected to decolorization assay with 0.002 gm/l of BB and BR dyes. Bacillus spp. showed great potential in decolorizing BB and BR dyes, which was initiated after 2 days of incubation. Following 8 days of incubation, decolorization of BB was, 79%, 80%, 75%, 77% and BR was, 75%, 73%, 69%, 89% by the isolates 1B, 3A, 2C and 4B, respectively. This study shed some light on the potential use of indigenous garden bacteria for decolorization of textile dyes to control environmental pollution. Stamford Journal of Microbiology, 2023. Vol. 13, Issue 1, p. 1-5