Urinary Tract Pathogens Research Articles

Pseudomonas aeruginosa Alkyl Quinolone Response is dampened by Enterococcus faecalis.

While we now appreciate that many infections are polymicrobial, we understand little of the specific actions between a given set of microbes to enable combinatorial survival and pathogenesis. The bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterococcus faecalis are both prevalent pathogens in wound, urinary tract, and bacteremic infections. While P. aeruginosa often kills other species in standard laboratory culture conditions, we present here that E. faecalis can be reliably co-cultured with P. aeruginosa. We specifically detail that ornithine produced by E. faecalis reduces the Pseudomonas Quinolone Signal response of P. aeruginosa . This reduction of the Pseudomonas Quinolone Signal response aids E. faecalis growth.

Resistance and Co-Resistance of Metallo-Beta-Lactamase Genes in Diarrheal and Urinary-Tract Pathogens in Bangladesh.

Carbapenems are the antibiotics of choice for treating multidrug-resistant bacterial infections. Metallo-β-lactamases (MBLs) are carbapenemases capable of hydrolyzing nearly all therapeutically available beta-lactam antibiotics. Consequently, this research assessed the distribution of two MBL genes and three β-lactamases and their associated phenotypic resistance in diarrheal and urinary-tract infections (UTIs) to guide future policies. Samples were collected through a cross-sectional study, and β-lactamase genes were detected via PCR. A total of 228 diarrheal bacteria were isolated from 240 samples. The most predominant pathogens were Escherichia coli (32%) and Klebsiella spp. (7%). Phenotypic resistance to amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, aztreonam, cefuroxime, cefixime, cefepime, imipenem, meropenem, gentamicin, netilmicin, and amikacin was 50.4%, 65.6%, 66.8%, 80.5%, 54.4%, 41.6%, 25.7%, 41.2%, 37.2%, and 42.9%, respectively. A total of 142 UTI pathogens were identified from 150 urine samples. Klebsiella spp. (39%) and Escherichia coli (24%) were the major pathogens isolated. Phenotypic resistance to amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, aztreonam, cefuroxime, cefixime, cefepime, imipenem, meropenem, gentamicin, netilmicin, and amikacin was 93.7%, 75.0%, 91.5%, 93.7%, 88.0%, 72.5%, 13.6%, 44.4%, 71.1%, and 43%, respectively. Twenty-four diarrheal isolates carried blaNDM-1 or blaVIM genes. The overall MBL gene prevalence was 10.5%. Thirty-six UTI pathogens carried either blaNDM-1 or blaVIM genes (25.4%). Seven isolates carried both blaNDM-1 and blaVIM genes. MBL genes were strongly associated with phenotypic carbapenem and other β-lactam antibiotic resistance. blaOXA imparted significantly higher phenotypic resistance to β-lactam antibiotics. Active surveillance and stewardship programs are urgently needed to reduce carbapenem resistance in Bangladesh.

Frequency of Bacteria Causing Urinary Tract Infection and Their Antibiotic Resistance Among Children

Background: Childhood urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most prevalent diseases. In recent years, the overuse of common antibiotics has increased antibiotic resistance among urinary tract pathogens worldwide, with changes in the pattern of microbial resistance varying by geographical area and time. Objectives: This study aims to investigate the pattern of microbial resistance of UTI pathogens in pediatric patients. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, children aged < 13 years with UTI and positive urine cultures, who were admitted to Bahrami Hospital in Tehran, Iran, between 2015 and 2019, were evaluated. The pathogens' frequency, their antimicrobial resistance, and clinical and demographic information were extracted from the patients' files. Statistical relationships between clinical and demographic data and antibiotic resistance were analyzed using appropriate statistical tests. Results: The files of 202 patients were evaluated. The majority of patients were female (79.2%). UTI was more common among the 12 - 60 months age group (36.3%) in females and the 1 - 12 months age group (50%) in males. The most common UTI pathogen was Escherichia coli (85.1%). The lowest rates of microbial resistance were related to Meropenem (0% resistance), Gentamicin (9.2%), and Amikacin (10.8%). Conversely, the highest resistance rates were observed for Cotrimoxazole (74.6%), Ampicillin (74.5%), and Cephalothin (64.9%). Conclusions: UTI is more common in females aged 1 to 60 months. E. coli is the most common cause of UTI. Microbial resistance to antibiotics used for empirical treatment, such as ceftriaxone, is high and changes over time. It is recommended to use alternative antibiotics and avoid the inappropriate administration of antibiotics.

PREVALENCE OF URINARY TRACT INFECTION AMONG OUT PATIENTS A JOS HOSPITAL PLATEAU STATE NIGERIA.

Infection of the urinary tract(called UTI) is caused by microbes thatinvade and inhabit the urinary system (urethra, bladder, ureters, andkidney). Because the urine is an excellent culture medium for the UTI pathogens,these pathogens ascend into the urinary system causing UTI varying from boils, cystitis, and prostitis which may even lead to sepsis if left untreated. This research was conducted to assess the preponderance of UTI among out-patients who attendedthe Plateau Specialist Hospital, Jos. We observed that of the 80 samples examined, 15 tested positive for UTI,suggesting a prevalence of 18.75%. According to age group, it was discovered that age group between 41 above has the highest prevalence of urinary tract infection with 12.5%. Based on gender, the female has the highest prevalence rate of 10(15.0%), though more in number than the males. the female were 60 out of 80 while the male were 20 in number. There was no positive sample obtained in children sample.It was discovered that Escherichia coli has the highest prevalence rate at 6(7.5%), followed by Staphylococcus aureus 4 (5.0%). The isolation of urinary tract pathogens from these patients though with a lower prevalence stresses the urgent need for public enlightenment campaigns by the appropriate authorities to educate the patients as well as the masses on the etiological agents, the possible risk factors, routes of transmission and health implication of urinary tract infection and ways of preventing the bacteria, as well as early diagnosis and treatment of infected ones.

Antibacterial activities of phytochemicals against multidrug-resistant urinary tract pathogens

Antibacterial activities of phytochemicals against multidrug-resistant urinary tract pathogens

Multiplexing the Identification of Microorganisms via Tandem Mass Tag Labeling Augmented by Interference Removal through a Novel Modification of the Expectation Maximization Algorithm.

Having fast, accurate, and broad spectrum methods for the identification of microorganisms is of paramount importance to public health, research, and safety. Bottom-up mass spectrometer-based proteomics has emerged as an effective tool for the accurate identification of microorganisms from microbial isolates. However, one major hurdle that limits the deployment of this tool for routine clinical diagnosis, and other areas of research such as culturomics, is the instrument time required for the mass spectrometer to analyze a single sample, which can take ∼1 h per sample, when using mass spectrometers that are presently used in most institutes. To address this issue, in this study, we employed, for the first time, tandem mass tags (TMTs) in multiplex identifications of microorganisms from multiple TMT-labeled samples in one MS/MS experiment. A difficulty encountered when using TMT labeling is the presence of interference in the measured intensities of TMT reporter ions. To correct for interference, we employed in the proposed method a modified version of the expectation maximization (EM) algorithm that redistributes the signal from ion interference back to the correct TMT-labeled samples. We have evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of the proposed method using 94 MS/MS experiments (covering a broad range of protein concentration ratios across TMT-labeled channels and experimental parameters), containing a total of 1931 true positive TMT-labeled channels and 317 true negative TMT-labeled channels. The results of the evaluation show that the proposed method has an identification sensitivity of 93-97% and a specificity of 100% at the species level. Furthermore, as a proof of concept, using an in-house-generated data set composed of some of the most common urinary tract pathogens, we demonstrated that by using the proposed method the mass spectrometer time required per sample, using a 1 h LC-MS/MS run, can be reduced to 10 and 6 min when samples are labeled with TMT-6 and TMT-10, respectively. The proposed method can also be used along with Orbitrap mass spectrometers that have faster MS/MS acquisition rates, like the recently released Orbitrap Astral mass spectrometer, to further reduce the mass spectrometer time required per sample.

