Macroelement (N, P, K) contents of Romulea columnae Seb. and Mauri Subsp. columnae during vegetative and generative growth phases

Romulea columnae Seb. and Mauri subsp. columnae is a geophytic plant belonging to Iridaceae. In this study nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) analysis were carried out during vegetative and generative growth periods. It has been found that above ground parts of plant have higher macroelement concentrations as compared to below ground parts during vegetative growth period. However, below ground parts have higher macroelement concentrations during generative growth phase due merely to top senescence. In addition to this there were significant and mostiy negative conelations between plant and soil macroelement concentrations. © 2007 Academic Journals Inc

Time-Kill Kinetics and In Vitro Antifungal Susceptibility of Non-fumigatus Aspergillus Species Isolated from Patients with Ocular Mycoses

PubMedID: 26612621Aspergillus species can cause ocular morbidity and blindness, and thus, appropriate antifungal therapy is needed. We investigated the in vitro activity of itraconazole, voriconazole, posaconazole, caspofungin, anidulafungin, and amphotericin B against 14 Aspergillus isolates obtained from patients with ocular mycoses, using the CLSI reference broth microdilution methodology. In addition, time-kill assays were performed, exposing each isolate separately to 1-, 4-, and 16-fold concentrations above the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of each antifungal agent. A sigmoid maximum-effect (Emax) model was used to fit the time-kill curve data. The drug effect was further evaluated by measuring an increase/decrease in the killing rate of the tested isolates. The MICs of amphotericin B, itraconazole, voriconazole, and posaconazole were 0.5–1.0, 1.0, 0.5–1.0, and 0.25 µg/ml for A. brasiliensis, A. niger, and A. tubingensis isolates, respectively, and 2.0–4.0, 0.5, 1.0 for A. flavus, and 0.12–0.25 µg/ml for A. nomius isolates, respectively. A. calidoustus had the highest MIC range for the azoles (4.0–16.0 µg/ml) among all isolates tested. The minimum effective concentrations of caspofungin and anidulafungin were ?0.03–0.5 µg/ml and ?0.03 µg/ml for all isolates, respectively. Posaconazole demonstrated maximal killing rates (Emax = 0.63 h-1, r2 = 0.71) against 14 ocular Aspergillus isolates, followed by amphotericin B (Emax = 0.39 h-1, r2 = 0.87), voriconazole (Emax = 0.35 h-1, r2 = 0.098), and itraconazole (Emax = 0.01 h-1, r2 = 0.98). Overall, the antifungal susceptibility of the non-fumigatusAspergillus isolates tested was species and antifungal agent dependent. Analysis of the kinetic growth assays, along with consideration of the killing rates, revealed that posaconazole was the most effective antifungal against all of the isolates. © 2015, The Author(s).Astellas Pharma Gilead SciencesSeyedmojtaba Seyedmousavi has received research and travel grants from Astellas Pharma B.V. and travel grant from Gilead Sciences. All of the other authors have no competing interests. The authors alone are responsible for the content and composition of the manuscript

The molecular and serological investigation of Feline immunodeficiency virus and Feline leukemia virus in stray cats of Western Turkey

This study aimed to investigate the Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) / Feline leukemia virus (FeLV) infection prevalence among looking healthy stray cats in Western Turkey by serologic and molecular-based tests. A total of 1008 blood samples from the stray cats were used in this study. All samples were tested for FIV antibodies / proviral DNA and FeLV antibodies / antigens / proviral DNA. The genetic characterization and phylogenetic analysis of FeLV and FIV were carried out in this study. These cats also tested for Leishmaniasis and Toxoplasmosis previously. FIV Ab and proviral DNA detected in 25.2 % and 25.5 % of samples, respectively. FeLV Ab, Ag, proviral DNA positivity was in 45.2 %, in 3.3 %, in 69.7 %, respectively. The molecular detection and phylogenetic analysis of the current FeLV pol gene and FIV gag gene performed. The molecular characterization for the pol gene of FeLV (enFeLV and exFeLV) among Turkey's cat population was reported for the first time. The exFeLV pol sequences closer to the FeLV-A genotype, and the enFeLV pol sequences overlapped with other enFeLV. The current FIV gag sequences were clustered within the subtypes A, B, and C. The findings revealed FeLV subtype A and FIV subtype-A, subtype-B, subtype-C circulate among Turkish stray cats. Single and multiple co-infection positivity was found higher compared to previous reports. © 2021 Elsevier Lt

Analysis of cytidine monophospho-N-acetylneuraminic acid hydroxylase (CMAH) gene related to neonatal isoerythrolysis in stray cats of Izmir, Turkey [Türkiye, İzmir sokak kedilerinde neonatal izoeritrolizisle ilişkili sitidin monofosfat-N-asetilnöraminik asit hidroksilaz (CMAH) geninin analizi]

