A controlled clinical comparison was made of the Isolator (Wampole Laboratories, Cranbury, N.J.) and the Septi-Chek Release bottle (Roche Diagnostics, Nutley, N.J.). From 6,345 blood culture sets fulfilling minimum criteria for volume of blood cultured, 840 strains were isolated, of which only 691 (82%) were considered to be representative of bloodstream infection according to Centers for Disea...

We applied PCR to the rapid detection of the metallo-beta-lactamase gene, blaIMP, in clinically isolated gram-negative rods. A total of 54 high-level ceftazidime-resistant strains (MICs, > 128 micrograms/ml) were subjected to PCR analyses with the blaIMP-specific primers, since the blaIMP-bearing clinical isolates tested in our previous study always demonstrated high-level resistance to ceftazi...

Proximal vs. distal heme-NO coordination is a novel strategy for selective gas response in heme-based NO-sensors. In the case of Alcaligenes xylosoxidans cytochrome c' (AXCP), formation of a transient distal 6cNO complex is followed by scission of the trans Fe-His bond and conversion to a proximal 5cNO product via a putative dinitrosyl species. Here we show that replacement of the AXCP distal L...

The recently described genus Pandoraea contains five named species (Pandoraea apista, Pandoraea pulmonicola, Pandoraea pnomenusa, Pandoraea sputorum, and Pandoraea norimbergensis) and four unnamed genomospecies. Pandoraea spp. have mainly been recovered from the respiratory tracts of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. Accurate genus- and species-level identification by routine clinical microbiology...

Synchrotron-based X-ray structural studies of ligand-bound enzymes are powerful tools to further our understanding of reaction mechanisms. For redox enzymes, it is necessary to study both the oxidized and reduced active sites to fully elucidate the reaction, an objective that is complicated by potential X-ray photoreduction. In the presence of the substrate, this can be exploited to construct a...

The inhalational administration of antibiotics can provide high concentrations locally in the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients and, thus, can be useful for the treatment of chronic bacterial infections. The present study evaluated the in vitro activities of levofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, tobramycin, amikacin, and aztreonam against clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Burkholderia cepacia...

Achromobacter xylosoxidans can cause various types of infections, but its infection in humans is rare. A. xylosoxidans has been reported as a rare etiological agent of infections including primary bacteremia, catheter-related bloodstream infection, endocarditis, otitis, and pneumonia, particularly in immunocompromised hosts. We encountered a case of septic shock caused by A. xylosoxidans in a 5...

In this study, a copper-resistant plant growth promoting bacterial (PGPB) strain Ax10 was isolated from a Cu mine soil to assess its plant growth promotion and copper uptake in Brassica juncea. The strain Ax10 tolerated concentrations up to 600 mg CuL(-1) on a Luria-Bertani (LB) agar medium and utilized 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) as a sole N source in DF salts minimal medium. T...

To report on Achromobacter xylosoxidans keratitis in two healthy patients who had worn contact lenses foran extended period of time. A 36-year-old female and a 21-year-old female visited our hospital with ocular pain and blurred vision. Both patients had a history of wearing soft contact lenses for over fve years with occasional overnight wear. At the initial presentation, a slit lamp examinati...

Conjugal transfer from Escherichia coli to Alcaligenes eutrophus of the A. eutrophus genes coding for plasmid-borne resistance to cadmium, cobalt, and zinc (czc genes) was investigated on agar plates and in soil samples. This czc fragment is not expressed in the donor strain, E. coli, but it is expressed in the recipient strain, A. eutrophus. Hence, expression of heavy metal resistance by cells...