Interspecific variations in the gastrointestinal microbiota in penguins

Despite the enormous amount of data available on the importance of the gastrointestinal (GI) microbiota in vertebrate (especially mammals), information on the GI microbiota of seabirds remains incomplete. As with many seabirds, penguins have a unique digestive physiology that enables them to store large reserves of adipose tissue, protein, and lipids. This study used quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing to characterize the interspecific variations of the GI microbiota of four penguin species: the king, gentoo, macaroni, and little penguin. The qPCR results indicated that there were significant differences in the abundance of the major phyla Firmicutes, Bacteroides, Actinobacteria, and Proteobacteria. A total of 132,340, 18,336, 6324, and 4826 near full-length 16S rRNA gene sequences were amplified from fecal samples collected from king, gentoo, macaroni, and little penguins, respectively. A total of 13 phyla were identified with Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, and Fusobacteria dominating the composition; however, there were major differences in the relative abundance of the phyla. In addition, this study documented the presence of known human pathogens, such as Campylobacter, Helicobacter, Prevotella, Veillonella, Erysipelotrichaceae, Neisseria, and Mycoplasma. However, their role in disease in penguins remains unknown. To our knowledge, this is the first study to provide an in-depth investigation of the GI microbiota of penguins.<br /

Excreción prolongada de Escherichia coli productor de toxina Shiga en niños que concurren a jardines maternales de Argentina

En el presente trabajo se describe la detección y el tiempo de excreción de Escherichia coli productor de toxina Shiga (STEC) O157 y no-O157 en casos sintomáticos y asintomáticos durante cuatro eventos ocurridos en jardines maternales de Argentina. En cada evento se identificaron los casos entre los niños, sus familiares y el personal del jardín. Los aislamientos fueron caracterizados por técnicas feno-genotípicas y de subtipificación. La excreción de STEC fue, en general, prolongada e intermitente. Cepas STEC O157:H7 (1er evento); O26:H11 (2do evento); O26:H11 (3er evento) y O145:NM (4to evento) fueron excretadas durante 23-30, 37, 31 y 19 días, respectivamente. Dadas las características de la excreción, no debe permitirse el reingreso a la institución de todo niño o adulto con infección por STEC, sintomático o asintomático, hasta no tener dos coprocultivos negativos sucesivos, con intervalos de 48 horas entre ellos.In this report we describe the detection and duration of fecal shedding of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O157 and non-O157 in symptomatic and asymptomatic cases during four events occurred among children in day-care centers in Argentina. In each event, the cases were identified among children, family contacts and staff members of the Institution. The isolates were characterized by pheno-genotyping and subtyping methods. The STEC fecal shedding was prolonged and intermittent. Strains O157:H7 (1st event); O26:H11 (2nd event); O26:H11 (3rd event) and O145:NM (4th event) were shed during 23-30, 37, 31 and 19 days, respectively. Considering the possibility of STEC intermittent long-term shedding, symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals should be excluded from the Institution until two consecutive stool cultures obtained at least 48 h apart, test negative.Instituto de Genética Veterinari

Excreción prolongada de Escherichia coli productor de toxina Shiga en niños que concurren a jardines maternales de Argentina

En el presente trabajo se describe la detección y el tiempo de excreción de Escherichia coli productor de toxina Shiga (STEC) O157 y no-O157 en casos sintomáticos y asintomáticos durante cuatro eventos ocurridos en jardines maternales de Argentina. En cada evento se identificaron los casos entre los niños, sus familiares y el personal del jardín. Los aislamientos fueron caracterizados por técnicas feno-genotípicas y de subtipificación. La excreción de STEC fue, en general, prolongada e intermitente. Cepas STEC O157:H7 (1er evento); O26:H11 (2do evento); O26:H11 (3er evento) y O145:NM (4to evento) fueron excretadas durante 23-30, 37, 31 y 19 días, respectivamente. Dadas las características de la excreción, no debe permitirse el reingreso a la institución de todo niño o adulto con infección por STEC, sintomático o asintomático, hasta no tener dos coprocultivos negativos sucesivos, con intervalos de 48 horas entre ellos.In this report we describe the detection and duration of fecal shedding of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O157 and non-O157 in symptomatic and asymptomatic cases during four events occurred among children in day-care centers in Argentina. In each event, the cases were identified among children, family contacts and staff members of the Institution. The isolates were characterized by pheno-genotyping and subtyping methods. The STEC fecal shedding was prolonged and intermittent. Strains O157:H7 (1st event); O26:H11 (2nd event); O26:H11 (3rd event) and O145:NM (4th event) were shed during 23-30, 37, 31 and 19 days, respectively. Considering the possibility of STEC intermittent long-term shedding, symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals should be excluded from the Institution until two consecutive stool cultures obtained at least 48 h apart, test negative.Instituto de Genética Veterinari

In-House Validation of Rapid Detection PCRs for Bacterial Pathogens Causing Infant Diarrhea