Antibacterial and antibiofilm activities of selenium nanoparticles-antibiotic conjugates against anti-multidrug-resistant bacteria

The crucial demand to overcome the issue of multidrug resistance is required to refine the performance of antibiotics. Such a process can be achieved by fastening them to compatible nanoparticles to obtain effective pharmaceuticals at a low concentration. Thus, selenium nanoparticles (Se NPs) are considered biocompatible agents that are applied to prevent infections resulting from bacterial resistance to multi-antibiotics. The current evaluated the effectiveness of Se NPs and their conjugates with antibiotics such as amikacin (AK), levofloxacin (LEV), and piperacillin (PIP) against Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa). In addition, the study determined the antibacterial and antibiofilm properties of Se NPs and their conjugates with LEV against urinary tract pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis), P. aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli (E. coli). The result of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) for eight isolates of P. aeruginosa revealed that the conjugation of Se NPs with AK, LEV, and PIP resulted in a reduction in the concentration of antibiotic-conjugated Se NPs. The concentration was found to be about 10–20 times lower than that of bare antibiotics. The MIC of the Se NPs with LEV (i.e., Se NPs:LEV) for S. aureus, E. faecalis, P. aeruginosa, and E. coli was found to be 1.4:0.5, 0.7:0.25, 22:8, and 11:4 µg/mL, respectively. The results of the half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) demonstrated that Se NPs:LEV conjugate have inhibited 50 % of the mature biofilms of S. aureus, E. faecalis, P. aeruginosa, and E. coli at a concentration of 27.5 ± 10.5, 18.8 ± 3.1, 40.6 ± 10.7, and 21.6 ± 3.3 µg/mL, respectively compared to the control. It has been suggested that the antibiotic-conjugated Se NPs have great potential for biomedical applications. The conjugation of Se NPs with AK, LEV, and PIP increases the antibacterial potency against resistant pathogens at a low concentration.

NRX-101 (D-Cycloserine + Lurasidone) Is Active against Drug-Resistant Urinary Pathogens In Vitro.

D-Cycloserine (DCS) is a broad-spectrum antibiotic that is currently FDA-approved to treat tuberculosis (TB) disease and urinary tract infection (UTI). Despite numerous reports showing good clinical efficacy, DCS fell out of favor as a UTI treatment because of its propensity to cause side effects. NRX-101, a fixed-dose combination of DCS and lurasidone, has been awarded Qualified Infectious Disease Product and Fast Track Designation by the FDA. In this study, we tested NRX-101 against the urinary tract pathogens Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Acinetobacter baumannii in cation-adjusted Mueller-Hinton broth (caMHB) and artificial urine media (AUM). Several strains were multidrug resistant. Test compounds were serially diluted in broth/media. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was defined as the lowest concentration of the test compound at which no bacterial growth was observed. DCS exhibited antibacterial efficacy against all strains tested while lurasidone did not appreciably affect the antibacterial action of DCS in vitro. In AUM, the MICs ranged from 128 to 512 mcg/mL for both DCS and NRX-101. In caMHB, MICs ranged from 8 to 1024 mcg/mL for NRX-101 and 32 to 512 mcg/mL for DCS alone. Our data confirm that DCS has antibacterial activity against reference and drug-resistant urinary pathogens. Furthermore, lurasidone does not interfere with DCS's antimicrobial action in vitro. These results support the clinical development of NRX-101 as a treatment for complicated urinary tract infections.

Prevalence and Intensity of Urinary Schistosoma Haematobium Eggs Among the School Aged Children in Kona Ward, Ardo Kola Lga, Taraba State, Nigeria

