OBJECTIVES To determine the quantity and quality of bacterial and fungi on money coins and to identify those that could pose a public health risk. DESIGN Random sampling of coins from subjects within predetermined categories. SETTING Westlands division of Nairobi Metropolitan province. SUBJECTS Twenty-shilling coin samples were collected from matatu (a common commuter vehicle in Kenya) ta...

The present review deals with fungal keratinases including that of dermatophytes. Bacterial keratinases were also included. Temperature and substrate relationship keratinase production has also been discussed. Keratin degradation and industrial involvement of keratinase producing fungi is also reviewed.

Flax dew-retting is a key step in the industrial extraction of fibers from flax stems and is dependent upon the production of a battery of hydrolytic enzymes produced by micro-organisms during this process. To explore the diversity and dynamics of bacterial and fungal communities involved in this process we applied a high-throughput sequencing (HTS) DNA metabarcoding approach (16S rRNA/ITS regi...

background: the widespread utilization of antimicrobial compounds has caused emergence of resistant microorganisms in the world. hence, the research to probe the products with antimicrobial features has led to finding natural habitats and discovering new pharmaceutical products. methods: in this study, an attempt was made to explore the niche of novel habitat to isolate pyllospheric bacteria fr...

BACKGROUND Human-associated microbial communities include fungi, but we understand little about which fungal species are present, their relative and absolute abundances, and how antimicrobial therapy impacts fungal communities. The disease cystic fibrosis (CF) often involves chronic airway colonization by bacteria and fungi, and these infections cause irreversible lung damage. Fungi are detecte...

The recent accumulation of newly discovered fungal-bacterial mutualisms challenges the paradigm that fungi and bacteria are natural antagonists. To understand the mechanisms that govern the establishment and maintenance over evolutionary time of mutualisms between fungi and bacteria, we studied a symbiosis of the fungus Rhizopus microsporus (Mucoromycotina) and its Burkholderia endobacteria. We...

Objective. To define otomycosis and determine the predisposing factors and microbiology in primary otomycosis. Study Design. Prospective study of two years and review of the literature. Setting. Academic Department of Otolaryngology in a coastal city in India. Patients. 150 immunocompetent individuals of whom 100 consecutive patients with a clinical diagnosis of otomycosis are considered as the...

Fungal diseases of fish have become increasingly important, over the past 20 years. The traditional ‘‘fungi’’ are comprised members from several different taxonomic kingdoms. An increasing number other environmental fungi being reported diseased fish, further testament to opportunistic nature many fungi. Active fungal agents living in waters cause infections juvenile and adult individuals popul...

BACKGROUND Polyketides are natural products with a wide range of biological functions and pharmaceutical applications. Discovery and utilization of polyketides can be facilitated by understanding the evolutionary processes that gave rise to the biosynthetic machinery and the natural product potential of extant organisms. Gene duplication and subfunctionalization, as well as horizontal gene tran...

BACKGROUND Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a common nosocomial infection in critically ill patients with high morbidity and mortality rates. The etiology of VAP is usually bacterial. Opportunistic fungi such as Candida and Aspergillus species (spp.) are found frequently in the respiratory track secretions of immunocompetent critically ill patients known as colonization. Contribution of...