Sequence-based approaches to prokaryotic systematics and typing represent a modern and promising strategy in epidemiology and environmental microbiology. GenEnv, a database-driven system for bacterial typing, was developed in order to provide user friendly tools for supporting biomolecular analysis of bacteria. The family Vibrionaceae represents a heterogeneous taxon of aquatic microrganisms, h...

Whole-genome sequence (WGS) data can, in principle, resolve bacterial isolates that differ by a single base pair, thus providing the highest level of discriminatory power for epidemiologic subtyping. Nonetheless, because the capability to perform whole-genome sequencing in the context of epidemiological investigations involving priority pathogens has only recently become practical, fewer isolat...

The mutability of bacteriophages offers a particular advantage in the treatment of bacterial infections not afforded by other antimicrobial therapies. When phage-resistant bacteria emerge, mutation may generate phage capable of exploiting and thus limiting population expansion among these emergent types. However, while mutation potentially generates beneficial variants, it also contributes to a...

Micro-organisms inhabiting animal guts benefit from a protected and nutrient-rich environment while assisting the host with digestion and nutrition. In this study we compare, for the first time, the bacterial and fungal gut communities of two species of the small desert dung beetle genus Pachysoma feeding on different diets: the detritivorous P. endroedyi and the dry-dung-feeding P. striatum. W...

In this study, we used a chromogenic method to show the presence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in seawater. The culture dependent identification of P. aeruginosa typically takes approximately 2-3 days with conventional methods. More reliable, rapid and cost effective results can also be achieved with PCR based methodologies but only in microbiology laboratories equipped with suitable infrastructure...

Burkholderia cepacia complex organisms are important transmissible pathogens found in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. In recent years, the rates of cross-infection of epidemic strains have declined due to effective infection control efforts. However, cases of sporadic B. cepacia complex infection continue to occur in some centers. The acquisition pathways and clinical outcomes of sporadic B. cep...

In developed countries, Salmonella enterica subspecies 1 serovars Enteritidis and Typhimurium range among the most common causes of bacterial food-borne infections. The surveillance and typing of epidemic Salmonella strains are important tools in epidemiology. Usually, Salmonella enterica subspecies 1 serovars are differentiated by serotyping for diagnostic purposes. Further differentiation is ...

Using high resolution molecular fingerprinting techniques like random amplification of polymorphic DNA, repetitive extragenic palindromic PCR and multilocus enzyme electrophoresis, a high bacterial diversity below the species and subspecies level (microdiversity) is revealed. It became apparent that bacteria of a certain species living in close association with different plants either as associ...

Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) is a widely used system for typing microorganisms by sequence analysis of housekeeping genes. The main advantage of MLST in comparison to other typing techniques is the unambiguity and transferability of sequence data. However, a main disadvantage is the high cost of DNA sequencing. Here we introduce a high-throughput MLST (HiMLST) method that employs next-gene...