Isolation of Bacterial Pathogens Associated with Commercially Available Spices in Mangaluru City, India

Spices are important sources of natural flavouring, colouring and antimicrobial agents in food and medicine. In India, spices are widely produced, consumed and exported across the world. Like many other agricultural commodities, spices are exposed to a wide range of bacterial contamination during their harvesting, processing and transportation causing foodborne illnesses. Spices in their desiccated form offer an environment conducive to the survival of many pathogenic bacteria which becomes challenging for spice manufacturers to control or mitigate any bacterial contamination. The present study aimed at the isolation, phenotypic and genotypic identification of bacterial pathogens namely Salmonella spp., Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli associated with spices collected in and around Mangaluru, Karnataka. Isolation of bacterial pathogens was performed using a modified standard FDA BAM methodology. A total of 140 spice samples inclusive of pepper, clove, cumin, red chillies, turmeric, coriander, clove and fennel in whole and powdered form were screened for pathogens. No targeted bacterial pathogens were present in the samples collected. It can be inferred that good agricultural, manufacturing and hygienic practices were maintained in the commercial supply of spices. The absence of bacteria could also be attributed to the inherent antimicrobial properties of spices

Genetic Diversity of the Legionella pneumophila dotA Gene Detected on Surfaces of Respiratory Therapy Equipment

Legionellosis is a neglected disease due to the absence of well-defined clinical symptoms and difficulties in isolating the causal organism. Legionella spp. is known to colonize the lumen of respiratory therapy equipment(RTE) and evade conventional detection by entering the viable but non-culturable state. Monitoring these surfaces for Legionella pneumophila in addition to routine monitoring of water could aid in decreasing incidences of hospital-acquired infections by this pathogen. In this study swabs of different respiratory therapy equipment were tested for the presence of Legionella by conventional culture-based methods versus molecular detection of culture-independent template by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Genetic diversity of the genes amplified were studied using bioinformatic tools. The dotA genes were genetically diverse indicating no clonality. This communication highlights that the persistence of virulence genes like dotA on abiotic surfaces can result in the mobilization of these genes to other species and give rise to virulent forms especially in a healthcare setting

Comparison of Antibiofilm Activity of <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> Phages on Isolates from Wounds of Diabetic and Non-Diabetic Patients

The persistence of organisms as biofilms and the increase in antimicrobial resistance has raised the need for alternative strategies. The study objective was to compare the ability of isolated bacteriophages to remove in vitro biofilms formed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from the environment with those isolated from diabetic and non-diabetic wounds. P. aeruginosa were isolated from clinical and environmental sites, and antimicrobial susceptibility was tested. Bacteriophages were isolated and characterized based on plaque morphology and host range. A reduction in the viable count assayed the lytic ability of candidate phages. The crystal violet method was used to determine the residual biofilm after 24 h of phage treatment on 72-h-old biofilms. The statistical significance of phage treatment was tested by one-way ANOVA. Of 35 clinical isolates, 17 showed resistance to 1 antibiotic at least, and 7 were multidrug resistant. Nineteen environmental isolates and 11 clinical isolates were drug-sensitive. Nine phages showed 91.2% host coverage, including multidrug-resistant isolates. Phages eradicated 85% of biofilms formed by environmental isolates compared to 58% of biofilms of diabetic isolates and 56% of biofilms of non-diabetic isolates. Clinical isolates are susceptible to phage infection in planktonic form. Biofilms of P. aeruginosa isolated from diabetic wounds and non-diabetic wounds resist removal by phages compared to biofilms formed by environmental isolates. All phages were efficient in dispersing PAO1 biofilms. However, there was a significant difference in their ability to disperse PAO1 biofilms across the different surfaces tested. Partial eradication of biofilm by phages can aid in complementing antibiotics that are unable to penetrate biofilms in a clinical set-up