the basis of the following characteristics: catalase negativity, α-hemolytic gram-positive cocci forming pairs and tetrads (not chains) in broth culture; growth in the presence of 40% bile and 6.5% NaCl and ability to hydrolyze esculin; pyrrolidony l-aminopeptidase positivity, leucineaminopeptidase negativity; and production of acid from trehalose, sucrose, maltose, and lactose but not from sor...

A new, simple, and one-step tool for the direct detection of vancomycin-resistant Enterocococcus (VRE) EPI-V® (Pilots Point LLC, Sarasota, FL) is presented. It contains all the ingredients in a unique stable powder form in a standard test tube. One only needs to add water, inoculate the specimen, and incubate. Specimens consisted of 553 sequential human rectal/perirectal swabs for VRE surveilla...

Corynebacterium species and other coryneform organisms isolated from clinical specimens are frequently considered contaminants. We isolated two strains of a gram-positive organism from the vitreous fluid of two patients with endophthalmitis who had previously received intraocular lens transplants. The biochemical characteristics and gas chromatographic patterns of both isolates were similar to ...

Five strains of Aeromonas hydrophila were selected for use in volunteer challenge trials. All five strains produced cytotoxin, hemolysin enterotoxin, lysine decarboxylase, acetylmethylcarbinol, and DNase. Two strains hydrolyzed esculin. All strains produced purulent hemorrhagic fluid accumulation in rabbit ileal loops, but failed to induce keratoconjunctivitis in guinea pigs. None of the strain...

Ginsenoside (ginseng saponin), the principal component of ginseng, is responsible for the pharmacological and biological activities of ginseng. We isolated lactic acid bacteria from Kimchi using esculin agar, to produce β-glucosidase. We focused on the bio-transformation of ginsenoside. Phylogenetic analysis was performed by comparing the 16S rRNA sequences. We identified the strain as Lactobac...

AIM To observe the biotransformation process of a Chinese compound, aesculin, by human gut bacteria, and to identify its metabolites in rat urine. METHODS Representative human gut bacteria were collected from 20 healthy volunteers, and then utilized in vitro to biotransform aesculin under anaerobic conditions. At 0, 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 24, 48 and 72 h post-incubation, 10 mL of culture medium was...

Of 2,500 fecal samples collected from children with diarrhea in the province of Siena, 35 (1.4%) were found to be positive for Yersinia enterocolitica. Of the isolates, 94.2% belonged to biotype 4, serotype 0:3; 2.8% belonged to biotype 2, serotype O:9; and 2.8% belonged to biotype 1, serotype O:6. The in vitro pathogenicity tests showed that all but two isolates were calcium dependent and auto...

This study aimed to explore the spectrum-effect relationships between high-performance liquid chromatography fingerprints and the uric acid-lowering activities of chicory. Chemical fingerprints of chicory samples from ten different sources were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography, and then investigated by similarity analysis and hierarchical clustering analysis. Pharmacodynamic...

In the past decade considerable advances have been achieved in the study of induced enzyme biosynthesis in microorganisms. A comparison of three of the better studied systems, P-galactosidase in Escherichia coli (l), penicillinase in Bacillus cereus (2), and oc-glucosidase in Xaccharomyces cerevisiae (3) indicates that there are a number of differences in these inductions. In order to compare f...