Oil palm empty fruit bunches (OPEFB) were utilized as the source of organic fertilizer, but become a medium Oryctes rhinoceros proliferation in oil plantations. O. uses cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin OPEFB energy sources for larvae growth development. In process breaking combining complex compounds into simple molecules, they are establishing symbiotic relationship with bacteria residing d...

AIMS To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of two selective media for the isolation of Burkholderia cepacia from sputum specimens in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). METHODS In total, 149 expectorated sputum specimens from 113 patients with CF (32 cepacia colonised patients and 81 non-cepacia colonised patients) attending three CF centres were examined for the presence of B cepacia o...

AIMS To compare the effect of phosphorous concentration (200 mg P l(-1) and 20 mg P l(-1)) on the denitrifying efficiency of Alcaligenes denitrificans when in the form of planktonic cells or in the form of a biofilm, and to select the most adequate C/N ratio. METHODS AND RESULTS Two types of assays were carried out: with planktonic cells and with cells in biofilm form. Anoxic bottles with the...

Electron microscopic immunogold labeling experiments were performed with ultrathin sections of plasmolyzed cells of Alcaligenes eutrophus and "whole-mount" samples of spheroplasts and protoplasts. They demonstrated that antigenic determinants of the membrane-bound hydrogenase are exposed, at the outside of the cytoplasmic membrane, to the periplasm.

Small angle X -ray scattering studies on ribu lose-l,5 -b isphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase (R ubisco) from spinach reveal a configurational change in its quaternary structure upon the transition of the m olecule from the activated form occurring in the presence of C 0 2 and Mg2+ to the deactivated form ob tained w hen C 0 2 and M g2+ are rem oved by extensive dialysis under n itrogen. Present ...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate disinfectants for domestic use for the presence of bacteria, identify them, and determine their tolerance level to benzalkonium chloride. METHODS Fifty-two samples of commercially available disinfectants for domestic use were acquired at random in the metropolitan area of São Paulo, Brazil, and analyzed to detect the presence of bacterial contaminants. The isolated organ...

BACKGROUND Achromobacter piechaudii is a rare cause of clinical disease in humans. Previously, clinical disease has only been documented in immunocompromised patients. We present a case of Achromobacter piechaudii bacteremia in a patient with previous malignancy but no known immunosuppression. CASE REPORT A 67-year-old man with distant history of colon and prostate cancer presented with low g...

A simple and rapid semiquantitative slide catalase test useful for the identification of oxidative and nonsaccharolytic gram-negative bacteria, i.e., "nonfermenters," is described. Using the interpretative criterion of time of appearance of oxygen bubbles in 3% hydrogen peroxide, three categories of nonfermenters were established. The rapid catalase producers included Achromobacter xylosoxidans...