In Argentina, conventional culture methods for the isolation of diarrheal bacteria continue to be the most widely used form of diagnosis in many clinical laboratories. In this work we validated 11 in-house real-time polymerasechain reactions (PCRs) assays for the specific and rapid detection of Salmonella spp., Shigella spp., enteroinvasive E. coli, enteropathogenic E. coli, enterotoxigenic E. coli, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, E. coli O157, Cronobacter sakazakii, Campylobacter jejuni, Campylobacter coli, Vibrio cholera and Clostridium difficile. The sensitivity of the assays was less than 100 CFU/ml for all the studied pathogens; selectivity and specificity were 100% in all cases and robustness was optimal. These PCR methods could be used to accurately detect the main bacterial causes of infant gastroenteritis.Fil: Londero, Alejandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico CONICET- La Plata. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria "Ing. Fernando Noel Dulout". Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria; ArgentinaFil: Leotta, Gerardo Anibal. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico CONICET- La Plata. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria "Ing. Fernando Noel Dulout". Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria; ArgentinaFil: Brusa, Victoria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico CONICET- La Plata. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria "Ing. Fernando Noel Dulout". Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria; ArgentinaFil: Costa, Magdalena. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico CONICET- La Plata. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria "Ing. Fernando Noel Dulout". Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria; ArgentinaFil: Golijow, Carlos Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico CONICET- La Plata. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria "Ing. Fernando Noel Dulout". Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria; ArgentinaFil: Gutkind, Gabriel Osvaldo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica; ArgentinaFil: Gonzalez, E.. Centro de Diagnóstico Molecular S.A.; ArgentinaFil: Galli, Lucía. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico CONICET- La Plata. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria "Ing. Fernando Noel Dulout". Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria; Argentin

In-House Validation of Rapid Detection PCRs for Bacterial Pathogens Causing Infant Diarrhea

In Argentina, conventional culture methods for the isolation of diarrheal bacteria continue to be the most widely used form of diagnosis in many clinical laboratories. In this work we validated 11 in-house real-time polymerasechain reactions (PCRs) assays for the specific and rapid detection of Salmonella spp., Shigella spp., enteroinvasive E. coli, enteropathogenic E. coli, enterotoxigenic E. coli, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, E. coli O157, Cronobacter sakazakii, Campylobacter jejuni, Campylobacter coli, Vibrio cholera and Clostridium difficile. The sensitivity of the assays was less than 100 CFU/ml for all the studied pathogens; selectivity and specificity were 100% in all cases and robustness was optimal. These PCR methods could be used to accurately detect the main bacterial causes of infant gastroenteritis.Instituto de Genética Veterinari

Workload measurement in a communication application operated through a P300-based brain-computer interface

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Biomarcadores citogenéticos de contaminación en percichthys trucha del Embalse El Nihuil, Mendoza.

No solo porque los peces son centinelas de calidad de agua, sino porque también forman parte de nuestra cadena alimentaria, y pueden ejercer efectos debido a la bioacumulación de contaminantes, es que cada vez deberíamos prestar más atención a sus cambios orgánicos y poblacionales

Comprehensive evaluation and implementation of improvement actions in butcher shops

Foodborne pathogens can cause acute and chronic diseases and produce a wide range of symptoms. Since the consumption of ground beef is a risk factor for infections with some bacterial pathogens, we performed a comprehensive evaluation of butcher shops, implemented improvement actions for both butcher shops and consumers, and verified the impact of those actions implemented. A comprehensive evaluation was made and risk was quantified on a 1-100 scale as high-risk (1-40), moderate-risk (41-70) or low-risk (71-100). A total of 172 raw ground beef and 672 environmental samples were collected from 86 butcher shops during the evaluation (2010-2011) and verification (2013) stages of the study. Ground beef samples were analyzed for mesophilic aerobic organisms, Escherichia coli and coagulase-positive Staphylococcus aureus enumeration. Salmonella spp., E. coli O157:H7, non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), and Listeria monocytogenes were detected and isolated from all samples. Risk quantification resulted in 43 (50.0%) high-risk, 34 (39.5%) moderate-risk, and nine (10.5%) low-risk butcher shops. Training sessions for 498 handlers and 4,506 consumers were held. Re-evaluation by risk quantification and microbiological analyses resulted in 19 (22.1%) high-risk, 42 (48.8%) moderate-risk and 25 (29.1%) low-risk butcher shops. The count of indicator microorganisms decreased with respect to the 2010-2011 period. After the implementation of improvement actions, the presence of L. monocytogenes, E. coli O157:H7 and stx genes in ground beef decreased. Salmonella spp. was isolated from 10 (11.6%) ground beef samples, without detecting statistically significant differences between both study periods (evaluation and verification). The percentage of pathogens in environmental samples was reduced in the verification period (Salmonella spp., 1.5%; L. monocytogenes, 10.7%; E. coli O157:H7, 0.6%; non-O157 STEC, 6.8%). Risk quantification was useful to identify those relevant facts in butcher shops. The reduction of contamination in ground beef and the environment was possible after training handlers based on the problems identified in their own butcher shops. Our results confirm the feasibility of implementing a comprehensive risk management program in butcher shops, and the importance of information campaigns targeting consumers. Further collaborative efforts would be necessary to improve foodstuffs safety at retail level and at home.Facultad de Ciencias VeterinariasInstituto de Genética Veterinari