The study was conducted to examine the prevalence and intensity of urinary Schistosomiasis haematobium in two Kona ward settlement of Ardo kola local government, area of Taraba State, Nigeria. The study employed urine filtration technique using polycarbonate membrane filters to detect Schistosoma haematobium eggs in urine. Standard culture techniques to isolate urinary tract pathogens with their susceptibility patterns were carried out. Questionnaires were administered to collect information on socio-demographic data on the children. A total of 1153 urine samples were collected and analysed for the eggs of Schistosoma haematobium, Out of 675 children infected with urinary schistosomiasis, the highest occurrence of bacteriuria (61.3%) was recorded in the heavy intensity (>50 eggs/10ml urine) while low intensity (1 – 50 eggs/10ml urine) recorded the lowest occurrence of bacteriuria (59.2%). Chi square analysis showed significant association between intensity and bacteriuria (χ2 = 309.5, p = 0.000). Spearman’s correlation coefficient for bacteriuria also showed significant relationship between urinary schistosomiasis and bacteriuria (r = 0.518, p<0.001). The percentage occurrence of E. coli in heavy ova intensity (>50 eggs/10ml urine) is slightly higher (56.9%) than in light intensity (55.0%). Occurrence of Klebsiella spp in heavy intensity is slightly above (24.9%) that of light intensity (24.4%). P aeroginosa and Proteus spp occur more in light intensity (24.9%) and (28.9%) respectively than in heavy intensity (14.2%) and (14.6%) respectively. Occurrence of S. aureus is significantly higher in heavy intensity (4.2%) than in light intensity (1.7%). In subjects negative for urinary schistosomiasis, occurrence of bacteria isolates follows similar pattern with Klebsiella spp occurring more (3.3%) than the other isolates. These findings indicate that the areas is endemic to urinary schistosomiasis and therefore prompt intervention in the study areas is needed. Keywords: prevalence, intensity, Schistosoma haematobium, school aged children, kona ward, Ardo kola, Taraba State, Nigeria

Infectious and Commensal Bacteria in Rheumatoid Arthritis-Role in the Outset and Progression of the Disease.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, autoimmune disease with a complex outset. Besides the genetic susceptibility in its pathogenesis, various environmental factors also participate. Of these, in recent years, there have been increasing reports of the involvement of bacteria in the disease's outset and development, especially gut microbiota and oral pathogens. Most recent reports about bacteria participation in RA pathogenesis focus on Prevotella copri and Porphyromonas gingivalis. There are also reports about the involvement of respiratory and urinary tract pathogens. The exact mechanisms leading to RA development used by bacteria are not well known; however, some mechanisms by which bacteria can interact with the immune system are known and can potentially lead to RA development. The aim of this study is to provide a comprehensive review of the potential bacteria participating in RA development and the mechanism involved in that process.

Preliminary studies on antibacterial effect of some medicinal plants against urinary tract pathogens

Preliminary studies on antibacterial effect of some medicinal plants against urinary tract pathogens

Phage P2-71 against multi-drug resistant Proteus mirabilis: isolation, characterization, and non-antibiotic antimicrobial potential.

Proteus mirabilis, a prevalent urinary tract pathogen and formidable biofilm producer, especially in Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection, has seen a worrying rise in multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains. This upsurge calls for innovative approaches in infection control, beyond traditional antibiotics. Our research introduces bacteriophage (phage) therapy as a novel non-antibiotic strategy to combat these drug-resistant infections. We isolated P2-71, a lytic phage derived from canine feces, demonstrating potent activity against MDR P. mirabilis strains. P2-71 showcases a notably brief 10-minute latent period and a significant burst size of 228 particles per infected bacterium, ensuring rapid bacterial clearance. The phage maintains stability over a broad temperature range of 30-50°C and within a pH spectrum of 4-11, highlighting its resilience in various environmental conditions. Our host range assessment solidifies its potential against diverse MDR P. mirabilis strains. Through killing curve analysis, P2-71's effectiveness was validated at various MOI levels against P. mirabilis 37, highlighting its versatility. We extended our research to examine P2-71's stability and bactericidal kinetics in artificial urine, affirming its potential for clinical application. A detailed genomic analysis reveals P2-71's complex genetic makeup, including genes essential for morphogenesis, lysis, and DNA modification, which are crucial for its therapeutic action. This study not only furthers the understanding of phage therapy as a promising non-antibiotic antimicrobial but also underscores its critical role in combating emerging MDR infections in both veterinary and public health contexts.