Neonatal isoerythrolysis is a life threatening disease in new born cats. It occurs when type A or type AB kittens are born from a type B queen (female cat). A homozygous 18 bp insertion located in cytidine monophosphate-N-acetylneuraminic acid hydroxylase (CMAH) gene has been detected in type B cats, causing production of inactive CMAH enzyme. Currently, molecular methods are being used to determine type B blood in female cats, which can help prevent neonatal isoerythrolysis in kittens. These molecular assays target the presence of 18 bp insertion in CMAH gene. In this study, we aimed to analyze the potential of neonatal isoerythrolysis among stray cats of İzmir, Turkey using PCR detecting the 18 bp insertion in CMAH gene. During the study, we analyzed 793 cats’ blood sample for the presence of 18 bp insertion in CMAH gene. Three cats known to have blood types A, B, and AB were used as control in PCR. According to the PCR results, blood type A control cat displayed a 175 bp product indicating a homozygous type A cat while blood type control B cat showed a 193 bp product in CMAH gene (with 18 bp insertion) indicating a homozygous type B cat. Interestingly, blood type AB control cat showed a heterozygous pattern for CMAH gene, in which three different bands (175 bp like that of type A, 193 bp product for type B, and the third unique band with approximately 240 bp size) were detected. Among 793 stray cats of İzmir, 791 were homozygous for CMAH gene with 175 bp band size (99.7%). The remaining two stray cats showed heterozygous band pattern like blood type AB cat (0.12%). Overall, 175 bp band displaying type A cats are prevalent contrary to the two cats that have type AB pattern and non-existence of homozygous type B cats. These results show that the potential of neonatal isoerythrolysis in stray cats of İzmir is minimal. Future studies are required to scrutinize the reason(s) for non-existence of type B cats in İzmir and presence of unique band in blood type AB. © 2016, Veteriner Fakultesi Dergisi. All rights reserved

Genetic characterization of Toxoplasma gondii isolates and toxoplasmosis seroprevalence in stray cats of Izmir, Turkey

PubMed ID: 25127360Currently, some Toxoplasma gondii genotypes are being associated with serious clinical presentations. A recent report showing the Africa 1 genotype in two local congenital toxoplasmosis cases acquired in Turkey formed the basis of this study because atypical Africa 1 genotype is most frequently detected in animals and patients from sub-Saharan Africa. Since stray cats are considered as the linkage between wild life and urban life in T. gondii transmission, the present study aimed to isolate and characterize T. gondii strains circulating in stray cats of İzmir (Western Turkey). A secondary objective was to determine toxoplasmosis seroprevalence in this cat population. Tissues obtained from 100 deceased stray cats were bioassayed and isolated strains were genotyped using 15 microsatellite markers. In addition, toxoplasmosis seroprevalence was analyzed in 1121 cat sera collected from several large veterinary clinics in İzmir. Among the 22 isolates, 19 were Type II (86.3%), two were Type III (9%) and one was Africa 1 genotype (4.5%). The overall seropositivity rates in cats were 42-48% and 33.4-34.4% according to IFA and ELISA, respectively. Seroprevalence in deceased cats was significantly higher than in healthy cats (P = 0.0033). Finding both the major clonal Type II lineage together with the Type III lineage also found in Middle East, and an atypical genotype, Africa 1 appears consistent with the specific geographic location of Turkey between three continents and raises the possibility of transportation of these strains between continents through trade routes or long distance migratory birds. In addition, the first large study of toxoplasma seroprevalence in a stray cat population was also reported. The relatively high seropositivity rates and the variety of T. gondii genotypes confirm the local stray cat population as a risk factor for human toxoplasmosis in İzmir. © 2014 Can et al

Prevalence of toxoplasmosis and genetic characterization of Toxoplasma gondii strains isolated in wild birds of prey and their relation with previously isolated strains from Turkey

Toxoplasma gondii is a protozoon parasite that causes congenital toxoplasmosis, as well as other serious clinical presentations, in immune compromised humans. Analyses of the prevalence and genotyping of strains from the definitive host and intermediate hosts will help to understanding the circulation of the different strains and elucidating the role of the genotype (s) in human toxoplasmosis. Turkey has a specific geographic location bridging Africa, Europe, and Asia. We hypothesized that T. gondii strains may have been transferred to Turkey from these continents via migratory birds or vice versa. The present study aimed to assess the prevalence of toxoplasmosis in wild birds of prey of İzmir and Manisa provinces as well as genetically characterize T. gondii strains from these wild birds to show the relation between bird strains and neighboring stray cats as well as human strains previously isolated in Turkey. Tissues obtained from 48 wild birds were investigated for the presence of T. gondii DNA and then bioassayed in mouse. Isolated strains were genotyped using 15 microsatellite markers. The prevalence of T. gondii DNA was found to be 89.6% (n: 43/48) in wild birds. Out of 43 positive samples, a total of 14 strains were genotyped by 15 microsatellite markers. Among them, eight were type II, three were type III and three were mixture of genotypes (two type II/II and one was II/III). These are the first data that showed the presence of T. gondii and types II and III genotypes in wild birds of Turkey. Moreover, Africa 1 was not detected. In addition, cluster analysis showed that T. gondii strains within type II and III lineage have close relation with strains previously isolated from stray cats in İzmir. Further studies are required to isolate more strains from human cases, other intermediate hosts, and water sources to reveal this relation. © 2018 Karakavuk et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited