We demonstrate that live donor Veillonella dispar cells can transfer the conjugative transposon Tn916 to four different Streptococcus spp. recipients in a multispecies oral consortium growing as a biofilm in a constant depth film fermentor. Additionally, we demonstrate that purified V. dispar DNA can transform Streptococcus mitis to tetracycline resistance in this experimental system. These dat...

Dear Editor Streptococcus tigurinus, a novel bacterial species, was first discovered by Zbinden et al. in 2012 [1]. Although S. tigurinus was reported to cause invasive infections, accurate identification of this organism requires genetic analysis [1-6]. We report a patient with concurrent bacteremia, endocarditis, and spondylitis caused by S. tigurinus. A 79-yr-old male presented with chills a...

Two clinical isolates of viridans group streptococci (VS) with different degrees of susceptibility to optochin (OPT), i.e., fully OPT-susceptible (Opt(s)) VS strain 1162/99 (for which the MIC was equal to that for Streptococcus pneumoniae, 0.75 micro g/ml) and intermediate Opt(s) VS strain 1174/97 (MIC, 6 micro g/ml) were studied. Besides being OPT susceptible, they showed characteristics typic...

Carbon monoxide formation from heme compounds by bacteria was investigated to study microbial hemoprotein catabolism with reference to heme degradation by mammalian tissues. Hemolytic and nonhemolytic bacteria were incubated aerobically and anaerobically with the following substrates: erythrocytes, hemoglobin, myoglobin, cytochrome c, hematin, iron hematoporphyrin, copper hematoporphyrin, proto...

The prevalence and role of viridans group streptococci in the female genital tract have not been well described. In this study of 482 pregnant women, 147 (30%) were culture positive for viridans group streptococci. Of 392 women with predominant Lactobacillus morphotypes by Gram stain (normal), 110 (28%) were colonized with viridans group streptococci, compared with 37 (41%) of 90 women with bac...

The essential oil of Rosmarinus officinalis L. (rosemary) was obtained by hydro-distillation and analysed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Sixty-two constituents were identified, representing 98.06% of the total oil content. Oxygenated monoterpenes were the predominant components. The rosemary oil was characterized as having prominent (> 5%) contents of camphor (18.9%), verbenone (11.3%...

Discrimination between Streptococcus pneumoniae and its close relatives of the viridans group is a common difficulty in matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry-based identification. In the present study, the performances of the Vitek MS MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry system were assessed using 334 pneumococci, 166 other S. mitis group streptococci, ...

Four new species of Tanycarpa (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Alysiinae), T. gymnonotum Yao sp. n., T. similis Yao sp. n., T. areolata Yao sp. n., and T. lineata Yao sp. n., are described from the Palaearctic Region of China, and T. chors Belokobylskij is newly recorded from China. Significant range extensions are given for T. bicolor (Nees von Esenbeck), T. gracilicornis (Nees von Esenbeck), and T. ...

BACKGROUND Carriage of and infection with Streptococcus pneumoniae is known to predominantly induce T helper 17 (Th17) responses in humans, but the types of Th cells showing reactivity towards commensal streptococci with low pathogenic potential, such as the oral commensals S. mitis and S. salivarius, remain uncharacterized. METHODS Memory CD4(+) T helper (Th) cell subsets were isolated from ...