Inhibitory Potential of Tribulus terrestris on Calcium Oxalate Crystals, Struvite Crystals and Bacterial Pathogens: A Preliminary Investigation

Kidney stone formation and recurring urinary tract infection (UTIs) are common among the general population. An alternative herbal treatment potential was investigated in this study. This study aims to investigate anti-urolithiasis efficacy of herbal Tribulus terrestris (TT) plant leaf extract in reducing the growth of calcium oxalate and struvite crystal using in vitro methods. In vitro antiurolithiatic potential of TT leaf extract was studied using nucleation, aggregation, and crystal formation assays in synthetic media and in synthetic urine samples. In vitro antiurolithiasis potential of Tribulus terrestris (TT) plant leaf extract was investigated at concentrations ranging from 100 to 1000 μg/ml. Initially, the principal phytochemical constituents of TT methanolic leaf extract was examined. Then antibacterial properties of TT plant leaf extract were tested against common urinary tract pathogens such as Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). The results of the nucleation assay revealed that TT leaf extract reduced up to 55% of calcium oxalate (CaOx) crystallization and inhibits struvite crystal formation up to 85% with 5% (0.43 g) of TT extract. This study revealed a dose-dependent suppression of crystal formation by increased TT plant leaf extract dosage. The antibacterial activity of TT plant leaf extract is greater against E. coli than S. aureus. This anti-urolithiasis potential of TT plant extract can be used as an antidote for individuals who are prone to urinary crystal formation as well as to control urinary tract infections.

Occurrence and Isolation of Urinary Tract Bacteria Associated with Urinary Schistosomiasis Among the School Aged Children in Sorbai and Murbai Area of Kona Ward, Ardo Kola Lga, Taraba State, Nigeria

This study was carried out to determine the occurrence and isolation of urinary Schistosomiasis and co-infection with bacteria among the school aged children in two Kona settlements. Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease caused by blood flukes (trematode worms) of the genus Schistosoma and is common among the rural community dwellers that have occupation or recreation activities that link them with infected water bodies. The disease wreak a lot of havoc in the victims which range from anaemia, increase risk of liver fibrosis and bladder cancer, enlarged liver, difficult and painful urination, infertility etc. Nigeria has been reported to be the most endemic country in the world for schistosomiasis with about 29 million infected cases. However, people with urinary schistosomiasis are vulnerable to secondary infections caused by bacteria as a result of the break down in the mucosa barrier occasioned by the wear and tear of the spiny eggs of the schistosomes. The study employed urine filtration technique using polycarbonate membrane filters to detect Schistosoma haematobium eggs in urine. Standard culture techniques to isolate urinary tract pathogens with their susceptibility patterns were carried out. Questionnaires were administered to collect information on socio-demographic data on the children. Of the 1153 urine samples examined, 675 (58.4%) were infected with Schistosoma haematobium, out of whom 405 (60.0%) were positive for bacteriuria. Bacteriuria differed significantly between the two settlements (χ2 =25.55, p=0.000) and sexes (χ 2 =29.55, p=0.000) with females recording high occurrence (84.6%) than males (39.2%). Similarly, significant association in prevalence was observed in the different age groups (χ 2 =92.97, p=0.000) with the 1-5years old being the highest, while the 11-15years the lowest. Spearman correlation coefficient showed significant association between urinary Schistosomiasis and bacteriuria (r=0.518, p˂0.01). The different bacterial pathogen isolated in urine samples include: Escherichia coli (33.9%), Klebsiella spp (15.5%), Proteus sp (14.5%) Pseudomonas aeruginosa (12.8%) Staphylococcus aureus (2.0%). This study revealed a high occurrence of schistosomiasis and significant bacteriuria in the study areas which suggests that bacterial presence may be a potent complication in the management of urinary schistosomiasis. Keywords: Schistosomiasis, isolation, bacteria, school aged children, antibiotic urinary tract, sorbai, murbai, kona, ardo kola, Taraba state, Nigeria

Statement of Retraction: Co (II)-coordination polymer: treatment and testing values on calculus of ureter by inhibiting the growth of urinary tract pathogens

Statement of Retraction: Co (II)-coordination polymer: treatment and testing values on calculus of ureter by inhibiting the growth of urinary tract pathogens

In vitro safety and functional characterization of the novel Bacillus coagulans strain CGI314.

