Vibrio, a diverse genus of aquatic bacteria, currently includes 72 species, 12 of which occur in human clinical samples. Of these 12, three species--Vibrio cholerae, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, and Vibrio vulnificus-account for the majority of Vibrio infections in humans. Rapid and accurate identification of Vibrio species has been problematic because phenotypic characteristics are variable within...

BACKGROUND Introduction of Xpert® MTB/RIF assay has revolutionalised the diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) by simultaneously detecting the bacteria and resistance to rifampicin (rif), a surrogate marker for multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) as well as one of the principal first-line anti-tuberculosis drugs. In general, rpoB mutations can be found in 96.1% of rif-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis...

Increased use of vancomycin has led to the emergence of vancomycin-intermediate Staphylococcus aureus (VISA). To investigate the mechanism of VISA development, 39 methicillin-susceptible strains and 3 MRSA strains were treated with vancomycin to induce non-susceptibility, and mutations in six genes were analyzed. All the strains were treated with vancomycin in vitro for 60 days. MICs were deter...

Rifampin-resistant (Rifr) Neisseria meningitidis strains are known to have single point mutations in the central conserved regions of the rpoB gene. We have demonstrated two distinct resistance phenotypes in strains with identical mutations in this region, an intermediate level of resistance in Rifr clinical isolates and a high level of resistance in mutants selected in vitro. The possible role...

This study investigated mutations in the rpoB gene of rifampin-resistant isolates obtained from patients living in Eastern Poland. A total of 37 phenotypically and/or genotypically confirmed M. tuberculosis rifampin-resistant clinical isolates were included in this study. The strains were selected from symptomatic patients with a diagnosis of pulmonary and extrapulmonary tuberculosis. A line pr...

Strains of a novel anaerobic, Gram-negative coccus were isolated from the supra-gingival plaque of children. Independent strains from each of six subjects were shown, at a phenotypic level and based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing, to be members of the genus Veillonella. Analysis revealed that the six strains shared 99.7 % similarity in their 16S rRNA gene sequences and 99.0 % similarity in their r...

Multidrug resistance (MDR), defined as resistance to at least isoniazid (INH) and rifampin (RMP) which have the most effective bactericidal activity to M. tuberculosis, is now common throughout the world, with average rates of resistance of 15% in high-burden countries. Exposure of bacterial cells to low doses of ionizing radiation induces mutations that lead to genetic and subsequent phenotypi...

INTRODUCTION The emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains has become a worldwide health care problem, making treatment of tuberculosis difficult. The aim of this study was to determine phenotypic resistance and gene mutations associated with MDR of clinical isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from Guadalajara, Mexico. METHODS One hundred and five isolates w...

PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis (PRA) using the novel region of the rpoB gene was developed for rapid and precise identification of mycobacteria to the species level. A total of 50 mycobacterial reference strains and 3 related bacterial strains were used to amplify the 360-bp region of rpoB, and the amplified DNAs were subsequently digested with restriction enzymes such as...

Parallel evolution is the independent evolution of the same phenotype or genotype in response to the same selection pressure. There are examples of parallel molecular evolution across divergent genetic backgrounds, suggesting that genetic background may not play an important role in determining the outcome of adaptation. Here, we measure the influence of genetic background on phenotypic and mol...