Bacillus coagulans species have garnered much interest in health-related functional food research owing to their desirable probiotic properties, including pathogen exclusion, antioxidant, antimicrobial, immunomodulatory and food fermentation capabilities coupled with their tolerance of extreme environments (pH, temperature, gastric and bile acid resistance) and stability due to their endosporulation ability. In this study, the novel strain Bacillus coagulans CGI314 was assessed for safety, and functional probiotic attributes including resistance to heat, gastric acid and bile salts, the ability to adhere to intestinal cells, aggregation properties, the ability to suppress the growth of human pathogens, enzymatic profile, antioxidant capacity using biochemical and cell-based methods, cholesterol assimilation, anti-inflammatory activity, and attenuation of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced disruption of the intestinal-epithelial barrier. B. coagulans CGI314 spores display resistance to high temperatures (40°C, 70°C, and 90°C), and gastric and bile acids [pH 3.0 and bile salt (0.3%)], demonstrating its ability to survive and remain viable under gastrointestinal conditions. Spores and the vegetative form of this strain were able to adhere to a mucous-producing intestinal cell line, demonstrated moderate auto-aggregation properties, and could co-aggregate with potentially pathogenic bacteria. Vegetative cells attenuated LPS-induced pro-inflammatory cytokine gene expression in HT-29 intestinal cell lines and demonstrated broad antagonistic activity toward numerous urinary tract, intestinal, oral, and skin pathogens. Metabolomic profiling demonstrated its ability to synthesize several amino acids, vitamins and short-chain fatty acids from the breakdown of complex molecules or by de novo synthesis. Additionally, B. coagulans CGI314's strong antioxidant capacity was demonstrated using enzyme-based methods and was further supported by its cytoprotective and antioxidant effects in HepG2 and HT-29 cell lines. Furthermore, B. coagulans CGI314 significantly increased the expression of tight junction proteins and partially ameliorated the detrimental effects of H2O2 induced intestinal-epithelial barrier integrity. Taken together these beneficial functional properties provide strong evidence for B. coagulans CGI314 as a promising potential probiotic candidate in food products.

Evaluation of host factors leading to the progression of urinary tract infections to urosepsis: a retrospective analysis from a tertiary care centre in Southern India

Context: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are one of the recurrently occurring disease caused by bacteria that poses a major public health concern globally. Among the well studied host factors that predispose to urosepsis are the anatomical risk factors of the urinary tract including stones, tumours and interventions involving the urogenital tract such as an indwelling catheter or transrectal prostate biopsy. Aims: To evaluate the host factors leading to the progression of UTI to urosepsis. Settings and design: Clinical and laboratory data available from patient records as per the inclusion criteria were analysed retrospectively by using a detailed proforma. Methods and materials: Patient records were screened using the ICD code provided from the Medical Records department. Data of patients with clinically confirmed UTI were retrieved and included in the study. Statistical analysis used: Patient data was analysed using SPSS software version 20. Categorical and continuous data were summarized as percentages and means ± SD or median (P25, P75) respectively. Univariate analysis was performed using the chi-square test or Fisher's exact test for categorical variables. Results: A total of 94 patient records were included in the study. Demographic data showed that majority (53.19%) of the patients (n = 94) were female individuals. The results of univariate analysis showed that gender, frequent UTI, diabetes mellitus, presence of an indwelling urinary catheter and hospitalization more than 6 months were significantly associated with urosepsis. In addition, results of multivariate analysis identified the independent risk factors for urosepsis associated with urinary tract pathogens. Conclusion: This study showed that there is significant association between risk factors that determine the outcome of UTI and its progression to urosepsis.

Priestia flexa as a Novel Urinary Tract Pathogen in Daloa, Côte d'Ivoire: Insights From Genomic Sequencing.

Bacterial strains coded 21LM367, 21LM07, and 21LM1136 were isolated from the urine of patients with urinary tract infections (UTIs) at the Centre Hospitalier Régional de Daloa in Côte d'Ivoire. Based on average nucleotide identity (ANI) analysis, DNA-DNA digital hybridisation (dDDH), and other comparative genomic methods, strains 21LM07, 21LM367, and 21LM1136 were determined to be Priestia flexa. The size of the assembled complete genomes ranged from 8,624,538 to 4,007,501 bp. The average GC content was 37.76%, 46.33%, and 43.03% for strains 21LM07, 21LM367, and 21LM1136, respectively. The total number of coding regions (CDS) in each genome was 4172, 8497, and 6795, respectively, for strains 21LM07, 21LM367, and 21LM1136. Genomic prediction analysis revealed that a total of 4241, 8583, and 6881 genes were annotated in the 21LM07, 21LM367, and 21LM1136 genomes, respectively. No virulence or resistance genes were predicted in the genomes of strains 21LM07 and 21LM1136. On the other hand, two genes conferring resistance to beta-lactam and tetracyclines as well as nine virulence genes were predicted in the genome of 21LM367. In addition, 438, 350, and 153 mobile genetic elements (MGEs) were predicted in the genomes of strains 21LM367, 21LM1136, and 21LM07, respectively. Strain 21LM07 was characterised by the absence of plasmids in its genome. Two plasmids were predicted in the genomes of isolates 21LM367 and 21LM1136; however, rep7a and IncI2 were predicted to contain the tet(K) resistance gene. No typical multilocus sequences could be characterised in the genomes of the different strains.

Antibacterial Activities of Secondary Metabolites Derived from Streptomyces sp. VITGV38 (MCC4869) against Selected Uropathogens

Streptomyces sp. VITGV38 (MCC8469) was obtained from the VIT University Microbiology Laboratory where it was isolated from tomato plants. This strain was mass-cultured for 15 days and its extracellular metabolites were extracted in ethyl acetate using a liquid–liquid extraction method. The antibacterial test was performed on the ethyl acetate crude extract against selected urinary tract pathogens, Proteus mirabilis (MTCC-442), Enterococcus faecalis (MTCC-439), Klebsiella pneumoniae (MTCC-109), and Escherichia coli (MTCC-1687), The extract developed a clear inhibition zone that measured between 17–21 mm. The minimum inhibition concentration was observed from a concentration of 25 μg/ml against all selected uropathogens. GC-MS analysis revealed 35 diverse compounds in the ethyl acetate crude extract, which includes 1,2 benzenedicarboxylic acid bis(2methylpropyl) ester, dibutyl phthalate, bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, didodecyl phthalate, octadecanoic acid dodecyl ester, and dodecane. These six compounds are the major antimicrobial compounds present in the ethyl acetate extract. VITGV38 showed greyish aerial mycelium. Scanning electron microscopy revealed elliptical spores with a chain-like smooth orientation.

Antimicrobial and antibiofilm activities of chromone derivatives against uropathogenic Escherichia coli

Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) is a urinary tract pathogen responsible for most nosocomial urinary tract infections and can cause severe conditions like acute cystitis of the bladder or pyelonephritis. UPEC harbors a host of virulence factors like curli, hemolysin, siderophore, and motility factors and can form biofilm-like communities and quiescent reservoirs that aid its survival. This study was performed to investigate the antibiofilm, antimicrobial, and antivirulence potentials of three chromone derivatives, namely, 6-bromo 3-formylchromone, 6-chloro 3-formylchromone, and 3-formyl 6-isopropylchromone. These chromones had MICs against UPEC of 20, 20, and 50 µg/ml, respectively, inhibited biofilm formation by 72–96% at 20 µg/ml, and inhibited UPEC-associated virulence factors, that is, hemolysis, motility, curli, siderophore production, indole production, quiescent colony formation, and cell surface hydrophobicity. Gene expression analysis indicated these three derivatives downregulated virulence genes associated with toxins, biofilm production, and stress regulation and suggested they might target two-component UvrY response regulator. 3D-QSAR analysis showed that substitutions at the third and sixth positions of the chromone scaffold favor antimicrobial activity against UPEC. Furthermore, ADME profiles and C. elegans cytotoxicity assays indicated that these chromone derivatives are potent, safe drug candidates.